Kristin C.

Professional Writing Assignment

C&T 743 Dr. Donita Shaw
July 8, 2016 (Updated June 26, 2017)

Introduction

Although I love writing and have thoroughly enjoyed the content of this class, not
everything has been directly applicable to my current teaching position. As a reading
interventionist teaching a tier III scripted program, I have very little flexibility to add to
or modify the program and the focus is truly on improving comprehension. For this
reason, I typically have had a difficult time pulling information and strategies from the
chapters that I could turn around and use in my classroom. What I have since realized,
though, is the background knowledge that this course has provided me. Although I do
not teach writing, I am able to better analyze any written work that my students
produce and determine what value it has for me as a teacher, no matter the length or
the programs objective of the written piece,

The most applicable course content was the chapters regarding spelling and phonics
because I teach a Fusion reading strategy called Bridging, which is phonics based. The
more I read about best practices in spelling instruction and assessment, the more I
saw the clear connection between spelling/writing and reading. I realized that, while I
may not be able to provide writing instruction or assess spelling or writing growth, I
can use my knowledge of this connection to improve my reading instruction. In other
words, students writing and spelling abilities may help me determine or eliminate
potential areas of need. For example, if a student is spelling above grade level, I may
be able to determine that this student needs strategies other than phonics to improve
fluency and comprehension. On the other hand, if a student demonstrates that he or
she doesnt understand spelling patterns and principles, I would know to focus heavily
on that area to increase fluency and comprehension. Also, I can use students spelling
to determine understanding and ability to use affixes and roots. Because part of Fusion
Readings instruction focuses on prefixes, roots, and suffixes and connecting those
parts within other words, analyzing their spelling can help me determine strengths and
weaknesses in this area as well.

I selected the following three articles based on their ties to middle school spelling
instruction. I wanted to learn more about what goes into spelling instruction to see how
it relates to the reading instruction I provide in my intervention class. One of the
articles, Putting Two and Two Together: Middle School Students Morphological
Problem-Solving Strategies for Unknown Words from Journal of Adolescent & Adult
Literacy was selected because of its emphasis on strategies involving morphemes.

In essence, my objective was to gain a greater understanding of the link between

spelling and reading. Though I once disregarded spelling as something that only
applied to writing, I now see its value in helping me understanding an adolescent
readers strengths and needs.

Annotated Bibliography

Katz, C., & Johnson-Kuby, S. (1996). Feeling Lucky? Make Spelling Part of My Middle
School Day. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 39(8), 674-676. Retrieved
from http://www.jstor.org.www2.lib.ku.edu/stable/40015663

This article from Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy was difficult to view as
credible. The fiction writing style peppered with research-based facts was an odd
combination, and therefore came across as entirely fiction. It took three pages of text
to convey the simple fact that research shows that traditional spelling tests that focus
on the memorization of a word list are not effective. In other words, traditional spelling
instruction does not help improve spelling across the board. The goal is to increase
student confidence in spelling through authentic instruction. The article emphasized a
four-part spelling plan, but was so bizarrely written that it took some digging to identify
what those four parts were. It stated that the instruction should be based on common
patterns and principles, of which the students should be aware of. It would also focus
on high-frequency words and words that are frequently misspelled. Finally, students
should have choice in the words they learn; such words would be most pertinent to
their wants and needs. The information in the article was weakly conveyed and unclear
as to how one might best implement the plan.

Pacheco, M. B., & Goodwin, A. P. (2013). Putting Two and Two Together: Middle
School Students' Morphological Problem-Solving Strategies For Unknown
Words. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(7), 541-553. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.www2.lib.ku.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&A
N=86407483&site=ehost-live

The article from Reading Research Quarterly suggests strategies to help students
determine the meanings of words. According to the article, sixty to eighty percent of
words within middle school texts are morphologically complex. The idea is that, rather
than memorize tens of thousands of words, students can use their knowledge of
common roots and affixes to determine the meaning of many words. Morphological
helps students to build upon what they already know. Researcher has shown that it is
still undetermined as to which approach for morphological instruction is most effective,
but the article attempts to pinpoint which strategies may help readers of varying
abilities.

Sullivan, A. (1988). Spelling Success. Journal of Reading, 31(8), 750-751. Retrieved

from http://www.jstor.org.www2.lib.ku.edu/stable/40032961
In the article presented in Journal of Reading, the author explains her success in using
a modified version of Stetsons SRSA method. The strategy is comprehensive in that it
addresses the different learning styles: visual, auditory, verbal, and kinesthetic. First,
the teacher writes the word on the board. The teacher speaks and the students repeat
in the following sequence: the whole word, the first word part, the remaining word
parts, spelling the first word part, and spelling the remaining word parts. In the next
and final step of the sequence, the teacher pronounces the word and then students
respond by writing the words with a pause between the syllables. The author states
that adaptations are made, though, depending on the difficulty of the word. This seems
like an antiquated way to conduct spelling instruction, which is fitting considering this
was published in 1988.

Implications of Article 1: Feeling Lucky? Make Spelling Part of My Middle School

Day
Children show their understanding of language through writing
o Phonetic spelling in children and adolescents is good; its a demonstration that
they understand the phonetics of words
Middle school students abilities vary greatly
o Many adolescents still use a form of invented spelling, albeit often more
sophisticated
o Those still using invented spelling must have their academic needs met
o They can benefit from additional, non-traditional spelling instruction
Spelling instruction is improved through teaching students how to be aware of the
spelling system, rather than strict memorization of a word list (the traditional method)
Today, many schools still use the traditional method for teaching spelling instruction
o There may be some instruction on patterns and principles, but the bulk of the
practice and even the assessment is simply focusing on a given word list this is
not beneficial to kids, according to the research
o Studying and memorizing word lists is restrictive many more words can be
learned using a more meaningful instructional method
Students need to be aware of common patterns and principles found within words to
help them become stronger spellers
o Knowledge of these patterns and principles increases the number of words a
student is able to accurately spell
If students understand patterns and principles in writing, they can identify such patterns
and principles in text
o This type of identification will help students improve their reading fluency and
comprehension
Include high frequency words in spelling instruction
o This should also be done in vocabulary instruction
o Learning how to spell high frequency words will help them also spell lower
frequency words that share similar patterns and principles
Commonly misspelled words should also be addressed
 o These words should be addressed because they help increase student
confidence
Students should have choice in the words they study
o Free choice (even within a limited range) is important because the students then
want to learn
o Student motivation would increase in their spelling work
Phonics and vocabulary should also be addressed under this spelling plan, likely due to
the link between spelling and phonics understanding, and with spelling and vocabulary
knowledge

Implications of Article 2: Putting Two and Two Together: Middle School

Students' Morphological Problem-Solving Strategies For Unknown Words
Instead of isolating vocabulary instruction to the first 15 minutes of class, preread texts
and identify challenging or interesting vocabulary that can be discussed alongside
content material throughout the lesson. Have students identify morphemes within
these words and connect their meanings to the overall meaning of the text.
o This would be a great way to implement morpheme instruction for teachers that
have some flexibility in their curriculum; this method helps tie in vocabulary
directly with literacy the students will better see the connection between word
study and reading
o It would be a challenge (or impossible) for teachers of special ed or supplemental
reading programs
Use familiar, everyday words to show how the Whole-to-Part strategy can deepen
students understanding of words and raise their morphological awareness. Choose
words like Facebook, iTunes, cellphone, and Warcraft and analyze what they mean
based on morphemes.
o Students would be engaged using words that they know and use frequently,
particularly words that have to do with things they enjoy, i.e. technology
o The would likely be a supplementary activity, not as your everyday morpheme
instruction
Have students use the Part-to-Whole strategy to highlight roots in new vocabulary. The
root usually contains more information about the meaning than the prefix or suffix.
Have students use these roots to create new words, whether real or made up, with
prefixes and suffixes.
o Teachers could even have students combine two roots with a prefix and/or suffix
to create a silly, made up word
Students could draw their invented word (based on the meanings of the
roots and affixes) to deepen the connection
o Brainstorm a list of words that contain a shared root
Example: bio = biology, antibiotic, biography, symbiosis, etc.
Teach morphemes that will help student in disciplines other than language arts. If they
are learning about area in math class, create Word Webs with the root metr. If learning
about ecosystems in science, do this activity with the root system.
 o Because academic language in the various disciplines can be challenging, this
could be helpful as a pre-teach activity
Students would then comprehend better in the other discipline (like
science) if they understood where the meaning came from of the
academic language beforehand

Implications of Article 3: Spelling Success

Note: This article was incredibly short (1 page) and simply explained a method a teacher
used in her classroom, but did not support it with any data
In this modified version of Stetsons SRSA method, students experience a variety of
learning styles through seeing, hearing, speaking, and writing
o Addressing the varying needs of students is important, as not all students learn
in the same way
o Steps 1-3 of this method are all auditory and verbal this would not work well
for students that are visual or kinesthetic
o Steps 4 and 5 of the method address the visual and kinesthetic students, but is a
minor part of the overall strategy
o The teacher writes the word (separated into its morphemes) on the board
before going through the steps, which would help the visual learners
o The above steps are used to introduce a new spelling list and as a review on the
day before the test
Being an article from 1988, much research has been done since that
discourages the use of traditional spelling lists