Thank you for your email. You definitely want to build in support so your daughter has a way to check her short vowel sounds for accuracy during spelling and reading. This is a common problem so we created a template for this type of thing. You can download the “keyword sound chart” here. There is also a student example on this page in the section below the template.

Once you’ve printed the template, I recommend having your daughter choose a keyword for each short vowel sound that is tricky for her. The keyword should be a short 2 syllable word that has the target vowel sound. For example, you might choose “itchy” for short i. When she is spelling or reading you’ll have her “check her keyword sound” /i/ as in “itchy” with the vowel she printed/used. If they don’t match, it cues her that she made a mistake. Using her keyword chart as a resource she’ll be able to fix the mistake. If you use this method very consistently and always have her sound chart out next to her, the problem should fade away with enough repetitions and time.

I hope this is easy to understand. Please email back if you have further questions!

Hi,

You have a fun question! I was wondering when someone would ask this. You’re the first!

When my daughters were younger they formed a club with their cousins and called it the Silver Moon club. They would sing, put on skits, and play games outdoors at their grandparent’s house. Their grandparents lived in Northern WI where there’s a lot of forest and natural beauty. Summer nights were very clear and the moon appeared silver to them. This is how they decided to call their club the Silver Moon club. I decided to use Silver Moon for the curriculum name because there’s a simultaneously multisensory component to the procedures. Students are hearing, seeing, touching, and engaging with the material during each and every lesson. Likewise, the girls were always acting, singing, moving, playing and having a blast being best friends – all multisensory activities – all engaging activities. Besides this, I think Silver Moon just sounds charming. 😊

Thank you for your email!

The Brief Auditory Discrimination Screening must be used with students individually in a quiet and distraction free setting. Model the practice items first, then have the student try on their own. Students should complete the test items without assistance though you may repeat each prompt up to 3 times. If a student has too many wrong or too many repeats they may need explicit instruction in auditory discrimination for the sounds in error and/or auditory memory up to three sound sequences.

Directions: Dictate each prompt (set of 3 sounds) one at a time without blending the sounds. Make sure to pronounce each sound clearly. The student may watch your mouth. After the teacher has dictated a prompt –

  • Ask the student to repeat the sounds to ensure they heard them correctly.
  • Ask the student to pull down one tile, block, or token for each sound while saying the sound.
  • Ask the student to repeat the sounds one more time while pointing to each tile and saying the corresponding sound.
  • Clear off the tile and repeat the process with the other prompts.

Thank you for your email. We currently only have a hard copy. That said, we have lots of instructors that use the curriculum for remote learning as is. Here’s a short video clip on how one of our instructor’s uses SM digitally. The video can be viewed using this link. More video tips from one of our expert teachers can be found here. If you have other questions, I’m happy to help!

Thanks for your message. Silver Moon is a fantastic fit for students who spell phonetically and are advanced in reading. Yes, the program is standards based. If you reference your state’s standards you will find our learning targets align. The program is cumulative so you would need to start at the very beginning with the blue book and work through all three books. The spelling patterns/rules are presented in order of difficulty from easiest to more difficult and they correspond to the 7 types of syllables. Kit 1 covers open and closed syllables and the related spelling patterns. Kit 2 covers sticky unit syllables, silent e and consonant le syllables and the related spelling patterns. Kit 3 covers vowel teams and bossy R syllables and their spelling patterns.

I’ve answered your questions below.

This is a different program than the way traditional spelling is taught, correct (as in spelling lists)?

Correct. This program is not your traditional spelling program. It follows an OG approach and is controlled. This means students are not given spelling words they haven’t learned the rule base for. Students learn to spell by rule and learn a deep understanding of the rules.

Is it a lot of hands on instruction?

It is explicit with a high level of student/teacher engagement – the instructor is involved the entire lesson until the very end when there’s independent practice.
Finger spelling
Syllable tapping
Blending – slow swoop

I was looking at your website, and I have a question about using your program for whole group instruction. By the end of the first book, will it have covered enough for 1st grade spelling standards? We are in a Common Core state.

It teaches spelling by syllable pattern and in a logical manner from easiest to more complex. There are learning targets listed at the beginning of every lesson that you can correlate to CCSS. If you teach the entire program with fidelity you’ll have covered all 7 syllable patterns and just about every spelling rule in English. FYI – The prefix and suffix instructional manual is not published yet.

If a teacher were to use the program you wrote, how many minutes a day will this program take?

That is up to you. We recommend 100 minutes a week.

How do you recommend getting the knowledge of spelling rules and HOW to teach them explicitly to more teachers?

Preservice teachers need to learn this information as part of their undergraduate program. But, it’s not enough just to learn it in a college class, they need to be able to use it and apply it to real students so the learning is meaningful.The SM text is being used as a vehicle in undergrad. And grad level courses to get this information to teachers. It kind of kills two birds with one stone. It gives them the lesson plans so they know what a structured lit. lesson is like and it teaches them the rules, phonetic concepts, and word structure while they teach it to their students. It does this through scripting. Provided the instructor takes time to preread the each section before teaching they should not have any trouble understanding the concepts and teaching the concepts.
For existing teachers, they need professional development in this topic.

What resources do you recommend for grades 2-3?

If you are referring to resources I’ve authored I’d recommend starting with the blue book (Set t1) and following the sequence through all three books.
If you are referring to outside resources there are many it just depends on what specifically you are looking for.

Is this similar to Logic of English?

I’m not trained in LOE so I really can’t answer your question.

You might be interested in watching an introductory video here.

Contact me if you have any further questions!

Thanks for your email. Yes! Silver Moon was written specifically for dyslexic and/or dysgraphic learners. I am the program author. I am also a dyslexia specialist and University instructor in literacy. Silver Moon would work quite well with two students at a time. Just make sure to buy an extra pack of student cards for the second student. This is what makes the program so engaging – students collect their own set of fun, witty rule cards as they work through the lessons. I would recommend getting all three books because this is how they are broken down:

Set 1: Rules for closed and open syllables with schwa rules
Set 2: Rules for silent e, consonant l+e, sticky unit (ing, ang, ong, ung, etc)
Set 3: Rules for R controlled, Bossy W, and vowel teams

Developmentally it would be necessary and appropriate to teach all of these concepts to an 8 year old and 11year old. Spelling rules are presented in order of easiest to more difficult and they are cumulative, meaning you would teach everything because the lessons build on one another.

If you could share how you found out about Silver Moon that would be great to know. Feel free to reach back out if you have further questions!

You’ve asked a good question. Silver Moon® Spelling Rules is a supplement and it can be used a few different ways. It can be dovetailed into a reading intervention or used solo. It is an explicit and systematic spelling supplement that will improve literacy skills (word level reading, spelling, and ultimately fluency due to improved decoding). SM will help decoding no matter the reason for the decoding issue – dyslexia, curricular disparity, or lack of exposure.

These are to be used if you’re unsure a student is ready for the Silver Moon program.

Sets 1-3 are fantastic for tutoring businesses!  Students are VERY motivated by collecting their cards as they learn.  You’ll want to order enough student card packs for the amount of students you have and at each level.  Some companies have parents pay for the student supplies as a fee built into their cost of services (student materials fee).  This seems to work out nicely for tutors.

Many teachers dovetail Silver Moon into their reading intervention of choice or use it in an order that matches the scope and sequence they are using. We will discuss how this works in the webinar on June 14th. If you do this, you’ll need to keep an eye on the word lists that are used during lessons because they are written in a controlled fashion. There may be syllable patterns or division rules you need to pre-teach.

The Silver Moon system is scripted so that teachers shouldn’t need training as long as they read the manuals thoroughly and ask questions when they come up! That said, we are working on releasing a digital subscription that includes video tutorials. This will help teachers who feel they need more support. This is coming soon!

Some lessons will go faster than others. After giving the pretest at the beginning of each section you may decide to move quickly through concepts he mostly understands, (but still introduce the rule name and card) and slow down for content he needs more help with.

The card games are a wonderful addition to lessons because it allows you to stop and review several concepts at a time. They focus on ID as opposed to application. Both are important. You may also want to download our reproducibles that are attached to our blog.

Without knowing your student I can’t give an estimate on how far you’d get. Processing speed, background knowledge, memory, generalization of concepts, using extension activities, etc are all factors.

Yes, our OG lesson plan template includes review. The format is provided and the instructor fills in the content according to student needs. Additionally, the lesson plans in the teacher’s manuals include targeted review before every lesson.

Email the Silver Moon support team at support@silvermoonspellingrules.com.

Let us know which webinar or topics you are interested in seeing.

Spelling is so important! Yes, Silver Moon® is a fantastic fit for students who struggle to spell! If a student is weak in spelling and you teach them using an explicit and systematic spelling program their reading will also benefit. The reading/spelling connection is strong and there’s lots of research to back this!

That’s wonderful to hear! I appreciate your email. Here’s our complete scope and sequence.

Thank you for your email! That’s exciting – Here are a few tips to help you get started!

Each student will need their own pack of cards. They’ll earn the cards as they work through the program. These are usually single hole punched and kept on a binder ring so they stay organized. If other materials are recommended, they’ll be listed in the introduction before each lesson. In general, there’s not much that’s needed beyond a white board, marker, and notebook/pencil. The rule match games add a lot to the lessons. This may be something to consider getting down the road if you don’t already have them.

Make sure to read the introduction to each section in the manual. This will let you know if a new syllable pattern is being introduced.

If you need help along the way, I’m happy to answer more questions. We have a few blogs and extra practice pages that may of of assistance as well. Have fun bringing spelling to life!

Thank you for asking this question. Here are some tips to adapt the materials for online use.

  • Mail the student a set of the student rule cards with a binder ring. As they complete lessons they can hole punch the newest card and add it to their ring.
  • Use a document camera to display the larger instructor’s set of rule cards while teaching. Here’s an example of an inexpensive document camera you can connect to your computer. I use something just like this and it works great!
  • If you purchase the program, email me to request a digital copy of the word tables and practice pages that pair with each lesson.
  • Email the student support pages (syllable division, syllable types) to the student so they can print and create a support folder for use during lessons. You can display these on your screen as needed.

Hopefully these ideas help!