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Spelling instruction teaches students how to approximate and eventually use conventional spellings for known vocabulary, generate plausible spellings for unknown vocabulary, and to recognize and correct misspellings. Students must be taught to access and use different types of linguistic knowledge to develop good spelling skills, including phonological, graphological, orthographic, morphemic, syntactic, and semantic information. Linguistic knowledge develops gradually throughout the preschool and school-age years and at different rates for different children, which means that spelling instruction must be sensitive to the developmental patterns exhibited by each student. For instance, a student who is completely unaware of roots and affixes probably will not benefit greatly from instruction in applying morphological structures to derive spelling patterns. << Top
Weekly routines for spelling instruction should be established; once in place, instruction typically requires no more than 15 minutes per day. Generally speaking, the teacher should introduce the target words at the beginning of the week, model how to spell the words correctly, highlight patterns and point out distinctive attributes (or have students discover these), and give students ample opportunity to practice with immediate corrective feedback. The next few days, students spend time practicing and self-evaluating their spelling performance, and the teacher frequently
checks their work (error correction is critical) and may teach additional lessons. Students might also work with each other to study/practice and evaluate each others work. At the end of the week, the teacher should assess how well the students have learned the spelling words (see Bourassa & Treiman, 2001; Graham, 1999, 2000; Templeton & Morris, 1999; Troia & Graham, 2003). Some additional recommendations include: students take a Monday pretest to determine which words they need to study during subsequent activities and to set spelling performance goals after studying new spelling words, students take a Friday posttest to determine which words were mastered immediately after taking a spelling test, students correct their misspellings the teacher conducts word sorts and guided spelling activities to explicitly teach spelling patterns and rules at the beginning of the week daily opportunities for cumulative study and testing of new spelling words are provided (e.g., through computer-assisted instruction) while studying, students monitor their on-task behavior or the number of times they correctly spell a target word to promote active learning
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How Can I Help My Students Learn, Remember, and Correctly Use Spelling Words?
Word sorts and guided spelling activities are basic tools for teaching spelling to students of all ages. Basic lesson formats are provided; the content for an actual lesson is derived from the spelling patterns (either orthographic or morphemic) targeted for instruction. These Teacher-Directed Spelling Activities are used to provide more explicit spelling instruction, as student self-study or partner activities are insufficient for many students, especially those who struggle with spelling, to learn spelling patterns and rules. Nevertheless, it is important to help students develop strategic competence and independence. One way to do this is to have students complete a Spelling Study Plan to summarize how well they performed on their pretest and how they plan to study their missed words, and, at the end of the week, to identify how effective their study plan was and what tactics might be employed to do better next time. When students study their spelling words during the remainder of the week, they can use a Spelling Study Strategies handout to remind them of (a) the steps for multisensory rehearsal and (b) mnemonics for remembering how to spell long words. Of course, all of these materials will require an introduction and initial guidance from the teacher. << Top
2. 3.
1. Students are given single-letter or multi-letter tiles to combine into as many different real words as
2. 3. 4. 5.
possible; these tiles represent the orthographic or graphomorphemic units in a mystery word that can be derived when all of the tiles are combined The words are recorded and verified with a dictionary or other spelling guide If a word is acceptable, it is written in a sentence to demonstrate understanding of its meaning Students are encouraged to spell other transfer words that contain some of the targeted letters or units Students read texts that contain the relevant spelling patterns and monitor their ability to recognize and define the words
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Cover the word Write the word Check the spelling Write the word 2 more times if correct; if not, go back to step 1 Memory Links for Spelling Long Words Built in Word Link Example: business is a sin Example: clothes are made from cloth Story Sentence Link Example: When I go past a cemetery, I go e-e-e! Example: My principal is my pal, but he has lots of rules or principles for us to follow Pronunciation Link Example: Wed-nes-day Example: tom-or-row << Top