Questions Teachers Ask: How Can I Help Students Improve Their Spelling?

 

How Can I Help Students Improve Their Spelling?

Spelling is a holistic process.  And, just like abs, spelling cannot be targeted with “spot” exercises. Yet there many ways to support all students.

From my experience, spelling comes easier to some students more than others. There will be students who naturally struggle with spelling. However, there are many strategies that can be used for all students. Remember, outside of a test, these strategies support the writer and are not “cheating.”

Your job as a teacher is to provide a solid word study program.

The questions that need to be asked are:

• What does your word study and spelling program look like?
• How is it differentiated?

Before you check out a spelling/word study resource or program, look in your program of studies.

Within the program of studies you will find suggestions to support spelling.

Below, are some spelling strategies in the grade 4 illustrative outcomes document,

STRATEGY: Teach spelling generalizations

Outcome 4.2 – identify and apply common spelling generalizations in own writing

EXAMPLE Students use spelling generalizations in their writing to form plurals; e.g., change “y” to “i” and add -es, comparative and superlative adjectives; e.g., change “y” to “i” and add -er, -est, and suffixes; e.g., -ing, -ed.

STRATEGY: Teach mnemonic devices, rhymes or visualization

Outcome 4.2 – apply strategies for identifying and learning to spell problem words in own writing

EXAMPLE Students use such strategies as mnemonic devices, rhymes or visualization to remember how to spell problem words. − The principal is your pal. − A piece of pie. − Mrs. D, Mrs. I, Mrs. FFI Mrs. C, Mrs. U, Mrs. LTY. • Students use helpful routines, individually or with a partner, for studying spelling words, such as looking at the word, saying and visualizing the word, writing the word, checking the spelling, correcting errors, and repeating the process.

STRATEGY – Use references

use junior dictionaries, spell-check functions and electronic dictionaries to confirm the spellings or locate the meanings of unfamiliar words in oral, print and other media texts

EXAMPLE:  When spell checking a story, a student chooses the word  from the choices veritable  or vegetable  to correct the misspelled word in the sentence: “Lots of vejitables are growing in our garden.” • A student uses a junior dictionary to check which spelling,  desirt or dessert, should be used in the sentence: “We had strawberries for .”

Below, are the spelling strategies from grade two .

STRATEGY: Differentiate for Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic Learners

use the conventional spelling of common words necessary for the efficient communication of ideas in writing (4.2)

EXAMPLE: Students use a variety of methods to improve their personal memory bank of common, grade appropriate words.
− Visual learners may try to see the word in colours or on an imaginary screen.
− Kinesthetic learners may trace the words with a crayon or their finger, or air write them.
− Auditory learners may say the word and say the letters out loud.

STRATEGY:  Use word lists and charts

add descriptive words to elaborate on ideas and create particular effects in oral, print and other media texts.

EXAMPLE: Word charts assist students with spelling. These are words grouped for a common reason. These words might be related to ,theme (Canadian provinces – flight) or function (; e.g., walking words, talking words, size words, scary words. moving words, talking words, colour words, seasonal words, thematic words.)

Below, are the spelling strategies from grade one

STRATEGY: Use personal word lists, books and the environment (word wall and labels)

use personal word books, print texts and environmental print to assist with writing (grade 1)

EXAMPLE: A student wrote a story about grandmother and asked the teacher to print grandma in a personal word book. The student finds the word in the word book when writing another story about a family.
EXAMPLE: Students refer to a word wall for commonly used words when writing in their journals.

EXAMPLE: A group of students use such classroom labels as door, table and chalkboard, when making a map of the classroom.
EXAMPLE  A student uses My First Word Book for assistance with words, when writing about the jungle.

EXAMPLE: Students keep a short list of their most commonly misspelled words (spelling demons) on their desks. (grade 2)

These are two ideas not mentioned in the program of studies, but make sense. They involve technology and staff collaboration

STRATEGY: Use voice dictation or voice typing

The other option, students voice typing a list of words they might need for their assignment.

STRATEGY: Brainstorm more strategies as a staff

As a staff brainstorm a list of possibilities, a common list helps all students and teachers.  Each grade can look at their grade level illustrative outcomes and come up with a sequence of grade level expectations for spelling and word study. This list or continuum is tremendously helpful for differentiation within and between grade levels. So what does this look like? Well, I went into the grade 1 program of studies, illustrative outcomes. This is what I pulled out to support word work and spelling.

SAMPLE – EXAMPLE  of  Spelling and Word Study Expectations for Grade 1

Student Tools for spelling

• use a displayed alphabet
• use personal word books, print texts and environmental print
  • Word walls
  • Labels around the room
  • Published word books

• segment and blend sounds while writing
  • A student says “hat,” then segments the sounds, saying: /h/ then writes “h” /a/ then writes “a” /t/ then writes “t” to make “hat.”
  • Using a personal chalkboard with squares; e.g., a student slowly repeats the word  —/c/, /a/, /t/—placing a button in a square for each sound, and then writes the word  underneath. (look up “sound boxes or elkonin boxes” for the image.)
  • While writing a story about a pet, a student breaks down words from a personal word list into sounds; e.g., the words cat, drop and map.
    are broken down into c-a-t, d-r-o-p,  and m-a-p. •
  • Students repeat such words as classmate’s names, and clap out the syllables: , Nan-cy. Mo-ham-ed and Al-ex-an-der
  • Given word endings such as -oat or -un, students add initial sounds to form words such as goat and boat, run, fun and sun.

• use phonic knowledge and skills to read unfamiliar words in context
  • When reading the morning message, the student correctly associates the sound /s/ with the initial consonant “s” to identify the word
    sister in context.
  • When reading the sentence, “The car was driving down the road.” a student first reads the word road as street.  The student pauses and self-corrects after recognizing the initial consonant “r.”
  • When reading and writing, students demonstrate consistent sound–symbol associations with:
    • consonants b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, y, z
    • consonant blends bl, pl, br, tr, st, gr, dr, fr, fl
    • consonant digraphs ch, sh, wh, th (voiced)
    • short vowels a, e, i, o, u

• use analogy to generate and read phonically regular word families
  • When given the word day , students generate a list of rhyming words, such as play,say ,may .
  • When reading, students identify such words as frog and jog because they already know the word dog.
  • When students sing the last line of “Are You Sleeping” (Ding, dang, dong), they repeat the last line changing the initial consonant according to consonant cards being displayed by the teacher or students, such as M–ming, mang, mong, F–fing, fang, fong, Z–zing, zang, zong.

• Know and use high frequency grade level word lists (dolch)
• Use “best try”
  • A student uses Best Try spelling in writing, “I want to have a pet elefant.” The student remembers that elephant does not have an “f” but a “ph” instead, and makes the correction
  • After drawing a bicycle, the students identify and label the various parts of the bicycle; e.g., pedal, wheels, seat. They use their knowledge of sounds to help predict how to spell each word; e.g., “Pedal starts with the /p/ sound. That’s a ‘p.’

Student Tools for Word Study Practice

• use a stamping kit at the printing centre, or computer software, to name and match upper and lower case letters.
• Go Fish,” using cards with upper and lower case letters.

Teacher Instruction to Support Spelling and Word Study

• Lead students through modeled and interactive writing -referring to a chart story, the teacher says, “This word is Mother. It begins with a capital ‘M.’ Can anyone point to a word beginning with a small ‘m’?” One of the children points to the word
• Lead students through activities to change, extend or complete rhymes, rhythms and sounds in pattern stories, poems, nursery rhymes and other oral, print and other media texts
• Morning messages – When reading the morning message, the student correctly associates the sound /s/ with the initial consonant “s” to identify the word
  sister in context.
• Teach the following –
  • consonants b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, y, z
  • consonant blends bl, pl, br, tr, st, gr, dr, fr, fl
  • consonant digraphs ch, sh, wh, th (voiced)
  • short vowels a, e, i, o, u
• Lead students through segmenting words
  • Using a personal chalkboard with squares; e.g., a student slowly repeats the word  —/c/, /a/, /t/—placing a button in a square for each sound, and then writes the word  underneath. (look up “sound boxes or elkonin boxes” for the image.)
• Lead students through syllabication
  • Students repeat such words as classmate’s names, and clap out the syllables: , Nan-cy. Mo-ham-ed and Al-ex-an-der

As for resources, I hear good things about Words their Way and I personally have used Month by Month Phonics.

What are your favorite resources for teaching word study and spelling?

Until Next Time,

Coach Clark