THE POWERS SPELLER

ADVANCED

BY

ETTA POWERS

PRINCIPAL OF THE SUMNER SCHOOL, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

LYONS & CARNAHAN

PREFACE

Our fathers believed that poor spelling was disgraceful and that good spelling should be regarded as so much a matter of course that commendation was superfluous. Unfortunately, more recent instruction in many quarters has lost the thoroughness that characterized it in the old days. The urgent need for better spelling is felt in every business house and every cultured home in the land.

The author lays no claim to discovery in enumerating what she believes to be a few causes of poor spelling, where poor spelling exists.

First, spelling does not always receive its rightful proportion of attention. Acting under the laudable ambition to give much information on many subjects, the teacher, though conscientious, often hurries over the very medium which conveys that information. If lack of time necessitates an omission, spelling is easily omitted.

Second, diacritical marking, syllabication, and accent are not taught with sufficient thoroughness. The pupil, following the line of least resistance, pronounces the word in the way it first appeals to him. He sees it all at once, without regard to the fact that the number of syllables has a relation to the number of vowels, and he sounds the letters to please his own ear. He is not by nature imbued with the obligation to study arbitrary signs, and he will never voluntarily impose it upon himself. These things are important because exact pronunciation and some knowledge of word structure are of undoubted assistance in spelling.

Third, reviews and drills are inadequate. There are some rules which aid in learning to spell, but they are few and not invariable. A word must be spelled instantan

eously; there is no time to think of rules, even when rules exist. Pupils learn to spell by spelling, and drill makes correct spelling automatic.

A child's list of words should increase daily from home life, play life, and life with books. It is the aim of this work to give, in progressive order, classified sets of words relating to the child's experience and his study as usually outlined for Grades Two to Eight inclusive. The time and labor the teacher has hitherto expended in selecting words from each subject each day is saved, it is believed, and the danger of oversight in the preparation of words which should be in the working vocabulary of every boy and girl who leaves the Eighth Grade, is avoided, when The Powers Speller is used.

The book is the result of careful observation and thought concerning the standard of language which should be attained in each grade; and the classification coincides in general with the additions furnished by the studies of the successive years. Some pupils have a relatively cumbrous language which they do not know how to use; a far greater number think beyond their power to speak. There is no complete justification for either condition. They should constantly reach out and up for new words; but the effort should be logical, natural, and from the teacher's point of view orderly, increasing in difficulty as experience broadens.

Thanks are due to Dr. Henry Suzzalo of Columbia College, State Superintendent A. C. Nelson of Utah, Supt. D. H. Christensen, Salt Lake City; Superintendents L. E. Eggertsen, C. E. Gaufin, and A. Molyneux; the principals of the Salt Lake City schools; and the teachers of the Sumner School, for valuable suggestions in the making of this speller.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

Drills in phonics are distributed regularly throughout the book, the purpose of each being to teach some particular sound. A brisk daily drill in the pronunciation of the syllables and words in these drills is necessary in order to train the eye to detect the proper forms and the ear to recognize the proper sounds. These drills are not intended to be used as spelling lessons.

As diacritical marks are a means to an end, it is believed by the author that with the assistance of the phonetic drills, and the careful gradation of words, the pupil will be able to master the pronunciation of most of the words as he meets them, hence they are given first without the confusion of marks. However, as assistance in some cases will be necessary, the unusual, irregular, or somewhat difficult words are carried forward, and placed in the "Reference Lesson," beginning with the Fourth Grade. The responsibility of referring to these when necessary in preparation is placed upon the pupil, and will inculcate the dictionary habit. For obvious reasons, the words are presented first in syllabified form, but offered in the "Reviews" and "Spelling Down" lists as units.

The assignment of the lesson is important, and is entitled to a stated time-not "left over" time. "Take the next lesson" is in itself uninspiring, and not likely to be followed by intelligent study. The very least done in the assignment by the conscientious teacher should be the requirement of the careful pronunciation (by the class) of each word to be studied, syllable by syllable. If the correct pronunciation of a lesson is accomplished, the lesson is at least half mastered. A frequent pronunciation test using the "Spelling