Not Just Playing With Clay: Symbol Mastery for Spelling and Word Comprehension

Abstract

A number of students experience difficulty with the retention and recognition of basic spelling words. These students, who are often dyslexic and/or three-dimensional visual thinkers (3DVT), are usually taught spelling through mainstream pedagogical practices, such as phonics and rote learning—practices that are generally unsuccessful with this group. Symbol mastery is a process where students work with clay to create a visual interpretation of a word's meaning and then connect it to the word’s spelling and pronunciation. Davis proposed that the process of discovering what a word means and creating an image of the word three-dimensionally, would not only give ownership of the process to students, but would also be a vehicle through which they could master spelling words. This article is based on a small qualitative case study research project where the symbol mastery program was trialed with four dyslexic students in one-to-one tutorial sessions after completing a specialized program. Data were gathered through pre- and post-program interviews with students and parents, researcher observations, artifact collection, as well as pre- and post-tutoring spelling tests. The results showed that the program helped with improving spelling scores and increased confidence and willingness to attempt to spell words.