I Can't Spell That

Students predict which words in a text they will misspell, practise those words, then take a dictation and compare predictions with actual mistakes.

Procedure

1. Direct students to a short text or dialogue they have previously encountered. Tell them you will dictate it later. Ask them to reread and underline any words they think they may spell incorrectly. They discuss predictions with a partner and estimate how many mistakes they will make.
2. Students spend a few minutes practising the difficult words: look at a word, look away, rewrite it, then check against the original.
3. Students turn over all papers. Dictate the text while students write it out. For greater challenge, dictate later in the lesson or on a different day.
4. Students compare their dictation with the original text and check their prediction against actual mistakes. They discuss results in pairs.

Tips

• The process of predicting mistakes is itself a step towards greater accuracy — predicted errors usually outnumber actual errors
• Builds learner autonomy: students identify their own learning needs rather than having the teacher pre-empt difficulties
• Works with any text the class has already studied
• Encourages a useful self-study strategy students can replicate at home