Orthography: Why Should I Care About Spelling?

Alicia Roberts Frank

Regional Administrator for Special Programs/Dyslexia Specialist for Educational Service District 113

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Once students have developed the awareness of phonemes of spoken language, they must learn how to map the phonemes to symbols or printed letters, as well as understand how the pronunciation of letters changes in different orthographic contexts. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn the basics of teaching students common sound/symbol correspondences and some of the most common spellings of the 44 sounds of English. They will learn the 6 syllable types, the 4 ways to divide words into syllables, in order of commonality, and some historical and linguistic explanations for how syllables are spelled.

About the Presenter

Alicia is a Regional Administrator for Special Programs/Dyslexia Specialist for Educational Service District 113. She has served on the boards of non-profit agencies supporting dyslexia and on public advisory councils in both Oregon and Washington. Alicia earned her Ed.D in Learning and Instruction with a concentration in Special Education from the University of San Francisco in 2008 after a MATESOL from Monterey Institute of International Studies. She is trained in Slingerland, a classroom adaptation of the Orton Gillingham approach for teaching students with dyslexia, and she has taught children with mild to moderate disabilities in the first through 12th grades in public schools and a private elementary school for children with dyslexia and related language learning disabilities. She taught special education for pre-service teachers and has presented nationally on dyslexia and structured literacy.