This article describes a multisensory presentation and response system for enhancing the spelling ability of dyslexic children. The unique aspect of MAGICSpell is its system of finger-letter associations and simplified keyboard configuration. Sixteen 10- and 11-year-old dyslexic students practiced the finger-letter associations via various typing…

The "Dyslexia Training Program," developed at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, is a Tier III reading intervention program that provides intensive phonics instruction to children with dyslexia, primarily in grades two through five. It is a comprehensive two-year program that bridges the gap for school districts in which a…

A practical and simple approach to developing reading and spelling skills in learning disabled students combines writing of stories with illustrations, and reading and reviewing the typed stories each day. The modified multisensory approach can be used in small group formats. (CL)

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a program based on the utilization of a synthetic multisensory modality of teaching spelling emphasizing dactylology and to test its effect on reading and spelling achievement. One hundred forty-eight second graders and 16 teachers from Bladen County, North Carolina, participated in the study.…

A spelling program was devised for learning-disabled students, using elements from "Signs for Sounds," the Cloze method, and "Auditory Discrimination In-Depth." Day-by-day use of the program involves drawing word pictures, spelling the words with tiles and blocks, writing on the board, using the words in written sentences, spelling bees, etc. (JDD)

This project describes a 12-week program developed to improve student spelling of high frequency words for transfer in written work across the curriculum. The targeted population consists of kindergarten, first, and third graders in two public elementary schools in a community located in central Illinois. Following an extensive literature review,…

The tactile-kinesthetic approach to spelling provides a practical teaching device for use with both disabled learners and moderately poor spellers who need to learn a technical or professional vocabulary. This multisensory approach to learning teaches to the student's strengths and places emphasis on finger contact, muscle movement, saying and…

Instructors who accept responsibility for improving the spelling of their students, must, to be successful, turn that responsibility over to the students. Abjuring their position as rule givers, effective spelling teachers encourage students to pursue their study inductively by exploring the relationship of the spoken language to the written form,…

Thirty college students with dyslexia who participated in spelling remediation using a modified Orton-Gillingham approach called the Wilson Reading System significantly improved in spelling performance, compared to a group receiving nonphonetic remediation and a control group. Results indicate that adulthood is not too late for appropriate…

A study examined whether a multisensory approach to spelling instruction would have an impact on spelling achievement. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant difference in the spelling performance os students using a multisensory approach and those using a conventional approach. Subjects were 20 heterogeneously grouped third-grade…

A study was conducted to determine whether the VAK teaching method, using color coding as a motivational tool, improves spelling achievement more effectively than a more conventional method. The VAK method is a multisensory approach to teaching reading and spelling through the visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile modalities. Forty-three…

The author first reviews traditional approaches to classroom spelling instruction, then presents research on remedial spelling instruction for learning disabled children. Section I considers factors which make spelling harder than reading, the history of traditional spelling instruction from Colonial times to the 1950s, the generalization…

Report of some of the most recent information in the field as found in books, articles, and doctoral dissertations. (Author/RY)

Spelling activities that draw upon all of a student's senses--visual, auditory, and kinesthetic--are described. Instructions for setting up a kinesthetically based holiday center that will develop a taste for spelling and a feel for words are also given. (PP)