Megan Roberts
Megan Roberts, M.S.E., currently works as a Reading Specialist for elementary students in the Lee’s Summit School District. She has taught for 14 years, in two different districts in Missouri, with a focus on primary learners and literacy education. Megan has experience in various leadership roles, including district-wide reading demonstration teacher, literacy lab cohort host, and cross-district collaboration facilitator. She has demonstrated her dedication to literacy instruction by earning a special reading certificate and completing training with LETRS and the Wilson Reading System.
Concurrent Session Description
More than Memorization: Dispelling Myths of Spelling
Megan Roberts
(Special Ed, Dyslexia, Other Learning Challenges, Spelling, Components of Literacy Instruction, General Science of Reading)
The science of reading has helped literacy educators to improve their teaching practice, primarily in terms of phonics instruction. We have acquired new skills and strategies that embrace how our brains actually learn to read and process written language. But how does this fit into how students learn to spell? And why do our strong readers continue to struggle with spelling? This session will provide an overview of the idea of orthographic mapping and Ehri’s phases of sight word development. We will dispel a few spelling myths, such as “Students just need more practice to memorize words,” and “Phonics is important for younger readers, not mature spellers,” and “Good readers are good spellers.” Discover how using familiar phonemic awareness strategies can increase students’ ability to independently and correctly spell words.
Target Audience(s): Elementary
Education Track(s): New to the Science of Reading, Advanced Science of Reading