SPELLING INSTRUCTION

The New American Pronouncing Speller, 1887

... no method can ever be successful in making thorough spellers that does not involve considerable labour on the part of both teacher and scholar: there is no royal road to learning.  

Spelling for the Grades, 1925

 Society looks upon the ability to spell

words correctly as one marker of an educated person. To have perfect spelling in all your written work should be your aim. Nothing less should satisfy you.  

Programme of Studies for Grades 1 to 6 of the Public and Separate Schools, 1955 

 Regular use of an approved

Speller ... Vigilant supervision of all written work … Special study of each poor speller …Special training in individual cases.

No book or program can make up for a weak language arts program. Marie Clay

Three points to remember: 1. not everyone learns in the

same way 2. by emphasizing memory we

miss the beauty of the English language

3.focus on the child, not the exercises, or the methods or the words to be spelled

Profile of a Good Speller

 1. Moves beyond the phonetic  2. Has a good visual sense of the word 3. Has integrated a wide variety of

knowledge about words  4. Can spell many words automatically

Is English a chaotic language?

We do not have enough letters

40 sounds and 26 letters 21 consonants and 24 consonant

sounds 5 vowels to represent 16 vowel

sounds it takes over 200 rules to account

for the common spelling patterns in English

English has adopted many words from other languages

wagon - Dutch, kindergarten, blitz, hamburger - German, zero - Arabic, geisha, kimono, origani - from Japanese

souffle, restaurant, boutique - German useful to start with foods from other

cultures - taco, tortilla, challah, spaghetti

Spellings vary according to a sound’s position in a word and are affected by other letters

judge - not juj guide - need the u to make the g hard dinner has a double ne to show there is a

short vowel in the first syllable

How many silent consonants can you find?

I have to say My life’s been dull I’ve never know a gnu,Wrested a knightTalk to Tom Thumb, or sat on a gnat or two. I have never doneThese things at all. Tell me true – Have you?

We have some arbitrary rules that are not even directed connected to pronunciation

odd, bee and wee are all 3 letters when 2 letters would work

usually only function words such as to, in are 2 letters

Not a memory taskSpelling is a sophisticated process - not a

simple, low level take - requires multiple cognitive functions

“spelling is a thinking activity not a memory act” Phenix

contemporary researchers have redefined spelling not as a low level rote memorization task but instead as a high level cognitive skill Phenix p. 8

spelling and thinking go hand in hand  

Donald Graves 1992

Spelling and punctuation have been placed in perspective, as tools that writers use to make their thoughts more understandable to an audience, not as ends in themselves.

 

Beyond rote learning Spelling instruction does not require

a “return to the sterility of rote-learning and workbook drill ... the biggest challenge we face in education today is to teach skills without losing the gains we have made in making our classrooms more child centred.

  Jo

Phenix

We have perceived spelling to be the very soul and fiber of education, and at times, it seemed of society as well. Spelling was the bedrock of literacy, the barometer of intelligence, the measure of our schools’ successes.

Shane Templeton

What good spellers do

Good spellers do more than memorize, they have a repertoire of skills upon which to draw

A comprehensive spelling program includes:

1. spelling patterns 2. spelling strategies 3. subject connections 4. games/fun 5. link with writing and reading 6. history 7. neat facts 8. time 9. reflection 10. developmental steps

The main aims in teaching spelling are to develop in students:

* an understanding of the importance of spelling in the communication of meaning

* the ability to use a variety of spelling strategies in their own writing

* a positive attitude towards themselves as spellers and towards using conventional spelling in their own writing

 

Pattern by sound, meaning, and function

- Phenix Las Vegas rules of always sometimes and never

sound - long a, sh, qu, ight some of these patterns are highly

predictable e.g. pencil, Nino

Pattern by Meaning

meaning of word often helps us - sound of some letters may change but meaning still there

please - pleasant write - written educate – educational dissolve - dis and solve so 2 s, disappear -

dis and appear but seen and scenery - 2 different meanings

and different spellings

Spelling reflects meaning as well as pronunciation

nation not nashun from native signature from sign nestle from nest sign, signal, signature, design,

designate watch, watches, watching, watched,

watchful   medic, medical, medicine, medicinal

Pattern by Function

ed, ing, tion plurals, possessives, contractions students make generalizations e.g. goed

- will apply these generalizations to spelling

wanted - ed sounds id banged - ed sounds d picked - ed sounds t

Pattern by sound How do you make the long a sound?

How would you spell the word ?????

Spelling Strategy - Foldover

1. Pick a word you want to practise. 2. Fold a piece of paper into thirds. This

makes 3 rectangles. 3. Write your word in the top rectangle. 4. Fold over your writing. 5. Now write the word without looking in

the second rectangle. 6. Open up the paper and check your

Strategies pronounce the word clearly identifying the problem part of the word visualize it acrostic exaggerate it word in a word mnemonic devices word origins root words compound words common rules  

Kinds of Spelling Activities

word prints fill in the blank underline/ circle parts of a word rhyming words sort words make charts find root words tic tac toe word pyramid word web complete the sentence 1 word poems

crosswords change-a-letter use homophones in sentences make lists look at own writing samples look in your reader or library book look at pictures concentration match clues an sentences scorpion rewrite poem

make plurals choose the right spelling word stairs unscrambled the words look in newspapers/magazines fancy letters count syllables make headlines/titles

fill in the blank collage letter ladder yarn pictures scrunch up word chains word puzzles

To proofread means to check what you have written

Ways to proofread1. Circle words that look invented 2. Read it aloud3. Read it backwards 4. Have a friend read it 5. Read it and point to each word 

Games school needs to be fun - manufactured

games - e.g. Scrabble, Pictionary other games: Concentration, Word

Associations, Sort Words by Meaning, Pattern, Vowels. Letters,

Tic Tac Toe,

Subject Connections

Animal Collectives Social Studies - history of name of your community,

developmental of maps Art - do an art collage - distorted spelling in advertisements

delite, hi, valu, rite, quik, tastee, nite, foto, lite , lo American spellings of words word explosions - art, artist, artistic, artistically, artful,

artless, artifact, artwork in grade 2 favourite letter collage Math - use fliers for problem solving in math - now look at

the names of produces Cultural Study - notes about languages from Native People -

look at the names - ABC organizer

My Personal Dictionary