Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-11-12
Goln,,,,,.
Spelling.


1t would seem reasonable to expect that
most of our youth on leaving school
should be good spoilers, and yet facts,
which are called stubborn things, prove
that such Is not the case. We propose to
give two or three reasons for the unsatis-
factory results obtained in this branch,
and to offer few suggestive hints, which
we hope, will tend to invest the subject
with more interest on the part of both
teachers and pupils.
One cause of the frequency of poor
spelling may be found In the neglect with
which the spelling lesson is treated in
school. 1t is often crowded into few
minutes, and passed over in a very hurried
and imperfect manner, and il any exercise
must be omitted, the spelling lesson is the
neglected one Another cause may be
found in feeling not very uncommon,
that spelling is undeserving the attention
of any but very young pupils. Many feel
as the young man did, who, on commenc-
ing course at an academy, demurred at
the idea of joining spelling class, not
wlthstanding he was very poor speller.
On being informed that all the pupils were
required to join IN tie exercise, he very
condescendingly consented to do so, pro-
vided the words should be taken from
Websters Unabridged Dictionary-feeling
that it would be quite derogatory if the
words should be selected from any read
ing or spelling book. These and some
other erroneous notious must be eradicat-
ed. From the beginning, let pupils see
that the spelling lesson will always re
ceive its due share of attention, and at its
due time, and also cause them to feel that
to spell roorly is really derogatory to the
standing of Il scholar. There are two
very common errors in the mode of con-
Quoting spelling exercise which tend to
make poor spoilers.
One is that of giving out the words with
an improper pronunciation, or an undue
emphasis on particular syllable or vowel;
as intimate, n-hab-i-tant, i'm me dt ate-ly,
Separate, similarity, operation, etc
The only correct way is to pronounce a
word precisely as it would be spoken by a
good speaker; giving no undue emphasis
to any letter or syllable; and if distinctly
pronounced once, it should suffice.
Another common error is that of allow
ing pupils to try more than once word
IN oral spelling. This is wrong. One
trial is sufficient, and all beyond is mere
guessing. If pupils feel that they may
make two Or three attempts to spell a
word, they will never become accurate
spoilers.
Some are strong advocates for the use
of the spelling book, while others entirely
reject its use While we would not entire
ly discard the use of the spelling-bo we
would say to the teacher,-'if you would
make a spelling lesson truly interesting
and profitable, you must draw exercises
from every proper source" 1t is an ex-
cellent plan to devote some time daily
few minutes will suffice-to spelling the
names of familiar objects. Ask your pu
pills to give you the names of all the OBJ
jects they saw on the way to school, and,
as they repeat, write the words legibly up
on the blackboard, and say to them that
the list thus written will constitute the
next spelling lesson Let us suppose the
following to be list of the words given
by pupils, as names of OBJECTS they have
fI,n tn