Dictation is when you say a word out loud (a word containing the sound of the week) and your child hears the word and writes it down on their student board.  This is a great opportunity for your child to reference the sound/spelling card! You can purchase all of my sound/spelling cards including ones NOT included in the subscription boxes HERE.

Dictation is a great way to practice listening to the sound, stretching the sounds in the word, and practice spelling.

Here are the steps for dictation:

1. Give your child the student board and a marker
2. Make sure the sound/spelling card is visible for their reference
3. Choose 4-5 words that contain the sound/spelling pattern you are working on that week
4. Say one of the words and have your child stretch the sounds on their hand (make sure they are saying the sounds OUT LOUD so you can identify any errors).
5. Have your child write the word down after stretching the sounds and remind them to underline the sound that you are working on that week.
6. Correct any errors in their spelling by doing the following:
   • As your child writes the word, write the word on your board and keep it hidden from them
   • When they finish writing show them your board and have them check and see if their spelling matches yours, let them give themselves a check or a smiley face if it does! If it doesn’t use it as an opportunity to figure out where they made their mistake and have them fix it on their board.
7. Continue on with the rest of the words
8. If you have time dictate a sentence in the same manner
9. When you are finished have your child touch each word and read it as they erase, any extra reading practice won’t hurt!