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6896 Language Ed 2 - Assignment 1

Spelling Program




Meg Adamson U3059162
Tutorial: Friday 11.30 - Misty Adoniou

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Table of contents

Framing Statement
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Year 3 Spelling Scope
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Unit Overview
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Spelling Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Spelling Program 10
Phonological/Graphological . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Morphological . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Visual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Etymological . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Orthographic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18


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Framing Statement
Spelling is an imperative part of the literacy continuum, but is often overlooked in its importance and
therefore often not taught explicitly (Apel, Masterton & Niessen, 2004). As children develop spelling is a
vital foundational skill in all academic areas and having specific spelling strategies and skills would
understandably make this task easier. Current spelling outcomes are still part of overall literacy teaching
and are often focused on phonic awareness in early years and word recognition in upper primary, this
does not accurately reflect the way in which students learn to spell (Treiman & Bourassa, 2000). Current
research has shown that students as early as prep are able to use orthographic knowledge in their
understanding of spelling and that the explicit teaching of morphemic knowledge can help students
from all years of school (Williams et al., 2009; Treiman & Bourassa, 2000).
It is important to have a spelling program in schools that reflects the current findings of research and
reflects a true understanding of the way students learn to spell (Apel, Masterton & Hart, 2004). It is also
vital that teachers have a broad and in-depth understanding of linguistics and the way in which spelling
functions as part of a complete literacy program (Nunes et al., 2006). Spelling has also been shown to be
closely linked with reading decoding and this is why it is often located within reading outcomes in
curriculums; this document is trying show that a spelling unit can be given equal weighting to writing
and reading within an overall literacy program (Henry, 1989).
Spelling is the ability to transfer the vast array of language knowledge into written formats and vice
versa, however it should not just be about the sounds within a language when referring to English. The
English language is often more about the root or base words and meaning than the sounds represented
(Devonshire & Fluck, 2010). English phonographic and orthographic rules can be used to great success in
the spelling of English words, but often it is morphemic knowledge that is responsible for the strategic
spelling of unknown words (Nunes et al. 2006). In order for students to become strategic English spellers
they must be able to access a variety of spelling knowledge and use it appropriately in their learning
(Devonshire & Fluck, 2010; Apel, Masterton & Hart, 2004).
In order to become a confident and strategic speller students need knowledge in three main areas.
Students must be able to utilise phono-graphological knowledge: the ability to take the sounds from a
language and transfer these into sounds, they must understand the relationship between an alphabet
and the sounds each symbol represents (Treiman & Bourassa, 2000). Students must also be able to
utilise morphemic-etymological knowledge: the ability to understand the meaning parts contained
within words such as affixes, tenses and plurals and the way these parts of a word interact and change
(Masterton, Apel & Hart, 2004). Students must also utilise orthographic knowledge, which is knowledge
about the rules and patterns in written language. Students often develop orthographic and morphemic
spelling awareness independently over time, but explicit instruction in this would enable students to
become more strategic spellers earlier (Henry, 1989; Treiman & Bourassa, 2000; Williams et al. 2009).
In order to enable students to become better spellers, teachers must first and foremost have a firm
grasp of linguistic knowledge. Teachers are often the front line on spelling development and therefore
need to be confident and strategic spellers themselves; knowledge on each area of spelling awareness
should be detailed and also contain understandings of how spelling skill develops (Williams et al, 2009;
Henry, 1989). It is important for teachers to understand how non-spellers develop their knowledge and
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apply the correct teaching strategies in order to best facilitate their spelling awareness (Nunes et al.
2006; Treiman & Bourassa, 2000).
One of the theories put forward by Siegler (2005) is that spelling strategy development can be described
as overlapping waves, each wave representing a type of spelling knowledge (Devonshire & Fluck, 2010).
This theory would be best implemented by teachers addressing the developmental needs of each
student according to their position on a designated line of progression (Treiman & Bourassa, 2000).
However I believe that while the idea of multiple strategies being utilised is probably accurate, a more
prescriptive and flexible approach needs to be implemented in teaching strategic spelling. Each childs
current spelling knowledge and strategies should be examined and an overall picture of the class
development used to decide which aspects of spelling knowledge will be taught (Apel, Masterton
&Niessen, 2004). Any spelling program designed for my class would differ simply because of the level of
pre-testing and formative assessment would be more than relying on a single test. Diagnostic spelling
tests such as PIPS, SAST and M100W words are good for initial indicators of spelling ability, but unless
analysed properly and in context offer no substantial evidence of spelling knowledge or strategy
awareness (Apel, Masterton & Hart, 2004).
I intend to use both a phonics system and a contextual spelling approach as I believe this would be
accepted by the school community. Parents might be dubious if students didnt have weekly spelling
tests and I have seen the benefits of phonics spelling while teaching. While students decoding skills can
often improve with the development of phonographic knowledge, an integrated approach of sound-
letter combinations, morphemes and orthography would create a strong spelling program and confident
and strategic spellers (Devonshire & Fluck, 2010; Treiman & Bourassa, 2000; Henry, 1989; Masterton,
Apel & Hart, 2004; Williams et al. 2009)
This particular spelling unit would be done in conjunction with a narrative or procedure writing unit. It is
important to integrate spelling and writing as it relates back to context and relevance; there is no point
in teaching children to spell if they cannot use the words properly in a sentence. Explicit spelling would
be present throughout the whole year and integrated into every literacy unit in order to develop
childrens understanding of the types, use and function of words as well as the mechanics within words
such as orthography, morphemes and etymology. This gives students the tools to recognise and spell
words and then to use the words strategically and with a better understanding of the details.
This program is designed with a year 3 class in mind. The activities and knowledge I have programmed
are taken from the year 3 outcomes of different curriculums and still maintain a mixture of phoneme-
grapheme relationships as well as building childrens knowledge of orthographic and morphemic
awareness. By this age children should have a bank of sight words that do not need to be decoded. I
almost included semantic knowledge in the spelling program as I intend it to be integrated with a writing
program, but felt that semantic knowledge fit best when taught in context with writing.
I believe an integrated approach is necessary, encompassing both explicit chalk and talk and interactive
whole class activities on the board but also extension or investigation activities in small groups. Taking
words and examples from childrens literature that the class is familiar with creates a contextual
environment for learning. At the heart of this unit is the idea that teaching and learning should happen
in smaller groups than the whole class, however often there is only one teacher present and
compromises must be made (Williams et al. 2009). Wherever possible there would be the opportunity
for the teacher to work closely with focus students each week. In order to cover both broad concepts
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and then consolidate with tasks much of the unit would follow a pattern of whole class small groups
whole class small groups.
Phonographic knowledge would be best addressed in whole class interactive sessions followed up by
small group or individual consolidation tasks. Morphological knowledge would be best addressed in
small groups during reading groups or other literacy stations or in short whole class work on the board
where the teacher can observe the students learning. Visual knowledge would be best served through
individual or small group work as often this includes sight words and MGR which can be unique to
individuals, interviewing or asking children to explain their strategies would work well for this. I would
use whole class interactive sessions to teach orthographic knowledge as much of the work is related to
patterns and observations. Students who do not have the same understanding of orthographic
strategies could help each other during board sessions. It is also an opportunity for the teacher to
observe which students are connecting the dots and which students may need support without putting
those students on the spot. Etymology would be taught through small group work which would be
shared with the class.

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Year 3 Spelling Scope
ACARA (ACELA1485) Understand how to use soundletter relationships and knowledge of
spelling rules, compound words, prefixes, suffixes, morphemes and less common letter
combinations, for example tion
(ACELA1486) Recognise high frequency sight words
(ACELY1679) Read an increasing range of different types of texts by combining contextual,
semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge, using text processing strategies, for example
monitoring, predicting, confirming, rereading, reading on and self-correcting
(ACELA1474)Recognise most soundletter matches including silent letters, vowel/consonant
digraphs and many less common soundletter combinations
(ACELA1472)Recognise common prefixes and suffixes and how they change a words meaning
NSW RS 2.6 Uses efficiently an integrated range
of skills and strategies when reading and
interpreting written texts.
RS 2.8 Discusses the text structure of a range of
text types and the grammatical features that are
characteristic of those text types.
WS 2.11 Uses knowledge of letter sound
correspondences, common letter patterns and a
range of strategies to spell familiar and
unfamiliar words.

Phono/graphological
knowledge
Morphological knowledge Visual knowledge Etymological
knowledge
Orthographic
knowledge
(ACELA1474)
Recognise most
soundletter
matches including
silent letters,
vowel/consonant
digraphs and many
less common sound
letter combinations
(ACELA1485) morphemic
knowledge (for example
inflectional endings in single
syllable words, plural and
past tense); generalisations
(for
example to make a word
plural when it ends in 's',
'sh', 'ch', or 'z' add 'es')
(ACELA1486)
Recognise high
frequency sight
words

(ACELY1679) combining
different types of
knowledge (for example
world knowledge,
vocabulary,
grammar, phonics) to
make decisions about
unknown words, reading
on, reviewing
and summarising meaning
WS 2.11 uses
known letter
patterns when
attempting to
spell unknown
words

RS 2.6 reads two- and
three-syllable words
and contractions


RS 2.8 identifies base words
and explains how prefixes
and suffixes change words
and their meanings

WS 2.11 self-
corrects words
that do not look
right

RS2.6 draws on
experience or
knowledge of the topic
or context to work out
the meaning of
unknown words
WS 2.11 writes
words containing
less common
digraphs and
letter
combinations
RS 2.6 uses word-
identification
strategies

Students examine the affect
morphemes such as -ness,
-ly and -tion have on
words and word types in
order to change them into
other types.
WS 2.11 spells
high frequency
words correctly in
own writing


(ACELA1485)
phonological
knowledge (for
example diphthongs
and other ambiguous
vowel sounds in
more complex
words); three-letter
clusters (for example
'thr', 'shr', 'squ')

(ACELA1485)
visual knowledge
(for example
more complex
single syllable
homophones
such as
'break/brake',
'ate/eight')

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Overview
Week Content Outcomes Spelling words
1
Read The Lost Thing. Familiarise students with
story, words used and authors intent.

Begin introducing words from the book into
spelling tests.

Focus on spelling patterns and letter
combinations used in the story.

Use words and concepts from the story in
writing and journal tasks.
Reads two- and three-
syllable words and
contractions

Recognise most sound
letter matches including
silent letters,
vowel/consonant digraphs
and many less common
soundletter combinations
-ost
Th-
General words
2
-ink
Sk-
General words
3
Recognises common letter
patterns and familiar
words.
Gr-
-able
/ed/ words
4
Small group work playing with spelling rules,
affixes and base words.

Students focus on word families, word chains
and onset-rime patterns in the book.

Integrated work with writing program.

Identifies base words and
explains how prefixes and
suffixes change words and
their meanings

-ound
Cl-
-ed list words
5
-age
Sn-
-t list words
6
Students look up origins of words in the text
to create an etymology word bank.

Focus on morphology used in text.

Draws on experience or
knowledge of the topic or
context to work out the
meaning of unknown
words

Students examine the
affect morphemes such as
-ness, -ly and -tion
have on word types in
order to change them into
other types.
-ous
Gu-
Etymology words
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Students continue to look at etymology and
morphology, playing with word segments and
meanings. Begin to build a morpheme bank.

Students research word origins and
onomatopoeia to create a LOST poster using
made up words. Students define words.
Sc
Ph
Morphology words
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-tsle
Exc-
General words
9
Students begin writing a sequel or spin off to
The Lost Thing, they may use their LOST
poster as inspiration or continue the
storybook.

Continue focus on morphology and word
families, etymology and word origin and word
patterns and rules from students stories
Self-corrects words that
do not look right
-ious
Scr-
Commonly misspelled
words
10
Uses knowledge of familiar
letter patterns when
attempting to spell
unknown words
Con-
-sion
Commonly misspelled
words


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Assessment

Ongoing assessment
Students will write in journals for 20-30 minutes at least 3 times a week. These journals will be
analysed periodically for spelling development and future teaching points.
-Students will also have spelling tests at least 3 times per month (preferably weekly but flexible).
Words will be from class work, phonics program and misspelled words from journals.
Assessment Pre-test, Formative, Summative
Students will be periodically assessed through tests and other observable class interactions such as
activities on the whiteboard. Students spelling knowledge will also be assessed through their journals
and other school work. This writing will be analysed to decide how well the students are developing
their spelling awareness and what needs to be focused on. Students results will be tabled and
constantly referred to, however with each child having individual needs, majorities will need to be
addressed and specific students targeted in tailored activities.
Pre-testing will take the form of spelling words taken from a familiar text and asking students to spell
them and put them into their own sentences. These will then be analysed so as to decide which
concepts and spelling knowledge need to be focused on.
Formative assessment throughout the unit will be based on observations of spelling activities done as a
class or in groups, ongoing analysis of students written journal work and interviews where students are
asked to describe the way in which they decided how to spell certain words (both correct and incorrectly
spelled). Weekly spelling tests will be based on the words students have covered and use aspects of
phonics programs, insofar that the words will be onset-rime or morphemically similar.
Summative assessment will be based on the development students have achieved as evidenced in their
written journal, comparing their work from final weeks to the beginning weeks. Students will also write
a sequel or continuance of the story used in class and this will be analysed for use of spelling strategies.
If students are attempting to spell new words and are using orthographic, morphemic and phonographic
awareness then I would consider the program a success.

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Spelling words
Spelling words will be taken from work done with the book The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan (2000), related
words would be sourced and then other words added from appropriate areas, such as words covered in
class, words spelled incorrectly by more than one student or individual. In weeks 9-10 of the unit,
spelling words would come from commonly misspelled words from the students stories. Students will
have weekly spelling test based on the phonics programs either in place at the school or created by the
teacher. I would base mine on the work of Fay Tran as her book Teaching Kids to Read (2010) contains
useful and sequential lists of spelling words. The book also has affiliated phonogram flashcards which
contain orthographic rules for most letters and mnemonic devices for certain letters (eg. N- open lips,
M- closed lips) (Wilkins-Farago, n.d).
Bold words are words taken directly from The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan (2000). Unbolded words are
words added by the teacher for the purpose of bulking up the list to showcase more examples of words.
General Morphemic Etymology -ED suffix -T suffix
Whole
Usual
Particular
Weird
Friendly
Denying
Quite
Opinion
Wandering
Disease
Already
Dilemma
Advertisement
Anonymous
Eventually
Profound
Actually
Noticing
Through
Around

Unconscious
Terrible
Tirelessly
Naturally
Helpful
Dramatic
Happier
Disinfectant
Receptionist
Classify
Especially

Actually
Anonymous
Around
Baffled
Belonged
Denying
Dilemma
Disease
Dramatic
Friendly
Hunted
Intrigued
Lost
Noticing
Opinion
Particular
Profound
Terrible
Usual
Wandering
Weird
Whole

/d/ - Seemed
Happened
Used
Intrigued
Baffled
Stared
Played
Paused
Warned
Arrived
Called
Belonged
Carried
/ed/ - Existed
Started
Demanded
Hunted
Sorted
Skated
/t/ - Pressed
Stopped
Slouched
Checked
Liked
Shrieked
Asked
Baked
Dressed
Boxed
Typed
Left - leave
Felt - feel
Lost - lose
Meant mean
Dreamt dream
Slept sleep
Spent spend
Kept keep
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Spelling Program
Phonological/Graphological Knowledge
Outcome Activities Assessment

Students continue to
develop their sound-
letter relationships



Students recognise
orthographic rules
and exceptions as
they begin to reason
linguistically.


Students understand
the role and purpose
of vowels and
consonants within
word structure

Students can
recognise and
understand the
structures within
words such as
morphemes and
syllables, their
purpose and
implementation.
Vowels in syllables series of lessons
Students look at the app Sounds on individual iPads or on an IWB
linked iPad (see below). Teacher facilitates a discussion as the
students look at the layout of the phonetic chart and decide why it is
laid out as such. Discuss vowels, consonants and blends and some of
the simple orthographic rules that relate to the English language.
This discussion would involve:
Every English word needs a vowel in it, and every word segment or
syllable needs a vowel. Then introduce exceptions such as why, dryly,
sky, spy, sly, try, sphynx, rhythm, glyph, crypt, gypsy, pygmy, hymn;
ask students to compare these words phonically and discuss
similarities. (Focus on Y acting as and I and how the word is
conjugated by morphemes eg. Sky skies for short words. Discuss
origins of words and why this might affect the use of Y as an I)

Students choose some words from the spelling list or from around the
classroom they are confident in spelling and remove the vowels. Swap
with a partner and try to decipher the words. Pair-Share and discuss
which words were hardest to decipher, which words were easiest,
why?

As a class, a long word such as receptionist is put up on the board and
students are asked to clap out the syllables. The syllables are then
separated and studied: are all of the syllables the same size? What
letters are in the syllables; does each syllable have a vowel in it? This
activity can be used in supporting students as seen in Masteron, Apel
& Hart (2004) with students writing a given word and then placing
markers, beads or counters on each syllable then identifying what
types of letters are in each syllable and whether some syllable are
words or morphemes. Although this is a younger group activity it
could be altered for the older group.
Students will be
observed on the
contributions to the
discussions and can
justify why each sound
is in a particular section.


Students contribute
effectively to the
discussions and can
offer insight on patterns
or sounds.

Students participate
during lesson, and then
contribute to discussion
appropriately.


Students can verbalise
and discuss syllables
within a word, the
function of the letters
or morphemes within
the syllable and rules or
patterns they may
notice.

Students can match
onset-rime patterns
quickly and
accurately
Onset-rime dominoes Activity
As a class, model the use of the Onset-Rime Dominoes worksheet.
Students use learned onset-rime patterns (consonants, vowels,
digraphs and blends) in the same way as dominoes are played.

The first student puts down the onset-rime sk-irt, the second student
must then put down a word with the same rime d-irt. The next
student puts down a word with the same onset d-ung etc. Use the
template found below. Blue is onset, yellow is rime.

Students work in pairs or threes to play the game. No two words can
be the same. Dictionaries or word banks to be used only in
emergencies.
If printed off, the
completed sheet can be
stored and analysed to
ascertain how the child
is developing their P/G
knowledge. Students
work can be compared
over time and
before/after explicitly
covering a particular
rime or onset.
Complexity of words
used also analysed.
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Sounds App IPA chart with interactive sounds

Onset-rime dominoes template
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Morphological Knowledge
Outcomes Activity/Content Assessment

Students
understand the
effect affixes have
on base words and
the meaning of
each individual
morpheme


Students are able
to identify multiple
examples of a
suffix or prefix.
Morpheme bank
As a class look at the list of morpheme words selected and discuss what
each morpheme means or does to the base word

Help (noun) + ful (suffix) = helpful (adjective).
Explain that the suffix ful can be remembered as full of baseword eg.
Full of help, full of beauty etc.

Individually students think of as many ful words as possible, identifying
the base word, adding the suffix and putting the word into a sentence.
As a class, compare words found and create a morpheme bank (word
wall). Teacher corrects incorrectly spelled words and highlights how
words change when the suffix is added (eg. Dutiful, beautiful).

The teacher types up all appropriate words collected by the class and
prints it off like a shopping list. The list of words should be folded up
like a concertina and attached to the word wall; it should be kept
contracted using a paperclip or bulldog clip. Students can then undo the
word list for any of the morphemes covered in lessons.


Students should be able
to list at least 3 ful
words, even if not
spelled correctly.

Students can
communicate the full
meaning of the
morpheme ful (eg. full
of beauty, full of
wonder.)

Students create
morpheme+
morpheme words
and evaluate their
validity.

Students can
replace incorrect
affixes in created
words.
Word matrix 1-2 lessons (rpt with more examples)
The teacher chooses 4 base words either from the spelling words or
from the book and 4 prefixes or suffixes the students are familiar with
(from the morphology spelling list).

These 4 base words and 4 affixes are set out in a table and the student
is then asked to put the morphemes together to create words (see
below). Students must then evaluate whether each word is a viable
English word or not. Teacher should also describe each type of word
that has been created: unhappy is still an adjective but happily is an
adverb, happiness is a noun etc.

As a class discuss which morphemes are applied correctly, gives some
more examples of similar words. Teacher should then facilitate a
discussion of which morphemes should have been used for the
incorrect words.
Adjectives -ness -er Un- -ly
Happy Happiness
N
Happier
C.ADJ
Unhappy
ADJ
Happily
ADV
Friendly Friendliness
N
Friendlier
C.ADJ
Unfriendly
ADJ
Friendlily
Weird Weirdness
N
Weirder
C.ADJ
Unweird Weirdly
ADV
Usual usualness usualer Unusual
ADJ
Usually
ADV

Students correctly
identify proper and
improper use of affixes
and can change the
incorrect affix to a more
suitable one.
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Visual Knowledge
Outcomes Activity/Content Assessment

Students continue
to develop the
visual recognition
of words using
word chunking or
mental-graphemic
representations
(MGR).
Small group word game stations Activity
These small group activities are good for when the teacher may need
some intensive teaching sessions with a particular group of students.
These games focus on visual strategies and quick recognition of letters
and words.
Groups should be ability groups in order to challenge all students while
not frustrating other or use pre-assigned groups from other literacy
areas. Strictly no cheating (looking in books).
Word jumble
In small groups, pairs or solo (depending on ability and class preferred
learning styles and progress) students are given words from their
spelling list and asked to jumble them up and swap with a partner..
Hangman
Students play hangman with the spelling words used throughout the
unit so far. Students can choose to add morphemes if theyre confident
because hangman words must be spelled correctly.
Boggle
Students are given a sheet of letters and have to make as many words
from the letters as possible in 99 seconds. Run through 4 or 5 times per
group with different letter sheets
Word race
During reading groups or other small group times, students are given a
fly swat each and asked to find certain words that are placed on the
ground. The words are printed and laminated then scattered. Either the
teacher or another student in the group calls out a word and two
students race each other to find it and hit it with their fly-swat. Some
words are misspelled on purpose and students must swat a correctly
spelled word to win their round. This activity can also be modified for
individual racing through the use of a stopwatch or timer in order to
constrain competition (and sore losers). Words can be swapped out as
students develop.


Students would be
observed during these
activities to see how
many correct words
they get, how quickly
they find words, how
many words they made
and how many students
went to the gallows.
Students could also be
interviewed as to how
they knew it was the
right word: which
strategies they used.
Student achievement
could be compared over
time to see
development.


14

Etymological Knowledge
Outcomes Activity/Content Assessment

Students are able
to use database
search to find the
origin of set words
from the text and
compare as a class.
Spelling word origins 1 lesson Ongoing project
As a class choose a word from the origins list of words and the teacher
demonstrates how to use a Google search or a specific website to find
the origin of the word.

Explain that English borrows words from lots of different languages and
that even normal English words are usually from German, Greek,
French or Latin.
Etymology is the study of where words come from, so well use an
etymology dictionary.

Use the example whole. Type it into the etymology online dictionary
and read out the explanation.
Old English hal "entire, unhurt, healthy," from Proto-
Germanic *khailaz "undamaged". The spelling with wh- developed early
15c. (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0
&search=whole&searchmode=none)

Ask students to reply with what it means, locate the important
information. If the students seem to understand continue to the
activity; if not do another example.

In pairs or threes allocate students to look up 3-4 words from the list.
Ask them to write down the English word, the language of origin, the
words root and any other interesting fact they may come across. If
there is more than one language origin, students should write down the
one they feel is most relevant.
Each student should then choose one word each to share with the class,
possibly sharing all words if warranted.

As a class create a table on the board documenting the language origins
and the original word/s. Print this off for students to keep and refer to.
Add to the list throughout the year with similar words, facts about
words or new language origins.


Students will be
assessed on their ability
to locate the origins of
their words and then
contribute their findings
to the class word bank.
Specifically the teacher
should be looking for
students ability to
locate relevant
information, their class
contributions and co-
operative groupwork.

Students begin to
think about word
origin and other
words related to
unknown words.








Creating a phobia (word dissection) 2-3 lessons
Introduce the class by asking them is there a word to describe a fear of
getting lost?
What is a phobia? Whos heard of a phobia? (possible that some may
know arachnophobia or claustrophobia, hopefully nobody says
homophobia) A phobia is a fear of something.

Teacher script
So a phobia is a fear of something. Fears or phobias can be silly things
like Omphalophobia which is a fear of bellybuttons or Xanthophobia
which is a fear of the colour yellow. Theyre not likely to hurt you, but
people are still afraid of them. Phobias can also be more serious things
like Pyrophobia which is being afraid of fire or Nosophobia which is a
fear of catching a disease.

Students will be
assessed on the depth
of their study, the
creativity and originality
of their created words,
the appropriateness of
the created words and
their explanation of
choice of created.

Students will also be
assessed on their
productivity,
15



Students can
identify sections of
words and their
possible meanings,
related words and
sounds.















Students research
word meanings in
other languages in
order to create a
new word.

The suffix phobia comes from Greek language phobos. In Greek
mythology Phobos was the spirit of fear and he would ride into battle
and scare everybody who came near him.

So English borrowed Phobos name to describe fears and we can see
the section each word that reads phobia (highlight, circle or underline).
The other part of the word can also be taken from Greek or other
languages. We can see the first part of the word in this example. What
do you think someone who has Aquaphobia might be afraid of?
(Separate the two word sections) Think about the part of the word
before phobia. Where else might you see words that use aqua? (not the
colour)
Aquarium, aquatic.
What about Thermophobia? (Separate the two word sections) Think
about thermo- where might you have seen it before?
Thermometer, thermos, hypothermic.

So the two parts of the word tell us what it means aqua- means water
and phobia means fear. Thermo- means heat and phobia means
fear.

As a class, create a new word for getting-lost-phobia. There are no
medical definitions for a fear of being lost. There is Ochlophobia which
is a fear of crowds and Autophobia which is fear of being alone. Some
people suggested Mazephobia. Use the thesauruses or the computers
to look up synonyms for lost. Students might look up how to say lost in
Greek or other languages and use that to come up with the word eg.
Lost in French is perdu so a child might suggest perduphobia as a
candidate while some students might use their home languages to
create their chosen words.

Teacher should assist students in their searches and be available for
student discussion but be aware that this task is for the students to
think about and not get too involved.

Once the majority of students are happy with at least one candidate
each, the class should compare their suggestions on the board and play
with, alter or combine prefixes in order to create a word to define a
fear of getting lost. Class votes and this could be used in assembly, the
newsletter, a school blog or sent to a local paper.
participation and co-
operation in the
research component.


16

Orthographic Knowledge
Outcomes Activity/Content Assessment

Students
understand the use
of the ed suffix in
conjugating verbs,
some patterns
regarding
pronunciation and
conjugation and
the sounds
associated.
Suffix sort ED 1 lesson in series of suffix learning
In groups of 3-4, students are given part of a list of past tense verbs
from the story and asked to sort the words ino the different sounds the
ED suffix makes: /t/ in asked, /d/ in belonged and /ed/ in hunted.
Students will be asked to focus on the base words throughout the
activity and the way the verb is conjugated.

Students will then think-pair-share with any patterns or similarities
between the words. Sort the words on the IWB and ask for concurrence
with the class, as well as an explanation as to WHY the word is in the
category. Teacher explains that -ed is the most common past tense
verb conjugation but can be said in different ways.

Go through the book and look at other verb conjugations that arent
ed and discuss irregular past tense verbs and past participle.

Students can
successfully sort the
words in categories
based on the sound
each suffix makes.

Students contribute
effectively to the
conversation and
discussion
appropriately.

Students can give
accurate examples.

Students utilise
their knowledge of
spelling to create
new words
following general
spelling rules.
Word creation 2-3 lessons
Look at some words from the text that describe the lost thing (sad, lost,
weird, out of place, friendly). Are there many words used? How do we
know what the lost thing looks like (from the picture).

Students are asked to think up some words to describe the lost thing
(red, grey, spiky, big, awkward, metallic) and these are written on the
board in a brainstorm.

Students are then asked to draw a wanted poster for a lost thing of
their own. They must draw their lost thing and then come up with a
series of synthetic words to describe their thing. Teacher co-constructs
examples based on the lost thing in the book.
So what are some features of the lost thing? What are its bits made
from? It has a big round belly and big long claws with bells, little legs
and doors in its body that have spouts.
What are some words to describe its claws? What else has claws like
this? What else can claws be called? (pincers)

Look at onomatopoeia and how it could be used in creating the new
words. Ask students to think about other languages and any home
languages they may be aware of. Suggestions from other books, web
searches or thesauruses are welcome. Students must also write a
dictionary on the back of the poster with definitions and an attempt at
the word type (verb, noun, adjective). Template below.

Students will be
assessed on what
orthographic strategies
they might use. The
words students create
should still adhere to
English orthography (CK
never at the start etc)
and be pronounceable.
Students can also be
assessed on their use of
morphemic knowledge
with any affixes used.


17


Have you seen this thing?









Its called ______________________________
It is ___________, ____________and_________
It comes from ___________________________
Dont worry its not _____________________
It likes __________________________________
It can __________________________________

References
LOST
18

ACARA (2011) The Australian Curriculum: English F-10 V1.2
Apel, K., Masterson, J.J. & Niessen, N.L. (2004). Spelling assessment frameworks (Ch. 30). In C. Addison
Stone, E.R. Silliman, B.J. Ehren, & K. Apel (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: development and
disorders (pp. 644-660). New York, USA: Guildford.
Apel, K., Masterson, J.J., & Hart, P. (2004). Integration of language components in spelling: instruction
that maximizes students' learning (Ch. 11). In E.R. Silliman & L.C. Wilkinson (Eds.), Language and literacy
learning in schools (pp. 292-315). New York, USA: Guilford Press.
Devonshire, V., & Fluck, M. (2010). Spelling development: Fine-tuning strategy-use and capitalising on
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10.1016/j.learninstruc.2009.02.025
Henry, M. (1989). Children's word structure knowledge: implications for decoding and spelling
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NSW Board of Studies (2007) NSW Syllabus K-6: English
Nunes, T., Bryant, P., Hurry, J., & Pretzlik, U. (2006). Why morphemes are useful in primary school
literacy. Teaching and Learning Research Briefing, 14. Retrieved from
http://www.tlrp.org/pub/documents/no14_nunes.pdf
Phonogram Cards from Wilkins-Farago site http://wilkinsfarago.com.au/PDFs/phonogram_cards.pdf
Sounds: The pronunciation App V2.0.1 (2012) MacMillan Publishers
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/sounds-the-pronunciation-app/id442713833?mt=8
Tan, S (2000) The Lost Thing. Hachete Australia. Sydney: Australia
Tran, F () Teaching Kids to Read. Wilkins Farago. Melbourne: Australia
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