Halstow Primary School

Whole School Approach to the

Teaching and Learning of

Spelling

‘The most significant kinds of teaching that helps

children move on in spelling moves the culture of

spelling away from right and wrong’

Olivia O’Sullivan and Anne Thomas – CLPE

Learning walls should be purposeful with interactive areas for children to

capture, engage with and explore exciting and unusual vocabulary.

Display new vocabulary allowing children opportunities to explore the

etymology of the word, study the word and patterns in its spelling.

Common Exception words and words associated with the current topic

matter should be displayed around the room at all times.

Developing the Teaching of Spelling Most people read words more accurately than they spell them. The younger pupils are, the truer

this is. This protocol is designed to support professionals in creating vocabulary rich environments

which can be used alongside efficient spelling techniques to best support our children.

Parental

Involvement

Classroom

Environment

Assessment

Opportunities

Teaching and

Learning

Policy

Planning

Spellings Homework to be set and sent home regularly.

Words set should be challenging and based on current contexts or

learning.

Through parent leaflets and workshops ensure parents are aware of the

investigative process that supports spelling

Tasks should be varied and encourage children to learn meanings

alongside structure; learning how words can be modified and adapted.

Introduce initiatives such as a word/spellings pot so new vocabulary, its

spelling and its meanings can be revised quickly and frequently.

Encourage discussion about spelling. Use talking partners allowing

children to verbalise opinions, ask questions and give recommendations.

Promote the use of dictionaries, thesauruses and spelling journals to

support investigations in lessons to extend the range of words used within

the lesson.

Take the time to explore new vocabulary. Discuss the etymology and

morphology of new words. Demonstrate how new and different words

can be derived from new vocabulary learnt.

Model and explore specific spelling strategies to develop spelling skills

Implement the whole-school policy and approach to spelling for direct

and indirect teaching of spelling in your school.

Ensure there is consistency of practice in correcting spellings in pupils’

work and how are pupils expected to follow up mistakes.

When planning a new unit, consider the terminology that children will use

most frequently and which of these they will find most difficult to use and

spell independently.

Plan in discrete opportunities to discuss new vocabulary and

opportunities for the children to try using and spelling the words correctly

and independently.

Plan in pre-teaching sessions to support language acquisition and to

develop knowledge around a word for those that need it.

Whole school approach

Spelling is actively taught rather than simply tested. Fast and accurate spelling

of an extensive vocabulary is vital to writing fluency. Teachers plan

approaches that support children, to not only improve the spelling of individual

words, but lead to confident spelling in the context of children’s composition

of full texts. Phonics is used as a foundation for effective spelling alongside the

teaching and practising of word patterns such as morphemes, analogical and

exception words.

As spelling can be viewed as ‘problem solving’, we expect and encourage

investigation and trying out. We recognise that spelling is not easy for everyone

and is often harder for children than reading. Therefore, we encourage

investigation of spelling methods, as no one scheme will suit all.We aim to

establish an understanding about ‘good mistakes’ and how mistakes are to be

expected and are part of the exploration (as opposed to children feeling

fixated with how many spellings they got right or wrong). Sometimes child’s self-

esteem is tied up with correctness of spelling, so it’s important for children to

understand that it’s okay to make mistakes, as this is how we learn.

The role of the teacher

• Teachers understand that the teaching of spelling involves direct

teaching (beyond giving spelling lists and correcting spelling in writing)

• Teachers recognise that although many children take a mainly auditory

route to spelling, some attend more closely to visual features and how a

word looks and plan experiences that support both

• Teachers promote the active involvement of children in their own

learning through spelling partnerships, investigation and word study

Children’s spelling is closely monitored to ensure children are making good

progress and applying spelling skills. Some children find spelling more difficult

than others and where a child’s spelling progression is cause for concern, the

class teacher will discuss this with the school’s SENCO and further support and

actions will be agreed. This can vary from additional practice, small group

focused work and or professional assessments and a programme of agreed

support.

Progression in spelling

Early Spellers

• Encountering a text rich environment and experience shared writing,

rhymes, songs, word study, word games and writing opportunities

• Phonological awareness and its use for spelling (children learn spelling

better by writing than reading ensure phonics sessions include a good

amount of writing)

• Knowledge of the alphabet, letter names and letter formation

• To draw on what they know as they learn to link sounds with letters and

combinations of letters

• To develop a sense of pattern and begin to make analogies, e.g. mouse,

house

• Scribing for a child

• Writing under children’s letter strings

• Writing standard spellings over selected words

• Identifying good attempts

• Teachers discourage children from simply copying writing and instead

encourage independence and ‘Have a Go’ as the key skill that supports

confidence and self esteem

Later Spellers (upper KS1 and KS2 - although not limited to this)

• Spelling patterns - a sense of pattern and knowledge of which pattern

was most likely ie main and mane

• Structural and semantic aspects of spellings e.g verb endings such as

’ed’ suffixes’ ly’ prefixes’ inter’

• Linking the teaching of spellings to an individual’s writing and spelling

needs, e.g identifying consonant doubling shopping/hopping and

encouraging work on this

• Developing an interest in words (usually encountered through reading)

• Reading and making links between words they read and the way these

words are spelt

• Shared writing – teaching how spelling works in a high interest context

• Opportunities to write at length (some studies show that spelling falters

or regresses if writing is narrowly focused)

• Guided groups allows for spelling discussion to be strongly

contextualised

• ‘Having a Go’ a classroom ethos where children are encouraged to

attempt unfamiliar words, using what they can here or remember visually

• Building ‘word banks’ for ‘tricky words’ or ‘topics’

• The direct teaching of self-supporting and monitoring systems using

spelling partners, personal spelling journals (rather than worksheets) and

methods such as ‘look, say, cover, write, check’

• The direct teaching of the skills required for dictionary use, proof reading

and editing process

• Use of AFL when marking children’s writing including identification of

commonly occurring misspelt words in writing and spelling patterns,

grammatical features or specific topic words

• The most effective marking for spelling looks for strengths considering

how to move the child on rather than simply marking right or wrong.

• Effective testing included – word lists with familiar features, spelling

partner work perhaps using ‘look, say, cover, write, check’ or topic lists

• Word Study and getting children interested in words and how they’re

spelling them – Photograph/Photosynthesis and using thesauruses

Key contexts for teaching spelling

Discrete teaching:

• Initially, children should have the opportunity to explore and investigate

spelling patterns before they are then given the opportunity to think

about strategies to remember them

• Shared writing, reading and group reading

• Planned writing sessions at class, group and individual level

• Teachers interventions at the point of learning –‘Model Writing’

• Routines that encourage independence at spelling, e.g. ‘Look, Say,

Cover, Write, Check’

• Use of dictionaries, and thesauruses

• Stand-alone spelling lessons to be taught 1-2 times a week

• Regular word study. Children to be given the opportunity to apply

strategies to remember these spellings. These need to be explicitly

taught and modelled with the children.

• Spelling home learning provided for every child, to match their specific

ability. These spellings are then regularly explored and practised in class

and progression monitored by the class teacher.

Indiscrete teaching

• Teaching of spelling should be integrated throughout the curriculum.

• Spelling errors in children’s English books should be highlighted in

accordance with the marking policy and practiced in their spelling

books

• Record commonly misspelled words in the children’s books (and high

frequency words) on the English Learning Wall - make reference to these

spellings during shared and modelled writing

• When carrying out shared writing, demonstrate how to apply spelling

strategies, use of suffixes, prefixes and other spelling conventions you

have covered in spelling lessons

• Whilst writing model proofreading skills and the editing process

• Early Morning Work (registration time) to develop spelling, e.g.:

o have words displayed on with letters missing- admiss _ _ _

o have correct version and incorrect version on board

o Children work with a partner on a spelling method of their choice.

o Children test their partner on their individual spelling list.

The role of parents

Most people can read words more accurately than they can spell them. The

younger the pupils are, the truer this is. Children become more confident with

spelling at their own pace and almost all will struggle at some point. However,

as children grow older, they develop more capacity to develop self-help

strategies that work for them. Much of our spelling system follows rules and

patterns; supporting children to identify these helps them to learn spellings. The

end game may be to produce accurate spellers, but the journey is to nurture

spellers with good self-esteem and with a range of self-help strategies.

Helping at the point of writing

Always ask your child to have a go. Support them through questions such as

What do you know about the word? What is the first sound? Can we break it

down into sounds or syllables? Which bit in the word is hard? Do we know any

other words like this? If there is an error in your child’s attempt – talk about why

this bit in the word is hard, and how it could be remembered. Come back to

the spelling of this word – or words like it – at other times in the day.

Helping through games and play

• Noticing language around you - making up words from letters on

number plates, noticing words that are deliberately misspelt by

newspapers, advertisers and shop keepers (Krispy Kreme donuts), or

not deliberately!

• Play games such as hangman, crosswords, word searches, jumbled

words and anagrams.

• Play commercial games like Scrabble, Boggle, Pass the bomb.

• Learn about etymology (word derivations). Find out where oddly

spelt words come from (where did the ‘ph’ sound come from? So

what kinds of words use these letters?) If your child is keen, create

word webs to explore how morphemes – the chunks of meaning in

words – jigsaw together to create word families.

• Look at word roots (e.g. two is a number like twelve and twenty)

• Explore word families (e.g. would, could, should) and spelling rules

(e.g. writing, written).

Some useful methods to support children’s investigations and learning of

spellings are outlined below.

Look, say, cover, write, check

Look at the whole word carefully and if there is one part of the

word that is difficult, look at the part in more detail. Say the word

as you look at it, using different ways of pronouncing it if that will

make it more memorable. Cover the word up. Write the word from

memory, saying the word as you do so. Check if you have spelt it

correctly. If yes, try writing it again and again! If not, start again –

look, say, cover, write, check.

Roll and Spell

Roll a die and complete the activity that matches the number you

roll. Ideas for activities could be: Spell the word in your ‘grumpy

voice’. Spell the word in your ‘baby voice’; ‘low voice’; ‘robot

voice’; ‘monster voice’; ‘alien voice’; ‘opera voice’; ‘whispering

voice’ etc. Draw a picture of your word; write a synonym of your

word; write an antonym; write a definition; write the word 5 times;

write in bubble letters; in dotty letters; write two times really fast;

write two time s l o w l y; write teeny tiny; write the word forwards and

backwards; with your other hand; in a fancy way; with your eyes

closed; in a sentence; in capital letters; in pyramid style; circle all

the consonants; underline all the vowels.

Rolling a Rainbow

Roll a die. Then write one of your spelling words that number of

times, using the colour listed next to the number you just rolled.

For example, if I roll a two and one of my spelling words is people,

I’d write it like this:

people

people

For even more of a challenge, why not try colouring the vowels

(a, e, i, o, u) a different colour each time you spot one!

Break it up

Break the spelling into sounds (d-i-a-r-y)

Break the spelling into syllables (re-mem-ber)

Break the spelling into root words and affixes (un-necess-ary)

Make it memorable

Try splitting the word up in to sections, to remember is better. For

example conscience can be con-science, bicycle can be bi-

cycle, business can be bus-i-ness and Wednesday wed-nes-day.

Slide and reveal

Ask someone to gradually slide a large copy of a word from behind

a book or sheet of card. See how long it takes for you to recognise

the word.

__ o u l d What’s my letter?

Cover up the first letter on a set of words. Ask what the first letter

might be and what the word would then be. Use words which have

more than one possibility. As an alternative, cover up the last letter.

What word am I?

Write parts of a word, e.g. ab_ _ e. Then try to complete the word

(The example is above).

Right and wrong

Which word is spelt correctly? Write 3-4 versions of a word (e.g.

woz, was, wos) and decide which is correct. How can you

recognise the correct spelling and what will help you remember it?

Spot and say

Lay a set of spellings out. Ask someone to read one of the spellings.

You look for the word and then when found, put your finger on it.

Now say the spelling.

Spot and draw

Lay a set of spelling out and images related to the words. Now

match the image to the spelling. Alternatively, choose a spelling

and draw an image to explain the meaning of the word.

Sort and say

Sort words according to how many letters they have got and then

read and say them.

Memory game

Ask someone to lay a small number of words on a table. Have a

look for a while before turning around and closing your eyes. The

person removes a card and asks if you can tell them which card

they removed. (This can also be played using a whiteboard and

rubbing the word away).

Spelling Scribble

Create a scribble shape and fill it with words.

Try different colours.

Try different directions.

How many words can you fit in the space?

Speed write

The aim is to write one of your spelling words as many times as

possible in 1 minute. Begin by carefully copying the spelling once

at the top of your page. Then off you go! How many times did you

write in 1 minute? If you can’t read the word, it doesn’t count!

What’s in the word?

Can you spot a way of remembering trickier words? For example,

friend (friend til the end) and what (what has hat in it).

Mnemonic

Explore strategies which can help you remember words, e.g.

mnemonics, such as

because - big elephants can always understand small elephants

necessary – one collar and two sleeves)

Rainbow Write

First, write the words in pencil. Then trace over them in different

colours. Use colours to pick out patterns in the way the words are

spelt.

Sand spelling

Look at your spelling. Carefully copy it as you write it in sand. Rub it

out and try again, this time without looking.

Spot the spelling

When you read, how many of your focus spellings can you spot?

Draw an image

To help make the word more memorable, thing of a pictures that

links to the meaning of the word, one that might make the spelling

more recognisable. This isn’t a main method for learning all

spellings, but can be good for tricky words that are proving difficult

to remember.

Pyramid words

Create a pyramid of a word, building the pyramid shape from the

first letter, then one letter at a time until the whole world is

completed.

c ca cat catc catch

Waterfall words

Create a cascading waterfall of the word, adding one letter at a

time until the whole word is written.

Spot the vowels

Write the vowels in a different colour to the rest of the word.

accidentaccidentallyactualactuallyaddress

answerappear

Choo Choo words

Write a long list of your spelling words end-to-end as one long word.

Write each new word in a different colour.

f _ _ l d

Words without vowels

Ask someone to write a word without the vowels and tell you the

word. Choose the correct grapheme to put in the space. (The

example is field).

_ t h _ r _ n s w _ r

What’s the vowel?

Write all of your words replacing vowels with a line. Go back and

see if you can fill in the vowels. (Examples are other and answer).

Word shape

Draw around the words making a clear distinction in size where

they are ascenders and descenders. Look carefully at the shape

of the word and the letters in each box. Now try to write making

sure you get the same shape.

Word search

Create a word search containing focus spelling words.

Alternative – create a crossword.

d l c u o

Unjumble the jumbled

Ask a friend to say the letters you need, but jumbled up, e.g. dlcuo,

then they say the spelling you need to create, e.g. ‘could’. You

then unjumble the letters and put them in the correct order.

Rhyming spellings

Which of your spellings rhyme? If you know how to spell ‘could’,

can you write ‘would’ and ‘should’? Other examples include

’other’, ‘brother’ and ‘another’, quiver, river, shiver and light, fright,

fight, might, sight. Can you think of more?

Rhyming words

Write each of your spelling words with a rhyming word next to

them, e.g. cut shut

catch

cat hat

Words within words

Write each spelling word and then look for words within your

spelling words. Write at least two words made from the spelling.

How many hidden words can you make?

Trace and copy

Write the word ensuring that it is spelt correctly and it is large

enough to trace over. Trace over the word and say it as the same

time. Move next to the word you have just written and write it out

as you say it. Turn the page over and write the word as you say it

and then check that you’ve spelt it correctly. If this is easy, do the

same process for two different words at the same time. Once you

have written all the word this way and feel confident, miss out the

tracing and copying or the tracing alone and just write the words.

Hangman letters

Play Shannon’s game (a version of hangman) where the letters

have to be guessed in the right order, developing a sense of which

letter/letter combination is most likely next. Draw a set of dashes to

represent the letters in the word. Take it in turns to suggest the next

letter. As the word emerges, letter-by-letter, the number of choices

narrows. (To help the first letter can be given).

See the spelling

Write a word. Look at the word and chant the letters, trying to

remember what the word LOOKS like and how it is spelt. Take a

‘photo’ in your head of the word by looking then closing your eyes

– can you see the word in your mind? Practise a few times before

eventually covering the word completely. Then write the word

down and check if you’ve written carefully. Does it look right? Does

it read back correctly? If not, which part appears wrong?

Spot the syllables

Say the word aloud, then break it up into syllables.

Clap the syllables as you say them.

Pattern post its

Using post-it notes, write down the spellings. Assemble the notes on

the wall, grouping any similar patterns/sounds together.

Alternatively, create root words and then look at prefixes and

suffixes that could be added to change the word.

Highlight what’s tricky

Use a highlighter to highlight any letters of the main word that you

have difficulty remembering.

Finger spelling

Spell out the word, writing it in the air with your hand. As you do

this, say the letters out loud. Alternatively, try counting the number

of letters in the word. Then hold up that number of fingers as you

spell out the word. This will help you check you have included the

right number of letters in your spelling.

accident bicycle calender

ABC order

Write your spelling words in ABC order. If words start with the same

letter, look at the next letter.

Guess the spelling

Take it in turns to write the spelling of the word on your partner’s

back using your finger. Make sure you write slowly and clearly! Your

partner has to guess what word you have written.

Segmentation

Split the word into its phonemes, then spell the word aloud as you

write it down.

Let’s play letters

Play letter based games (such as Scrabble, Boggle, Anagrams and

Banagrams) and together explore the words made.

Spelling story

Write a story using ALL of your spelling words. Be sure to underline

your spelling words in the paragraph.

pressure assume usually

Odd one out

Which is the odd one out and why? (Could be linked to suffix,

prefix, number of vowels, consonants, letter pattern etc.).

answer answer answer

Three times

First, write each word in pencil. Then, write each word in crayon.

Finally, write each word in a marker!

Riddle: I am cute. I am young. I wear nappies. Answer: baby.

Riddles

Write a riddle for each of your spelling words. Don’t forget to

answer them.

Magazine words

Use an old magazine or newspaper and find your words or letters

that make up your words. Cut and glue them down.

Prefixes and Suffixes

Look at the prefix or suffix and try to change the word. E.g. –igh, -

ack, un-. Example: ous- dangerous, courageous, ravenous.

Word webs

Build a word web around a word. Generate as many words as

possible for the same prefix, suffix or the word meaning. How many

words can you make?

Pairs and Snap

Play spelling games such as snap and pairs, using spellings written

on card. This is a great way to spot spelling patterns, as well as

being fun!

Homophones

Which word fits the sentence?

ear– ould- -other

learn could bother

near would brother

tear shoulder another

Are they alike?

Sort your spellings into which words sound alike and which words

look alike, but may sound different. What words can you make

from the following? –ate, -ack, -all, -ame, -ook, -ink, -ick.

Word bank

Create a spelling log/word bank of words you use a lot. This can

be added to week by week. It’s particularly helpful for tricky words

and for new topic words.

Word ladder

Choose one of your spelling words to start with. Then try to change

one letter to make a new word. Continue until you can’t go any

further. Alternatively, fill in the gaps on a word ladder already

created.

Moveable letters

Use magnetic letters, letter shapes or letters on individual cards to

build words. For example, if you begin with in, you might be able

to make sin, then sing, sting, string etc. Or, try to spell one of your

spelling words for the letters you have.

Tricky work post its

Make a poster, or display post it notes, of your tricky words. Put

them somewhere you will see it regularly, so you can keep

practising them.

Not noughts and crosses

On the theme of noughts and crosses, choose one of your spelling

words and ask a friend to choose one of theirs. Take turns to write

your word in a 3x3 grid. The aim is to complete a whole line of your

word, vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The winner is the first

person to complete a line and spell their word correctly.