Bail Out Move #4: How is That Spelled?
Teaching the alphabet does nothing for acquisition of the language. And yet district benchmarks often include teaching the alphabet, so it must be taught. Here is a way to teach the alphabet while at the same time allowing you to temporarily bail out of some auditory instruction that may not be working.
Whenever you write a new word or structure on the board, if you wish and if you remember, you can simply ask in the target language, “How is that spelled?” The kids call out the letters of the word, and you write each one down in large letters on the board as the kids associate the right sound with the letters they see you writing. It’s better than the lame repetition of the alphabet that makes you wish you had never become a teacher, or singing some song with the kids for the millionth time in your career.
The alphabet gets plenty of practice throughout the year in this way. Not only does it give you a moment to regroup your thoughts and the direction of your instruction, it also gives the students a nice neurological break from the hard work of decoding the story, and they clearly enjoy it. For some reason, I prefer spelling names out more than other types of information. When we use this technique, we are teaching writing.
A shorter variation on this skill requires only a few seconds. Quickly ask, about a certain word that has been written on the board, “This word begins with what letter?” or “What letter does this word end with?” or “What is the third letter in this word?”
Doing this bail out activity usually requires less than one minute. It’s a winner, but like so much about this work is often hard to remember to do. Practice makes perfect!