Double Letter Words

Some children struggle to read and spell words. The challenge in this activity is to complete the double letter words. Encourage the child to read the word using the options. Let the child decide which option makes the word sound right. Observe how your child does the exercises in this activity. What difficulties does he have in doing this activity?

Tips for you, the parents:

If your child has difficulty in spelling words then, be very patient with her/him. Remember, your child needs your unconditional support. First understand your child’s strengths and shortcomings. Parents are not often aware of the difficulties faced by their child.

The child who has difficulty in spelling requires lots of practice and remedial measures to get her/his spelling right. Writing the words many times is not always a good solution to learn spelling.

In this activity, the emphasis is on the double letters of the word. Understand where your child goes wrong. Take suitable remedial (corrective) actions.

1. One method to get the spelling of double letter words right is to split the words into two – one part ending with the double letter and the other part beginning with the double letter. Splitting the words into parts is known as syllabication.

   How to split the double letters into two? See the examples below.

   attack	at. tack
   attest	at. test
   earring	ear. ring
   battle	bat. tle
   asset	as. set
   shuffle	shuf. fle
   mirror	mir. ror
   pillow	pil. low

   Write the two parts of the words in different colours for better visual appeal.

   attack	at. tack
   attest	at. test
   earring	ear. ring
   battle	bat. tle
   asset	as. set
   shuffle	shuf. fle
   mirror	mir. ror
   pillow	pil. low

   We strongly recommend buying a white board and the use of marker pens of different colours to provide good visual effect. Many children are visual learners and the use of colours makes it easier for them to remember. Visual effect is a booster for the child’s memory.A board is essential to teach children with learning difficulties.

2. Another method is to give matching exercises to your child. Don’t teach too many words in one sitting. For struggling spellers it is better to teach a group of say eight words over a period of two or three days. When the child is familiar with the group of words, prepare "matching exercises". To begin with, start with three letters. Gradually increase the number in the matching exercises to five and then to seven or eight. Frequent revisions are required.

   See the following examples: In case your child finds it difficult to match the parts of the words, you may pronounce the words. The child can listen to you and do the matching. When it comes to revision, see if your child can do the problem without you pronouncing the words. If not, pronounce the words again.

   Three Words

   1.at	a.ror
   2.mir	b.loon
   3.bal	c.tack

   (Answers: attack, mirror, balloon)

   Five words

   1.shuf	a.tle
   2.lit	b.ner
   3.as	c.fle
   4.win	d.rot
   5.par	e.sent

   (Answers: shuffle, little, assent, winner, parrot)

   Make your own worksheets like these in a notebook so that these can be used for revision.Make your child practice as often as possible. Some children require over learning- learning the same thing again and again.

3. Make your child write sentences using these words. Simply learning spelling of words is not enough. Make your child write sentences. Writing fifteen sentences everyday is an excellent method to improve one’s language skills.

Refer to spelling rules:

a.doubling up spelling rule

b. floss spelling rule for doubling f,l, and s.

c. suffix doubling spelling rules

d. rules for doubling consonants when adding “ing”.( ship-shipping)

e. doubling consonants when changing present tense to past tense.( stop-stopped)

Highlight the double letter words in the children’s textbooks. This would help the children to focus on the double letter words while reading the text. Prepare exercises using double letter words.

Discuss the spelling rules for doubling letters and access worksheets of double letter words from the internet.