Spelling You See G: Modern Milestones

Modern Milestones is designed for students in the Word Extension stage of spelling. Students are introduced to a new way of marking word patterns that emphasizes how prefixes and suffixes are added to base words to enhance or change their meanings. Copywork and dictation activities provide opportunities for students to practice new word patterns in a meaningful context. A weekly Workshop page provides more practice with the concepts taught in each lesson. The focus of the passages in Modern Milestones is on artists, musicians, scientists, and others who have influenced our world since early modern times. This level has been designed to encourage more independent learning on the part of the student, always with the support and encouragement of the instructor.

Students will read about the contributions of many different people during the last four centuries. Students will begin to learn details about specific spelling patterns, particularly how prefixes and suffixes are used to expand or change the meaning of words.

Modern Milestones:

• Features artists, musicians, scientists, and other who have influenced our world since early modern times
• Expands and adapts the familiar Spelling You See activities:
  • marking word patterns– focuses attention on the ways in which suffixes and prefixes affect the spelling of different words
  • copywork – continues to a valuable tool to help the brain pay attention to close details in print
  • dictation – gives an opportunity for students to demonstrate decoding and encoding in a meaningful context
• Gradually increases in reading level, providing opportunities for vocabulary development and allowing students to learn how to spell words in an interesting context
• Includes 36 weekly lessons divided between two books; each lesson has five parts, A through E
• Includes a weekly Workshop activity that provides students with opportunities to apply and practice the patterns they have learned

Is Your Child Ready for Modern Milestones?

The student should be able to complete this skills assessment successfully. Also, the student should be able to follow written instructions and work independently.

Skills assessment:

The following passage is taken from the previous level of Spelling You See and is written at the minimum reading level for Modern Milestones. Can your student read it without difficulty?

The Chinese were the first people to print books. Their language uses thousands of characters instead of a simple alphabet. For many years they carved each page into a wooden block. Later, each character was carved from clay. The characters were baked so they would harden. Next they were fastened onto iron plates. A page was printed from each plate. Thankfully the clay characters could be used over and over! The process was a challenge. Still, it was easier than copying books by hand.

Now dictate the passage to your student. Then answer the following questions:

• Was my student able to complete the dictation with relative ease?
• Did my student complete the dictation in 10 minutes or less?
• When writing the passage from dictation, did my student correctly spell at least ten of the words from this list?
  • language, thousands, characters, alphabet, carved, wooden, harden, fastened, iron, thankfully, process, challenge, easier

If you answered "Yes" to all these questions, your child may be ready to begin Modern Milestones. See the General Spelling Readiness Guidelines for more information on placing your student in the correct level.

Modern Milestones is written for students who are in the Word Extension stage of spelling. It assumes that students can spell most words that they can read, although they may be uncertain about how those words change when adding prefixes or suffixes. While this level incorporates principles and activities from previous levels of Spelling You See, it is written for students who are ready to study specific word patterns and work more independently. A solid foundation in the Skill Development stage is essential for success in Modern Milestones.