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SPELLING

In this Section on the DVD covering some 25 pages, the following topics are discussed-

 Spelling and Instruction

• Primary School
• Secondary School
• Appropriate Activities
• Cognitive Learning Strategies
• Accommodations

Some Basic Spelling Essentials

• Fundamentals
• Basic Word Lists-
  • Dolch List of Basic 220 words
  • Davidson and Wicking List
  • Additional Essential Words (Sykes)
  • Oxford 307 Word List
  • Magic 200 Words
• Explicit instructions are provided to guide both teachers and parents in teaching and reinforcing these essential basic words.

Teaching Homophones

• A list of important homophones is provided together with explicit instructions.

Spelling: A Miscue Analysis

Resources

Additional information on Spelling is included in the Learning Disability Section.

A selection of topics is provided below specifically chosen from those on the DVD.

SPELLING AND INSTRUCTION
 

For many children the path to accurate spelling skills is the heuristic one of exploration and discovery; with experience and maturity, knowledge of spelling is almost “caught”. For others, specific, explicit instruction is necessary to ensure that these skills develop- that is, they must be “taught”. 

At the Primary School level, the development of spelling should be encouraged through the teaching of:

• visual strategies (whole word recognition and word analysis)
• phonological strategies (phonological awareness of words, syllables, onset, rime, phonemes)
• metacognitive strategies ( e.g., Does it look right?)

·       phonics (letter-sound correspondence)

• orthographic rules , expectancies and frequencies of occurrence

Using:

• multisensory methods
• sequenced, appropriately paced instruction at the appropriate level
• activities such as “look-cover-write-check”

At the Secondary School level, several factors contribute to a change in instructional emphasis. These include:

• the complexity of adolescence
• motivational, emotional and physical change
• perceived social pressures for conformity
• desire for independence
• the continued development of individual learning differences
• goals

·       motivation, commitment

·       learning styles

·       compounding effects of different educational experiences

• teacher expectations regarding

·       student mastery of basic skills

·       independence in learning, organisation and study

• teachers’ content/ subject orientation compared with student and skill orientation of the  primary school teacher
• the changed demands for reading and writing

·       amount required

·       rate, necessitated by the introduction of exams and independent study

• organisational and administrative factors

·       time constraints imposed by timetabling of lessons and extra curricular activities

·       student numbers and movements within the school

·       lack of continuity of teacher contact

While basic skill development should continue at the secondary level, the focus of instruction tends to move towards encouraging students to develop cognitive learning strategies. If necessary, accommodations should be considered in instruction and assessment.

Appropriate activities in skill development include:

• co-operative approach, e.g., contracts, agreements developed to ensure student commitment
• students encouraged to keep records of their errors and correct spellings
• development of students’ “flow lists”, e.g., 6 to 8 key words determined by student’s needs (maybe subject specific, instructional terms, common errors, frequently used interest words); mastery of a word means that it is dropped from the list and a new word added
• student encouraged to make analogies and generalise from the known to the unknown 
• make word lists of correct spellings readily available 
• provide immediate, positive feedback (encouragement!) 
• make support available from competent student, friend or tutor 
• provide opportunity and time for review, over-learning 
• use short, frequent, explicit sessions (10 to 15 minutes daily) 
• use worksheets, computer activities to reinforce learning, not to teach
   

Cognitive Learning Strategies

• encourage independence in learning 
• are self-regulatory and monitoring strategies for learning new words and checking accuracy and proof reading 
• decrease reliance on memory
• develop awareness of regularities and patterns within written English
• raise student awareness of the importance of correct spelling through:

·       highlighting the purpose of writing as communication; correct spelling is required for effective communication

·       provide purposeful and varied writing experiences

·       provide models of correct spelling

·       model effective strategies for spelling

• raise student awareness of his/her own learning strengths, difficulties, styles and preferences:

·       visual? auditory? kinaesthetic?

·       group work? independent work?

• students may still need assistance in developing their awareness of English as an alphabetic script and the application of phonics, particularly syllabification.
• raise student’s awareness of the importance of the correct sequencing of letters
• attention to, and analysis of, sounds within words; particularly analysis and synthesis of syllables, onsets and rimes
• attention to letters, close visual analysis of words especially the phonetically irregular “Demons”

·       e.g., Look-Cover-Write-Check

·       visual imagery, mnemonics, colour highlighting

•  awareness of morphology

·       analysis of units of meaning-root, prefix, suffix

·       study of meaning, structure, origins of words
 

·       awareness of spelling rules

·       stress regularity of English spellings (patterns and logic)

·       introduce rule as required and indicated by student’s work

·       guide in discovery and generalisation

• encourage and model frequent and independent use of dictionary, spell-check and other references.

·       specific self-monitoring strategies involving “self-talk”

·       spelling a new word

·       What is the word I am trying to spell?

·       Say  the word

·       How many syllables/sounds do I hear?

·       Do I know other words that sound similar?

·       How do they look?

·       Write the word

·       Does it look right?

·       Are the letters in the right order?

·       Do I have the right number of syllables/sounds represented?

·       Can I read the word?

·       Check reference

·       proof reading

·       Does the word look right?

·       Read the word. Say it aloud.

·       How many syllables do I hear?

·       Do I have the right number of syllables?

·       Are the letters in the right order?

·       Do I know similar looking or sounding words?

·       How does this one compare?

·       Try another way

·       Which way looks right?

·       Check dictionary/reference

Accommodations 

For a student who, despite all efforts, continues to struggle with the mechanics of written expression and particularly spelling, a range of accommodations should be considered.

The aim of making accommodations is to provide the student with access to the standard curriculum. An adapted curriculum may, however, be necessary in some cases.

Possible accommodations:

• allow use of computers including spell check facility in exams
• allow reference to dictionary or computerised pocket dictionary or spelling aid
• tolerate spelling errors with a knowledgeable understanding that the student may experience true difficulties in this area, particularly when under pressure; focus on ideas and content of written work
• consider alternative forms of assessment, e.g., oral exams, practical assignments, taped essays, use of a scribe or proof-reader 
• allow extra time for completion of work (classroom, assignments and exams)

SOME BASIC SPELLING ESSENTIALS
 

I have found that students, irrespective of age, find the following “essentials” helpful, especially when trying to fathom out the many apparent inconsistencies in English spelling. Of course, in a “formal” sense, some of the information below will be beyond the understanding of many very young students but introduced carefully, it should provide helpful insights into the complexities of our written language. 

Often, teachers are swamped with a torrent of materials including special commercial packages, activities, games, strategies, computer software, spelling rules and exceptions that are considered important in planning and implementing a spelling program.

Some “Essential” knowledge and skills considered worthy of teaching in a spelling program follow-

The 26 letters of the alphabet are usually recognized by their NAME.

The 26 letters of the alphabet can “make” more than 44 SOUNDS.

Linguistically, letters are called graphemes and sounds are called phonemes and phonemes are combined to form a morpheme or a spoken word.

The 26 letters can be grouped into

• consonants
• vowels

Most letters are consonants which can be classified as being-

• Regular (having a one-to- one correspondence, one letter-one sound; most consonants are regular)
• Irregular (having more than one sound. e.g., c-s, g-j, s-z; pronunciation influenced by following vowels- e, i, y)
• Silent- e.g., knot, comb, gnome, calm, island
• Doubles-bb, dd, ll, mm, pp, etc
• Blends- initial, e.g., sh, ch, wh, th, final, e.g., ck, lk, mp, sh

Vowels are more variable than consonants
Vowels can be classified as being

• Long- pronouncing the NAME of the letter-A,E,I,O,U
• Short-pronouncing the SOUND of the letter-a,e,i,o,u
• Semi- e.g., y as in my and w as in snow
• Other Blends or Composites usually called diphthongs-e.g., oi, oy, ow, ou, oo, au, aw, ue, ew

Short Vowels 

The SOUND of the letter is articulated-a,e,i,o,u.

Usually has a regular letter-sound correspondence.

Usually only one vowel to “spell” a short vowel sound.

Some common irregulars e.g., ea-head, bread.

A common short vowel spelling pattern is VCCV-a vowel followed by two consonants and then a vowel.

Long Vowels

The NAME of the letter is articulated-A,E,I,O,U

Many complexities, hence the very difficult aspect of English spelling.

Usually two vowels “spell” a long vowel sound.

A useful reminder-When two vowels go for a walk-usually the first will talk.

A common spelling pattern is the distant modification of “e” on the other vowels (a-e, i-e, o-e, u-e)-often taught as “e” on the end of a word makes the first vowel say its own name-e.g., a in lake.

 Major long vowel spelling patterns with their estimated frequency of occurrence

I have found it helpful to teach students to HEAR the difference between the vowel sounds in target spoken words. For instance, I would say- “listen for the vowel sound in the word hop, if you hear the SOUND of the vowel (which “looks” short/quick on the lips and “sounds” short to the ear) that is likely to be a short vowel and hence one vowel is used in spelling; if you hear the NAME of the vowel as in the word hope (which “looks” long on the lips and “sounds” long/extended to the ear) two vowels will usually be used in spelling”.

Students quickly learn to hear the difference between short and long vowel “sounds” in spoken words and hence have a very useful starting point for spelling a given word-

• short vowel sound –short vowel and hence one letter in spelling
• long vowel sound-long vowel and hence two letters in spelling

Students find this step quite easy and hence reduce their initial uncertainty of not knowing whether to use one or two vowels in words.

A very “understandable” error occurs next when the student, spelling long vowels is unsure of what two vowels are used, say to spell boat. If bote is written, this is a more informed error than if only one vowel is used, eg., bot. The progression to accurate spelling should eventually come with direct attention to the selected word using flashcards etc.

Students also find such activities as the following, interesting and fun!

The letter a is pronounced differently in the following words-
Making the five short vowel sounds in these words-

• cat
• any
• village
• was
• above

and making other sounds in these words

• ate
• all
• usable
• garden

Students like to make lists of the different ways of spelling the long vowel sounds eg., “O”

• hope
• boat
• tow
• photo
• owes
• toe
• ohm
• sew
• beau
• though

I recommend that teachers use one of the basic word lists in planning an early spelling program. These lists including the Dolch 220, Fries, 300, Oxford, 307, Magic Words 200, contain words that represent over 50% of the words used in written language. Hence, they should be a central part of early spelling lists. These are basic, essential, “glue-words” that need to be read and spelled accurately. I have stressed the need to introduce young students to these words in a reading program and have suggested strategies to assist students master these words in the Reading Section. As many of these words are phonetically irregular, they are best learned as whole, “sight-words”.

The basic word lists are included in the Reading Section.

 A collection of spelling activities, programs, workbooks, computer software and tests is also provided on the DVD.

This online resource has been prepared by Dr. Stewart C. Sykes - Psychologist. MAPS.
Former Associate Professor of Psychology and Special Education and Director of the Krongold Centre for Exceptional Children. Monash University, Australia.

Office: Level 1, 5 Blackburne Square
Berwick 3806
Phone 0397689990
Fax 0397689992

Email: stewart@docsykes.com

Copyright © Dr. Stewart C. Sykes. All rights reserved.