When reading was taught with Webster’s Speller, children did not read special reading books, they went straight from learning to read and spell in the Speller to reading from the Bible.
Don and Liz have taught students from Webster’s Speller today, and it still produces the same powerful results. While it works with all students, it is an especially powerful tool for ESL students; the list of words by accent pattern helps them pronounce English correctly and sound out long words with ease. Remedial students improve their reading and spelling after just a few hours with Webster.
You can read about how spellers were used in Geraldine E. Rodgers’s “Why Noah Webster’s Way Was the Right Way,” and at Liz’s History of Reading Instruction page.
Links to Webster’s Speller and other Spellers are at Don Potter’s Spelling Book page.
Here is a link to a pdf version of Don’s Webster Spelling Book Method for the Twenty-First Century. Don worked several years typing and editing Webster’s 1908 Elementary Spelling Book for use today. The large, clear print is very inviting to young reader’s eyes. Don hopes to have a print copy available for purchase in the near future.
Here is a link to Webster’s 1824 American Spelling. Don retyped the entire book in large, modern type to make it easier to read. Webster used the older method of putting numerals over the vowels to indicate the precise sound of the vowels in the words. This also has his wonderful Moral Catechism, which applies Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount to the young child’s heart.
Liz also has a Webster’s Speller page explaining how to teach using the Speller.
