Sue Howard, Leroy Anderson Village Elementary School, 4000 Rhoda Dr., Moreland School District, San Jose, California 95117
Lisa M.W. DaDeppo, Pima Community College, Arizona
Susan De La Paz, University of Maryland, Department of Special Education, College Park, MD, 20742

Difficulties with spelling can impact students’ reading acquisition and writing, having a critical impact on overall literacy development. Students with learning disabilities (LD) often struggle with spelling. We describe a case study with three elementary-aged students with LD using a mnemonic approach to spelling sight words. Our approach, called PESTS, included acrostics, pictorial representation, and stories. The instruction was applied to key words in daily instruction and compared to a traditional approach to spelling sight words. Each of the students improved his or her spelling, as measured by a standardized spelling test, a developmental spelling test, and a researcher-developed instrument.

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