The Merrill Speller (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Merrill Speller

That the child should focus his attention on a very few words at one time; that these words should have a definite meaning and utility to him; and that they should reappear in his writing and in his spelling lessons so that he cannot forget them - these are the main principles on which the merrill speller is built.

In the Third Year two words are selected for special study in each lesson, supplemented by four easier words. The number of words in a lesson is increased in the succeeding grades, but the same distinction is kept between the words presenting spelling difficulties and the secondary list of review words or relatively easy words.

It is primarily the teacher who must see that the children know the meaning of the word they study and that they use it correctly. In the text-book we can show the meaning of a word by its context in sentences, by grouping it with synonyms or words related in sense, and by directing the pupil to the dictionary.

Reviewing, not only throughout the grade but in the spelling lessons of later years, is essential to permanent mastery of diffi cult words. In this Speller the fifth lesson of each week is de voted to a review of the week's work, and a general review is provided four times a year. For further review, the more difficult words are carried from grade to grade for study in the secondary lists.

In selecting the vocabulary we have drawn chiefly from lists of words frequently misspelled and words that teachers in many different localities have selected for special drill. Webster's New International Dictionary, revision of 1910, has been used as the spelling authority.

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