Empowering Students Through Dictation

Written by Crissy Maras

Teacher Crissy Maras explains the dictation portion of her structured literacy lesson with middle school students. The small group is receiving intervention with Wilson Language Training. She empowers her students to take risks and develop a positive mindset.

After introducing the new vowel team “ea” and its three sounds, students practiced reading words and sorting word cards into those three sound groups. Students then reviewed the three sounds and their keywords in preparation for dictation. 

Dictation can often be an area of stretch and a source of anxiety for students, so reminding them about the concept, being intentional about word choice, and providing immediate feedback can help guide them to the correct response. To increase accuracy and build self-confidence, I remind students to use their structured literacy tools: isolate the base word and identify affixes, tap out the sounds if needed, and try different “sound options” when necessary. This means that the students should spell the word utilizing either or all of the different letter combinations that refer to a dictated phoneme (sound). Trying these different sound options can be a game-changer! Students may not know how to spell a certain word, but when they see the same word with different sound options written side-by-side (eg. “weat” or “wheat”), they are often able to recognize the correct spelling.

As the students are actively spelling, I circulate the room to provide guide corrections in the moment; providing feedback and encouragement. Positive praise and connecting with the students helps them reduce and manage stress and anxiety around dictation. Correctly spelling the words is of course the goal, but watching students develop new positive mind scripts around school and academics is one of my favorite outcomes.

Crissy Maras has taught at the elementary and secondary level at Chartwell School for over five years. Most recently, she has taught English Language Arts, Humanities, and Structured Literacy to middle school students. Crissy believes that the most important aspect of teaching is making connections with students – especially because you will often ask them to do challenging things. When you are consistent and genuine in your connections, students are more willing to do things that may be difficult for them.