Visualizing Words

  GOAL The goal of this technique is to teach your child how to visualize words. Most good spellers do this naturally but some students don’t make the transition from sounding out words to visualizing them. If you have a spelling list then tick the words that are easy to spell and use this technique for the difficult words. STEP 1: Write the word on a piece of paper (eg. “hospital”) and have your child look at it while they count out loud to 20. [Explanation: The purpose of this is to stop them from sounding out the word since the goal of this exercise is to shift their attention to visualizing the word]

STEP 2: Next turn the paper over and ask them to picture the word in their mind (close their eyes if necessary). If you see them looking upwards this is a sign they are using their visual memory.   1. Tap them on their left shoulder and ask them what letter was at the start of the word. 2. Tap their right shoulder and ask them what letter was at the end of the word. 3. If they can do this ask them what is next to these letters but emphasize working backwards from the end to the start of the word! [Explanation: The purpose of working backwards is the same as that given above] STEP 3: If they make a mistake then hold up the word again for them to look at and ask them to count out loud to 10. Now turn the paper over and repeat step 2. Note that your child can have as many looks as necessary until they get the word correct! When done, pick a letter in the middle and ask them to tell you what letter is on either side of it. STEP 4: Aim for at least 3 words. Intermittently ask them to spell the word over the next few days so you can check they have retained it in their visual memory! In time they will start to visualize words without having to use this technique. You have now shifted the way they attend to words for spelling! What if they can’t do it? You will be surprised to find that most can do this. If this is a problem however you can start by practicing visualizing objects. Hold an object (eg. pen) in front of your child and ask them to describe it. Now ask them to describe it again with their eyes closed. When they can do this, add another object….keep going until your child is able to visualize multiple objects.