Developmental Spelling

An Effective Spelling Approach

Description

• Students acquire the complex spelling knowledge of the English writing system by progressing through stages

• Students begin by using knowledge of letter names and sounds to spell words

• During later stages, students include knowledge of the correct sequence of letters and meaning units to spell words.

Description (cont.)• Students typically do not fluctuate between stages

• Once a developmental stage has been mastered, students generally do not revert to the characteristics of earlier stages

Developmental Stage Models• Fundamental concept is that there is

synchrony between reading, writing, and spelling development

• Students’ reading, writing, and spelling skills develop together and advance in a stage-like progression

Bear’s Developmental Stage Model• Emergent

• Letter Name-Alphabetic

• Within Word Pattern

• Syllables and Affixes

• Derivational Relations

Emergent

• Typically between the ages of 0-5 years

• Students are not yet reading and writing

• Little or no matching of letters and sounds

• Children begin to learn the letters of the alphabet and their writing starts to include most prominent sounds in words

Letter Name

• Period of time when students are formally taught to read

• Typically beginning in kindergarten and extending into the middle of second grade

• Reading and writing are slow processes

• Learn to spell words with most short-vowel patterns, consonant blends, and consonant digraphs correctly.

Within Word

• Students typically reach this stage at the end of first grade

• Extends throughout second grade and third grade and sometimes into fourth grade

• Students are fluent in reading “easy” chapter books and are writing pieces that are several paragraphs in length

Within Word (cont.)

• Learn to spell words with common long-vowel spelling patterns, less common vowel patterns, and words containing abstract vowel combinations

• Introduced to the meaning layer of the English writing system through an extensive study of homophones

Syllable Juncture (Syllable and Affixes)• Upper elementary and middle school years (typically

between the ages of 9 and 14)

• Students closely examine multi-syllable words for spelling patterns and units of meaning

• Study common prefixes and suffixes (affixes) as separate meaning units

• Proficient readers and writers

• Students write to describe, explain, persuade, summarize and question in the form of letters, essays, and response logs

Derivational Constancy (Relations)• Some students reach this stage as early as

grade 4 or 5

• Most students are in middle school, high school, or college

• Study words that share common derivatives (parts of speech) and related base words and root words

Derivational Constancy (cont.)• Lifelong stage in which mature readers and

writers discover how sound, pattern, and meaning interact through continued experiences with reading, writing, and exploration of words

Assessments

Qualitative Spelling Inventories

• Primary Spelling Inventory, Elementary Spelling Inventory, and Upper Elementary Spelling Inventory (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton & Johnston, 2008)

Developmental Spelling Analysis

• Informal Spelling Inventory (Ganske, 2000)

• Feature Analysis Assessment (Ganske, 2000)

Assessments (cont.)

• Administered at least twice a year (beginning of the year, middle of the year, and/or the end of the school year)

• Progress monitoring is “essential” in order to advance students along the developmental spelling continuum

Word Study

Typically follows a Monday through Friday routine:

• On Monday, the teacher passes out the sets of words to the students, introduces the word sorts to each group, and then the students complete their sorts (say, sort, write/read)

• Throughout the week, the students are provided multiple opportunities for practicing their words through a wide variety of activities such as picture sorts, word sorts, word hunts, and word games

• On Friday, the students complete a “blind sort” (spelling test) of the words practiced during the week.

Word Study Notebook

• Students record their word sorts, word hunts, and other word study activities in a word study notebook

• Provides a record of the students’ explorations of words throughout the course of the year

• Word sorts and word study activities need to be tailored to the developmental stages of the students (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston, 2008)

Strengths

• Word study is a teacher-directed, child-centered instructional strategy

• Teachers are able to explicitly teach students what they need to know about the English spelling system (Direct Instruction)

• Students are engaged and motivated through hands-on word work activities

• Word work activities promote inquiry, discovery, and critical thinking skills

Weakness

• Some spelling experts disagree with stage theories that students acquire the knowledge of the complex English spelling system sequentially

• They suggest that students are able to acquire the complex knowledge of the English spelling system simultaneously and at a very young age (Overlapping Waves Theory)

Data

• Developmental Spelling Approach can have a positive influence on the spelling achievement of students performing at all academic levels (Deak, 2012)