Author: Mona Fleifel

A helpful guide to the "Supporting Spelling Skills" series
The primary and primary goal of the "Spelling Skills Support" series—which consists of three parts, each comprising Level 1 (Beginner), Level 2 (Intermediate), and Level 3 (Advanced)—is the child himself, as he finds this skill difficult and often averse to it. We often hear about children's fear when completing a spelling assignment, and we also sense the anxiety and stress felt by mothers. I have worked with children throughout my teaching career and have observed their problems, including their inability to write the letters and sounds dictated to them, often in short or long sentences, as well as their inability to connect letters together to form a specific word.

Based on my professional experience and my observation of students' problems, I've noticed that the reason for the weak smooth completion of this skill is due to a lack of consolidation of the concept of the letter (its shape and the number of its shapes), and at other times, a failure to memorize the names of short vowels, whether "damma," "fatha," or "kasra." They often mix up these vowels, whether in their names, their appropriate choice, the correct way of drawing them, or the appropriate direction for them. When a student, for example, comes to write their homework regarding this skill—dictation—they find themselves confused by numerous letters and sounds that they mix up or, in many cases, are unable to distinguish. This leads them to become disliked and find the language difficult. In order to simplify this skill and not complicate matters in our Arabic language, which has become for many children a difficult barrier to achieving the specific goals or competencies required of them, and which could be a simpler skill than we imagine, complicate it, or get carried away with the current of negative views of it, since Arabic spelling, when compared to spelling in other foreign languages, has precise rules and limited difficulties, and what we hear about it is nothing but a flaw in how to arrive at establishing its concept and realizing the importance of deducing the sensory and cognitive aspect that precedes writing, as well as resolving the illogical expectations imposed by some on the learner’s level in a comprehensive manner.

According to the curriculum reference, I selected and divided the letters, adding some of my own professional experience, and arranged the letters according to specific developmental patterns. I divided them into three books, attaching a separate guide for each. The first book, which falls under the beginner level, includes the letters that are easy to pronounce and write in the learner's language, and which occur frequently: (B, D, S, R, M, W, Z, and Sh). Let's start with a simple way to support a child in their transitional stage in writing and development in "spelling skills." By transitional stage in writing, I mean from kindergarten to first grade, or when they reach six years of age, as an ideal solution. (I would like to note here that each of these booklets can be used as an additional support tool at school, as its name speaks for itself, in addition to school materials. It can also be used as an additional support tool at home for the learner, or as a review material during the summer vacations to reinforce and consolidate the competencies of that skill, without forgetting the level at which each child generally stops.)

I will focus on some important and basic exercises in this guide to complete this skill smoothly and simplified.
First, what we need to realize is that one of the most important steps we need to follow when a child begins to apply this skill from a psychological perspective is to ensure that they feel secure and that they can make mistakes and learn from them, even after several attempts. This should be taken into account for the different levels within the same class, whether at school or among siblings, or as a family. It also includes stimulating some of the learner's senses, which precedes specific exercises in the book. This will enable them to achieve a significant portion of the goals and competencies required of them in their educational journey. At the beginning of the book, we see the letter B, followed by the letter and its sounds.

First, we point to the letter and name it, then repeat its sound [b], or say that the name of this letter is the letter ba and its sound is [b]. We read it along with the sounds, pointing to it as an introduction to what will follow in terms of breaking down and simplifying the problem.
(Note: The "Supporting Spelling Skills" book complements the exercises and activities that the teacher performs when discovering the letter. The letter cannot be taught through it alone, especially in the first stage, i.e., the first beginner level. The teacher's task is to discover the letter through other means: I will mention them quickly and digress: (letters stories, reading a text, and other introductory games). The writing skill, which is the primary goal of the "Supporting Spelling Skills" book, comes after preparing the student for the alphabet.) Exercise No. 1 (I circle the letter "B" in its many forms): We clearly ask the child to listen to the instruction that we will read to him, and then we explain it to him in colloquial Arabic according to his level and help him in pronouncing the letter from the first word as a first example for him. (It is very important to support and assist the child, especially with the first letter of the book, so that he will become somewhat independent. Then gradually learn the other letters and he will automatically understand the goals required of him.

Exercise No. 2 (Color the balloons the desired color for long sounds): The illustrator drew the mouth movement differently for each sound, showing whether it is open, twisted, or curved, depending on the sound. This is where the child's visualization of the sounds (i.e., mouth movement) comes into play, as in the book's pictures. We can also pronounce the sounds as a musical note at first, then ask the learner to do the same. After that, we simply move the lips "a," "u," and "y" without making any sounds, thus conducting a quiz to determine the sound we made through our mouth movements. At a later stage, we ask the learner to recognize the shape of the sounds by pointing to them, whether a, u, or y, based on the gestures we made. We repeat these motor exercises before completing the activity on paper.

Exercise No. 3 (Listen and place the long vowel in front of the letter "b" in the following words): We draw these sounds as mentioned in the note, taking into account the correct direction. We can draw in the air using our fingers, our eyes, even our noses... or a lock of hair... yes, we can. I used these physical movement exercises with my students and found them to be an effective and entertaining method that departs from direct and traditional teaching methods. Here, we stimulate and activate the visual and writing senses, which the mind will register before writing them on the small board. When applying, we read the instruction and explain it, then we read the first word, which is as in the book: "ice cream." We ask the learner to tell us which long sound they heard, whether it was "a," "u," or "y." We wait for the answer before giving them possibilities. If they need help, we can say, for example: "Did I say ice cream? Or baza? Or baza?" Children usually laugh when they hear these words that don't exist in the language. We can also repeat the mouth movement to help them discover the correct answer. Then, when they know, we ask them to write the correct sound in the word.

Exercises 4 and 5: We reactivate this motor and physical activity for short movements, focusing on understanding the name of each movement and asking the learner to draw it in the air, first in the correct direction, and then to write it out individually on a small board designated for the child. Thus, when practicing, we read the word "duck." What do you hear? The child might tell you about the sound of another letter... We repeat to him: In the word "duck," I want the sound of "b." Should I say "batta?" "bitta?" "or "butta?" He will then say "battta." What is the sound? He will say "b." So, what is the name of the movement? You can help him with an open mouth movement, meaning a fatha, so he will place the fatha over the desired letter.

(I would like to mention that I included the consonant sound or sukoon in the exercises for the letter dal, which is the second letter after the letter ba’ in the first book, in order to avoid falling into the pattern of padding.)
Number 6: We read the word to the child and ask him to choose the appropriate letter shape and help him as much as possible in how to think about finding the solution without giving him the answer directly.

Number 7 or the table: Consisting of three main columns (reading, copying, and dictation). We hide the word using a piece of paper, for example, after the learner has read it and then copied it. The learner can also be trained to write the words in the air, as we did for the sounds previously. This is a very effective method. (Important note: When starting each time with a new letter, it is preferable to rehearse the words previously acquired in the spelling table on a small board. However, on the condition that we do not add them all at the end of the book, leaving the child with no responsibility. In particular, the first book, Beginner 1, is the foundation of the learning stage and is where the amount of information is concentrated (the total number of words for the Beginner 1 level includes 32 words). Therefore, it is possible to review from time to time between 8 to 10 words at most in each stage before moving on to other letters from the same level. Therefore, it is very important to take into account each student’s style and comprehension, especially since it is a new skill that they are acquiring.

In general, if we want a clear design, then acquiring the letters B-D-R-S (requires a maximum of 6-7 weeks, even if the number of Arabic language classes in some Arab countries exceeds 7 hours per week. This time is very important for the learner, in order to consolidate and reinforce all the letters, and to write and review the spelling words correctly. Therefore, the remaining letters from the same book, namely (M-W-Z-Sh), also require the same time, as the total number of spelling words in the table has become greater, and therefore requires the same time.
What I have highlighted, particularly in Book 1 Beginner of this guide, which is part of a two-book series titled “Supporting Spelling Skills” / Level 2 Intermediate / and Level 3 Advanced, is, as I mentioned, it covers the mechanism of this skill in all its details.