Transcript Spelling PowerPoint 2015 - Rush Green Primary School

Spelling: Commonsense strategies and best
practices.
Rush Green January 2015.
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Pedagogical history:
Up to mid 1970s dedicated time allocated to the teaching
and testing of spellings. Errors in work were generally
corrected through repetitive practice. Approach does not
work for all.
Mid 1970s onwards, approach questioned. Spelling should
not be separate from content i.e. address spellings at an
appropriate time during lesson. Move to ‘real writing’ and
‘whole language approaches’. Next twenty years saw a
demise in discrete teaching of spelling principles ( Cooke,
Slee and Young, 2008).
Now, pendulum has swung back to explicit teaching of
spelling ( as per school policy/Rose Report).
Fallacy!
• The spelling of English words is not arbitrary and random.
• Only 4% of English words are truly irregular and must be learned
visually and by repeated writing.
• 50% of our words are predictable, based on similar letter blends.
• 34% are predictable except for one sound.
This indicates that applying phonic knowledge as a strategy for
spelling will be effective for more than 80% of words (Joshi et al.,
2009 ). Spelling needs to be explicitly and systematically taught
with a focus on phonological skills.
Best Practice 1: Explain a word’s meaning and discuss its
composition with the class before getting them to copy it
down or use it in context.
Visual discrimination
Visual discrimination is the most basic skill we use in spelling, to
differentiate between different letters of the alphabet and to note
differences in letter groupings (letter recognition, letter formation
and print knowledge).
There is no one proven causal link between good handwriting and
accurate spelling; BUT being able to produce handwriting smoothly
and easily frees up the writer to focus much more on the correct
spelling of the words ( Sumner, Connelly and Barnett, 2013).
Best Practice 2: When studying words, use visual methods
of presentation as much as possible such as underlining
common letter clusters, patterns,sequences and familieslook for common links-explore with the children!
Auditory discrimination
A speller needs to be able to hear spoken words clearly, identify the
separate sound units making up the words and possess the ability
to record these sounds on paper with correct letters and groups of
letters: for example, being able to detect the difference between
the spoken words ‘thirteen’ and ‘thirty’, and between the sounds
/f/, /th/, and /v/ ( as in finger, thumb and velvet). This must be
taught.
Best Practice 3: Ensure good teacher speech and modelling
of new spellings allied with the teaching of letter to sound
relationships. Ensure that phonic knowledge is quickly
applied to everyday reading and writing.
Towards a self monitoring strategy
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When faced with a new word to learn encourage the students to ask themselves:
Can I spell this word as it sounds?
How many syllables can I hear in this word?
Can I break this word down into parts that are easier to spell and remember?
Does this word sound a bit like another word I can spell?
Does the word I have written look correct?
It does not matter if I make a mistake!
When writing ( or proofreading) encourage the students to say to themselves:
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Is the word that I think is misspelt displayed in the class?
I will write this word three possible ways on my whiteboard, then I’ll choose the one that looks
correct.
I’ll write the word as best I can, then come back and check it when I get to the end.
Could I find this word in a dictionary?
I’ll ask Megan; she’s a good speller.
Best Practice 4: Create an environment where students
are not afraid to make mistakes.
Specific strategies
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Look –Cover – Write- Check : excellent for all student groups.
Repeated writing: 5 to 10 times: good only for the engaged student or just a
mechanical exercise!
Multisensory Approach: get student to finger trace over a target word while
sounding out the letters. They then write the word in the air using large arm
movements to reinforce shape and letter sequence. Excellent for sig. + SEND.
SOS ( Simultaneous Oral Spelling) : Multi sensory/repetition based. Effective
for adult interventions.
Exaggerated Pronunciation : Simple but effective. Teacher and student
pronounce a word by saying it exactly in the way it is written-WedNESday;
FebRUary; valuABLE. The student can copy and practice writing the word(s) as
written here. Good as a 1:1 strategy (TA?).
Mnemonics: Fun and beneficial, especially for young students. Can be used
whole class, groups or 1:1. Can be made visual by designating a picture to the
word.
Specific strategies
Old way/New Way: Used where a writer habitually misspells certain words and the
errors have become firmly established. A memory of the old word is used to
activate an awareness of the new word:
• Student writes the word as usual (incorrect). Teacher/student agree to call this the
‘old way’.
• Teacher writes correct spelling. Both parties agree to call this the ‘new way.’
• Teacher/student discuss similarities/differences between old/new way spelling.
• Student writes ‘old way’ spelling and moves straight onto ‘new way’ spelling verbal
describing what they are changing.
• Repeat 6-10 times.
Approach may benefit more able student-again, labour intensive
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Technology : spell checkers, computer aided software etc. Excellent for students
with learning disabilities/Dyslexic traits.
Summary
• Make it fun!
• Allocate a specific time for the discrete teaching of strategies,
practise, proofreading and self correction.
• Teach a core vocabulary of high frequency words to mastery
level.
• Make your classroom a spelling friendly classroom
(dictionaries, displayed high frequency words, topic specific
words, computer access).
The following is a list of spellings to be learnt by a class at Rush Green.
The class consists of 3 students! A high ability student, a mid ability
student and a student with sig. + SEND. For each word, consider what
strategy you and your TA may adopt to ensure each of the three students
learns how to spell each of the seven words.
Spelling
knife
hatch
colour
superfluous
batch
their
there
catch
Strategy for HA
Strategy for MA
Strategy for
SEND+