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| There
is considerable confusion
everywhere in regard to the subject of spelling and the teaching of it.
I was not very much
surprised to find these expressions in large letters at the head of an
article in an educational jourual: "Are In College, But Can't Spell.
Freshmen Fail on Simple Words." Everyone realizes that the condition is
deplorable. Many persons say that our language is the cause of this
condition - we have the most difficult language in the world to
acquire. The members of the N E A seem to have this idea of the matter,
and are trying to simplify the spelling of some of the most confusing
words in our language. The old-fashioned way of learning to spell was to spell. I am not sure that it is wrong to be old-fashioned when it comes to spelling. Pupils ought to acquire the habit of accurate spelling. They don't need to swallow the whole dictionary in order to acquire this. If a pupil knows a certain number of words perfectly, he is better able to determine what other words he doesn't know accurately. He is better able to use the dictionary. Be sure that he has command of 500 or 1,000 words of common usage and he will be on the road to success in spelling. But he must be absolutely sure as to the words he assumes to know. With the above idea in mind, three county sunerintendents in Iowa met and prepared a list of 1,000 words of common usage for the study of the school children in these three counties The list did not include any difficult or "catch" words, but it included simple words which are very often misspelled. Each county superintendent was allowed to conduct the spellng work in his own county with the understanding that a tri-county spelling contest would be held in connection with the Chautauqua in Washington, July 2, 1903. The following is a letter which was sent to the teachers of Keokuk county: Put your spelling books aside for the winter term and use the enclosed list of 1,000 practical words as a text. Teach your pupils how to write these words correctly. The last week of your winter term, provided this will not be later than March 27th, you will hold a written contest to find out what pupil in your school will receive the highest per cent in writing these words correctly. As soon as you have held your contest and have found out who this pupil is, you will send me his name and address. Then on April 11th, 1903, this pupil will come to Sigourney to represent his school in a written contest. The three pupils who receive the highest per cent as a result of this county contest will go to Washington July 2nd to represent our county in a tri-county contest. The pupil who wins at Washington will receive $20 for the school he represents and $5 for himself. Any teacher whose pupil wins a place in the county contest or in the contest at Washington will have made a reputation which will be profitable to him. This county will look with pride on the children and teachers who undertake this task earnestly and especially on the three pupils who win in the county contest and on any pupil who may win in the contest at Washington. Teacher, it is worth your while. I trust that the school chiIdren of this county will be greatly benefited by the contest. INSTRUCTIONS. Give special attention to the capital letter and to the hyphen where they are used. Look up the pronunciation, diacritical marking and meaning of every word in the list. If the teacher does not give the correct pronunciation for each word, the child will not understand the words when they are pronounced in the final contest. The teacher will be surprised to find that mfollowing are the names of spellers who received grades of more than 99 per cent in the county written contest:any of these words are not generally pronounced correctly. You will notice the word aisle in the list. Tell the pupils that when this word is pronounced they are to spell aisle and not isle: when prey is pronounced they are to spell prey and not pray; stationery and not stationary; seine and not sane; suite and not sweet, dessert and not desert; caramel and not caromel; principle and not principal. In other words, teach your pupils to spell and to write each word just as it appears here and not to spell or write something which sounds like or looks like the word desired. You cannot be too careful with this. If there are two ways of spelling some of the words, nevertheless, spell them as they appear in the list. Notice the accent of each word. Some of the words permit several dilferent systems of accent. Find out what the different systems of accent of such words are and explain them to the pupils so that they will recognize the words no matter which system is used in the final contest by the person pronouncing. For this reason give special attention to the following words: duress, entrance, secretory, survey and _____. Some words permit two systems of diacritical marking. Give special attention to the following words: gaseous, promennde, dynamite, hygiene, isolate and obeisance. There will not be enough lists to supply every pupil in the county aud the tsacher will need to put a list in a place where the pupils can see It. No pupils in graded schools who are classified higher than the eighth grade will be allowed to enter the contest. While this contest will be a written one, yet the teacher should not fail to have the children spell the words orally. The writing of each letter and word must be legible The letter a will not be accepted for o. Don't attempt to master the correct spelling of too many words in one lesson. Divide the list of 1,000 words into lessons which will be best suited to your school. Review often. Spell. Spell. Spell. WHAT THEY SAID. My pupils are taking great interest in the spelling contest. Everyone thinks it is a good thing. Spelling schools are getting to be quite common. We will have one at our school Friday night. A Teacher. We had a "spell down" Friday evening, January 23rd. Liberty carried off the honors. K. A. Kirkpatrick. Interest in the tri-county spelling contest is gradually working up to fever heat. Teachers are offering all sorts of prizes to the pupils who will represent their schools at Sigourney. Good thing: push it along. We'll be a nation of spellers yet. Keota Eagle, January 22nd The spelling contest has created new interest, not only in spelling, but all of the other branches of study. Anna F Clarahan, Harper. I think the list of 1,000 words a very practical one. Lilly Pollock. I give the words without study and then the pupils learn the ones misspelled. Prin. C. C. Bowie. The pupils show a g-reat deal of interest in the spelling work and we have better lessons than ever before. Minnie Strohmann. By giving 25 words to the spelling class each day we will get througli the little spelling book and we will have two weeks for review. We review misspelled words each day. Inez Roller. County Superintendent Miller announces something new in the educational line and something that cannot help being a decided benefit to the schools of the county. Spelling is usually one of the weak points in our educational system, and it is not unusual to find pupils wlio are well educated otherwise who cannot spell many words of common use correctly. Hedrick Journal, Jan. 7, 1903. All of the pupils are doing good work. They take more interest in these words than they do in the words in their spelling books. Lottie Evermann. I find the little spelling book a great help and a greater interest has been created in that study than ever before. Sue Downing. The list is a good stiff one but the words are for the most part practical and if the pupils of these three counties learn them all as they should, there will be better spellers than we have at present. What Cheer Patriot, Jan. 2. 190.3. COUNTY ORAL SPELLING CONTEST. For a number of reasons it was thought best to hold a county oral spelling contest. It was necessary to have some money with which to pay the general exepnses connected with the contest. And so many people wanted it. You know how our parents and grandparents delight to tell of the old-fashioned spelling school. They wanted us to have one of these oral spelling schools and we planned for a large one by sending the followinir letter to all of the teachers: On the evening of April 10,
at 8 o'clock, the evening just
previous to the day when the written contest is given, an oral spelling
contest will be held in the Sigourney high schcol building. Only the
representatives from the various schools of the county and who
participate in the written contest will he allowed to enter this oral
contest. The same 1,000 words will be used in this contest; but if
several pupils remain standing after this entire list has been used,
then other and new words will be introduced.
Five dollars will be given
to the pupil who wins in this oral
contest An admission fee of 25 cents will be charged. Representatives
of schools will be admitted free. It is hoped that the attendance at
this oral contest will be large enough so that a pleasant surprise to
the extent of several dollars can be given to each one of three pupils
who wins in the written contest April 11.
Let it be understood that
the entire expenses of the three pupils who go to Washington will be
paid.
What an interesting spelling
contest it will be: 139 of the best
spellers Keokuk county can afford. Each one will represent a school and
each one will bring honor to his school . What parent does not want to
see his child win? What teacher does not wish to see his pupil win? Who
does not wish to see this contest? What teacher will fail to do his
duty to raise the standard of spelling in our schools?
Each teacher in this county
will be held responsible for the representation of his school.
Those pupils who recently
passed the examination for a county diploma will receive their diplomas
at this time.
 COUNTY SPELLING CONTEST.
THERE WERE EIGHTY BOYS AND GIRLS IN THE CLASS. THEY KNOW THE ''ONE THOUSAND." Good Educational Interest Awakened All Over The County. The spelling contest of this county came off last Friday night and Saturday according to program. Notwithstanding the fact that it rained about all day Friday, the boys and girls were interested and they came here from all parts of the county. They brought their father or mother or teacher with them and by four o'clock Friday the town was filled with rural school children and their friends. Friday evening at 8 o'clock Mr Miller lined up eighty contestants from as many different schools of this county. Everyone of the eighty a good one and ready to spell until morning for the glory of his school. There was a good audience present and while the exercises grew long the interest never waned. When the first one thousand words had been pronounced there were but twelve words misspelled - demonstrating beyond a doubt that these boys and girls had not come here without first preparing their lesson. The work of pronouncing was diffi-cult from the fact that the class and the "teacher" were not accustomed to each other. The room and the class were large and it was a most trying position for the speller and the pronouneer. At the end of the one thousand words new ones were given - words that they had not studied - and it didn t take long to close the contest.  Pauline White She "spelled 'em down." Click image to enlarge Pauline White, English River township, No 7., carried off the honors of the night and was awarded a prize of a five dollar gold piece. Pauline is a daughter of Hon. Fred White, and the teacher of No. 7 was Ray Wiliams. Saturday afternoon the real contest took place This was a written contest. The same thousand words were given and the same eighty hoys and girls wrote them. The manuscript will be examined and the winner will go to Washington in July to compete with that county and Louisa county in a spelling contest. There is one thing certain, this has created an interest in spelling among the pupils of Keokuk county that can't help being beneficial. These boys and girls have learned one thousand words this winter and learned them well, too. They have done more than that. They have learned to write by writing the words and when an interest has been created in one branch of study it can't help spreading to the others. Of course there will be a number of disappointments but that is always evident when one enters a contest Somebody must win and somebody must lose. Undoubtedly the bad weather kept a good number from getting here as there were 139 who had signified their intention of coming. Sigourney Review, April 15, 1903 One father and mother drove 18 miles through the rain to get to Sigourney to witness the contest. I was surprised to see them here knowing that they had so far to come througli the rain. I told them I was surprised to see them and asked them why they came. The father answered: "Why we had to come. If we hadn't that daughter of ours would have bawled her head off." For some unknown reason the word arctic appeared twice in the little spelling book. The person who pronounced the words in the county written contest pronounced this word when he came to it the first time and omitted it when he came to it the second time. One of the contestants had the list so well committed to memory that he even knew the order of the words He left a blank space for the word omitted by the pronouncer and inserted this expression in writing, "The word arctic belongs in here somewhere." GETTING PRACTICAL. The schools in Washington, Keokuk and Louisa counties have inaugurated a movement that should be duplicated all over Iowa. The object is to create an interest in spelling the words commonly used in the English language. The plan adopted is for each school in a county to devote considerable time to spelling and the best spellers in each school are sent as delegates to a regular contest at some central point. A few days ago one of these contests occurred at Sigourney in which 80 boys and girls took part. A list of 1,000 words was prepared, but these were not enorgh to trip up all of the class. Miss Pauline White, daughter of Hon. Fred White, won the honors. This spelling contest was done orally, and a written contest followed, the winner of that to represent Keokuk county at the tri-county contest which will be held at Washington next July. There is no excuse for being a bad speller. It is the result of carelessness and poor teaching. It is a branch of study more neglected than any other, while in the affairs of life it is more used than any other. Too many girls and boys jump from the real foundations of education to the side issues that are forgotten soon after they leave school. A man with a thorough knowledge of orthography, arithmetic, grammar and geography is pretty well prepared to take care of himself. Of course other studies are all right and very handy to round out an education and should be taken when the four named are thoroughly mastered. Many men and women who have college diplomas cannot write a page of manuscript free from errors of some kind. The average compositor in a printing office can detect them. These men do not lay claim to finished educations, but what they have is practical and embraces what is in every day use. The plan being followed in the three counties named is sure to bring good results, and the idea is a splendid one. It is worthy of imitation everywhere. Ottumwa Courier THESE YOUNG PEOPLE CAN SPELL The following are the names of spellers who received grades of more than 99 per cent in the county written contest:
This list does not include the names of the seventeen spellers who received 100 per cent. The three county superintendents were surprised to find that more than three pupils from each county could spell the 1,000 correct ly. Here is the record: Louisa county 5; Washington county 6; Keokuk county 17. And ail of the 28 were allowed to take part in the tri-county contest. Following are given tlie names of the Keokuk county boys and girls who spelled the 1,000 words correctly in the written contest and fifteen of them went to Washington on the evening of July first to take part in the tri-county contest on the evening of July 2nd, 1903:
July 2nd, 1903, Educational Day at the Washington Chautauqua, was a great day. Fifteen of our seventeen spellers were there. At seven o'clock in the morning twenty-five representatives - five from Louisa, five from Washington and fifteen from Keokuk county - met in the South Ward school building and wrote the 1,000 words which were pronounced by Miss Hughes and Mr. Miller. The boys and girls did well - exceedingly well considering the great heat of that day At five o'cioclc, in the main tent on the Chautauqua ground, the judges gave their decision and it was found that eight contestants had spelled the list correctly and seven of them were from Keokuk county. Following is the list of successful contestants: Jessie Redfern, Ray Richardson, Mamie Strasser, Elsie Hav.k, Bertha Brower, Harold Morton, Dolly Morrow and Jake Roth. The last one named belongs to Washington county. Tlie twenty-five dollars was divided equally among the eght successful contestants. The three superintendents had previously made arrangements for a tri-county oral spelling contest and offered a prize of $3 to the contestant last on the platform. Washington was allowed to add ten representatives to her number in this oral contest and this made 35 contestants in all. This contest was held iu the afternoon and in the main tent in the presence of hundreds of people. The large tent was crowded and the interest was intense. When the 1,000 words had been pronounced, not one contestant had gone down. New words were then selected from a modern spelling book and pronounced by Miss Hughes. How those boys and girls spelled! How well each represented his county! But one by one they wen! down. Of the last six standing all but one were frcm Keokuk county. One by one they missed until John Brooks and Mamie Strasser, both from Keokuk county, were left to entertain the crowd. And they entertained the crowd for a long time. They can spell - John was only nine years of age. Isn't he a remarkable boy? But he finally misspelled a word and Mamie Strasser was awarded the prize of $3 which she well deserved.  Mamie Strasser Click image to enlarge Tliis is a likeness of Miss Mamie Strasser who made a remarkable record in our spelling contest. She spelled the list of 1,000 words correctly in the written county contest. She spelled this list of words correctly again in the written tri-county contest, and she ''spelled 'em down" in the oral tri-county contest. Miss Strasser is a country girl, living near Coal Creek in Prairie township. Our county has reason to feel proud of the record she made. All persons connected with the tri-county contest feel very grateful to the Washington Chautauqua Association. They paid the expenses of three representatives from each county and they gave the $25 to the eight winners. Yes the spelling contest is past but its influence lives and will live for a long time. The cooperation of parents, pupils and teachers in the work was remarkable. They realized that the pupils in our rural and town schools are not proficient enough in spelling and they gladly and earnestly took hold of the work to better the conditions. The little spelling book became a popular friend everywhere. The great demand for it could not be supplied. It can be found in many homes in Keokuk county today not as a mere souvenir but as a little laborer ready for duty. The influence of our spelling contest was not confined to our own state. The plan has been used in many other counties and states and has been a remarkable factor for good. Albert Donnell, superintendent of schools in Slatersville, R. I., is one of the many educators who has made use of the plan. He says: "I am anxiously looking for means to create a mutual interest and rivalry between schools that lor a number of years have received little attention." WHAT A TEACHER SAID George Horras was in Cedar Falls attending the Iowa State Normal school . This school requires every student who enters to take a test in spelling. If he fails in the test he has to study the subject of spelling until he is able to pass this test. Many universities have recently arranged for a class of this kind and generally call it the "pity sakes" class. Here is what George says about it: "I took the test this morning and they passed me off with 96 per cent and I know that I could not have done it had it not been for the study of the 1,000 words used in the Keokuk county contest, for we had a great number of these words in this test." The above shows that the spelling contest was a benefit to the teachers as well as the pupils of this county. No Keokuk county teacher who took an active part in this contest has joined a "pity sakes" class. One of our teachers received 100 per cent in the test at Cedar Falls and he, too, sings praises for the contest. Oh, it was a help to everybody! Fathers and mothers, lawyers and doctors and farmers took an interest in it and profited from it. COUNTY SPELLING CONTEST EXPENSES.
This was distributed among the 17 pupils who spelled the 1,000 words correctly. $33.13 divided bv L7 = $1.94. |
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