FERNALD METHOD FOR READING AND SPELLING: MODIFIED Purpose To provide an independent study method for students who

have extreme difficulty retaining sight words and their spelling. This procedure may be integrated into other reading/spelling methods for students who do not seem to be able to revisualize words for writing or who do not retain the association between printed words and their spoken equivalents. Materials Strips of paper bag or other rough paper cut to about 3 x 8 Wide black magic marker Tape Writing instrument preferred by the student (e.g., pencil, black felt tip pen) 8 x 11 sheets of lined paper cut in half vertically Procedure 1. Tell the student you have a new way to teach him/her to read and spell words that has been very successful with other students. 2. Using the wide, black marker, write the word to be learned neatly and large on a strip of rough paper in either manuscript or cursive, depending on the writing form the student uses (cursive is easier to trace). 3. Tape the word strip to the table so that it will remain stable while you and the student trace over the letters. 4. Model the following, impressing on the student that each step has to be done exactly as you are doing it. If the student makes a mistake at any point in the process, he/she will start the study process from the beginning. 5. Warn the student that if he/she makes a mistake at any point while writing the word, you will stop him/her immediately by covering his hand and/or the word so that the student cannot see the wrong spelling. Study Procedure 1. The student looks at the printed word throughout the next three steps. The student: a. says the whole word while underlining the printed word with his/her finger; b. traces (using the top of the pads of both forefinger and middle finger) each part of the word while saying the sounds of the word, matching sound to letter as closely as possible without distorting the pronunciation; and c. says the whole word again while underlining the printed word with his/her finger.
Mather, N., & Jaffe, L. (2002). Woodcock-Johnson III: Reports, Recommendations, and Strategies. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Fernald Method for Reading and Spelling: Modified p.2

2. The student repeats this sequence of steps until he/she has formed a clear mental image of the word and is positive that he/she can write it five times in a row without looking at the model and without making even one mistake. It does not matter if the student has to trace the word 100 times; the student must be sure he/she can write it without errors. The number of times required to learn and retain a mental image will diminish as the student gains experience with the procedure. 3. The student untapes the word card from the table and turns it face down. The student says the word and writes it at the top of the half-sheet of paper, turns the word card over and checks his/her spelling. Have the student check the spelling of the whole word at once rather than letter by letter so that the word is seen as a whole unit. 4. If the student has written the word correctly, he/she turns the card over and either uses it to cover the word just written or folds down the top of the paper so that he/she cannot see the word just written. The student then repeats the previous step, saying and writing the word, and checking it against the word card. Do not allow the student to check his/her spelling against his/her previous spelling. The student must always check it against the word card, which is neatly written and has the correct spelling. When the student starts using this study process independently, if the student is in the habit of correcting his/her spelling against the previous spelling, and the student has made a mistake on the previous spelling, he/she will learn the word incorrectly. 5. When the student has written the word correctly and checked it five times, the instructor or student types the word on an index card. If the student types it, the instructor checks to see that it is typed correctly. The student reads the typed word, and then places it, alphabetically, in a card file for future activities. Important Points For the initial teaching of the technique, allow the student to choose a word that he/she cannot read but wants to learn. (Longer, more distinctive words, such as dictionary, are sometimes easier to learn than shorter words, such as what.) The success of this technique depends on frequent review (flashcards for reading, writing from dictation for spelling), and then distributed practice, to prevent the student from forgetting the word. Incorporate the word into reading and writing activities.

Adapted from: Fernald, G. (1943). Remedial techniques in basic school subjects. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Mather, N., & Jaffe, L. (2002). Woodcock-Johnson III: Reports, Recommendations, and Strategies. New York: John Wiley & Sons.