The main purpose of any spelling course is to teach pupils how to spell words correctly. Earlier books in this series seek to accomplish that purpose by focusing on phonetic patterns. In grades 7 and 8, the focus shifts to word elements--the roots, prefixes, and suffixes that make up words. Studying these elements will help students understand why words are spelled as they are.
The study of word elements can be fascinating. Who would have guessed, for instance, that ample and plenteous have the same root, or that trifling and trivial are not related? Knowing the meanings of roots and affixes will also help to expand the students' vocabularies.
The teacher should remember, however, that learning to spell must always have the primary emphasis in this course. Spelling test scores should carry the most weight in report card grades. If a student misspells a word on a spelling test, he should write it correctly at least ten times. Any spelling word misspelled in an exercise should be counted wrong. These and other means will help to keep the focus on learning to spell.
A large percentage of our common vocabulary is made of word elements that come from Latin and Greek. Therefore, the lessons in this book teach the meanings of numerous Latin and Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes. This is the purpose of Parts A and B of the lessons.
Each lesson also has two other parts. Part C is a review section that exercises phonetic and word-building concepts that are taught in earlier years of this course. (There is no Part C in the six-week review lessons.) Part D is a section on the history of the English language. This part of each lesson explains some of the reasons for the modern spellings, pronunciations, and meanings of many English words. In addition to Parts A, B, C, and D, a Speller Dictionary has been included. This specialized dictionary has been condensed to fit the needs of the students as they do the exercises throughout the book; however, a classroom dictionary will also be needed.
A good understanding of phonics, word elements, and the history of the English language should make a significant contribution to the spelling ability of the students.
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