There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling.No?school I have taught in has ever ignored spelling or considered it unimportant as a basic skill.There?are,however,vastly different ideas about how to teach it,or how much priority it must be given?over general language development and writing ability.The problem is,how to encourage a child to?express himself freely and confidently in writing without holding him back with the complexities of?spelling.
If spelling becomes the only focal point of his teacher′s interest,clearly a bright child will be likely?to"play safe".He will tend to write only words within his spelling range,choosing to avoid adventurous?language.That′s why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content?rather than technical ability.
I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience:"This work is terrible!There are far too many spelling errors and your writing is illegible(难以辨认的)."It may have been a sharp criticism of the pupil′s technical abilities in writing,but it?was also a sad reflection on the teacher who had omitted to read the essay,which contained some?beautiful expressions of the child′s deep feelings.The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the
errors,but if his priorities had centred on the child′s idea,an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more motivation to seek improvement.
The expression"play safe"probably means__________.
【考情点拨】词语理解题。【应试指导】文章第二段第一句指出，如果教师们过分关注拼写问题，聪明的孩子就可能“做得安全些”，随后又解释到，那就是只用自己有把握拼写正确的词语。
