CHAPTER NINE

ASSESSING AND TEACHING SPELLING

Phases of Spelling Development

* According to Gentry (1982, 2004, 2006), students move through two distinct
phases of spelling development.
* Phase 1 - Learning to Spell
* Level I (Precommunicative spelling): child uses scribbles, letters, and
letterlike forms and shows preference to uppercase letters. No
understanding of phoneme-grapheme correspondence. Ages 3-5
* Level II (Semiphonetic spelling): child uses some awareness that
letters are used to represent sounds and may use abbreviated
spellings to represent a word. They demonstrate awareness of left-to-
right progression but tend to run letters together. Ages 5-6.
* Level III (Phonetic Spelling): child represents all essential sound
features in spelling a word and chooses letters on the basis of sound.
Child is aware not only of sounds but also of mouth positions used to
make sounds. Age 6
* Level IV (Transitional spelling): child begins to use conventional
alternatives for representing sounds and includes a vowel in every
syllable. Child becomes more aware of letter patterns in words. Ages
7-8
* Phase 2 - Correct and Automatic Spelling

Developmental Sequence of Spelling Instruction

* 2nd Grade: Formal spelling instruction introduced
* 9- to 11-year olds: Learn to break words into syllables, add inflectional endings
(e.g., es, ed, and ing), and differentiate between homophones (e.g., your and
you’re)
* 11- to 14-year olds: Focus on morphemes, learn Greek and Latin root words and
affixes, and learn that words with related meanings often are related in spelling
despite changes in vowel and consonant sounds (e.g., sign/signal, and
nation/national)

Assessment of Spelling Skills

* Formal Spelling Assessment
* Achievement Tests
* Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (Hoover, Dunbar, & Frisbie, 2006). Assesses
ability to choose the correctly spelled word from four words or to
indicate “no mistakes.”
* Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement—II (Kaufman & Kaufman,
2004). Assesses ability to spell 50 increasingly difficult words, each of
which is said by the examiner and used in a sentence.
* Peabody Individual Achievement Test—Revised (Markwardt, 1998).
 Assesses ability to identify the correct spelling of a word after hearing
the word pronounced.
* Wide Range Achievement Test—4 (Wilkinson & Robertson, 2006).
Assesses skill in writing one’s name and writing letters and single
words from dictation.

Assessment of Spelling Skills

* Formal Spelling Assessment
* Diagnostic Tests
* Test of Orthographic Competence (Mather, Roberts, Hammill, & Allen,
2008)
* Test of Written Spelling—4 (Larsen, Hammill, & Moats, 1999)
* Word Identification and Spelling Test (Wilson & Felton, 2005)

Assessment of Spelling Skills

* Formal Spelling Assessment
* Criterion-Referenced Tests
* Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills—II (Brigance,
2010a)

Assessment of Spelling Skills

* Informal Spelling Assessment Ache spelled phonetically: AKE
* Dictated Spelling Test
* Informal Spelling Inventory
* Curriculum-Based Measurement
* Spelling Error Analysis
* Cloze Procedure
* Probes

Teaching Spelling Skills:

Rule-Based Instruction
* Spelling instruction can be based on teaching rules and generalizations. After
learning a general spelling rule, the student is able to use it with unfamiliar words.
These rules can apply to instruction using both linguistics and phonics.
* Darch, Kim, and Johnson (2000) examined the effects of a rule-based approach
compared to traditional spelling instruction and found that students receiving rule-
based instruction out-performed students who received traditional spelling
instruction.

Rule-Based Instruction (cont’d)

* The linguistic approach to teaching spelling is based on the idea that there is
regularity in phoneme-grapheme correspondence.
* The phonics approach to teaching spelling stresses phoneme-grapheme
relationships within parts of words.
* In rule-based instruction (in both linguistics and phonics), only spelling rules and
generalizations that apply to a large number of words and have few exceptions
should be taught.

Teaching Spelling Skills:

Multi Linguistic Approach
* Spelling instruction can utilize a multilinguistic approach that focuses on
phonemic, orthographic, and morphological knowledge (Berninger et al., 2008;
Kelman & Apel, 2004).
* Utilizes prescriptive assessment and matches the instruction to the specific
weaknesses of the student. For example, if the misspellings of a student are
primarily phonological, which is often the case for students with learning
disabilities (Berninger et al., 2008), the spelling intervention would focus
heavily on phonological aspects of language (i.e., phonemic awareness
combined with the alphabetic principle).

Teaching Spelling Skills:

Multisensory Approach
* Spelling involves skills in the visual, auditory, and motor sensory modalities. it.
* Fernald’s (1988) multisensory approach- involves 4 sensory modalities:
visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile. The following areas are important
when learning to spell: clear perception of word form, development of a
distinct visual image of word, and habit formation through repetition of
writing.
* Gillingham method- uses an alphabetic system with repetition and drill.
Letter-sound correspondences are taught w/ multisensory approach. Words
introduced include only those with consistent wound-symbol
correspondences.
* Kearney and Drabman (1993) used a modified write-say spelling
intervention- provide immediate feedback to the visual and auditory
modalities of students with learning problems.
* Cover-and-write method- The student is taught to spell words by looking at
the word and saying it, writing the word twice while looking at it, covering the
word and writing it again, and checking the spelling by looking at it.

Teaching Spelling Skills:

Test-Study-Test Technique
* The student is given a pretest at the beginning of each unit of study. The words
the student misspells on the pretest become the study list. After instruction,
another test determines the degree of mastery. A progress chart is kept, and words
misspelled on the second test are added to the list of words for the following unit of
study.

Spelling Study Strategies

* 1. Say the word.
* 2. Write and say the word.
* 3. Check the word by comparing it with a model.
* 4. Trace and say the word.
* 5. Write the word from memory and check.
* 6. Repeat the first five steps.

Spelling Study Strategies

*The cover, copy, compare strategy also is effective in improving the spelling
performance of students with learning problems (Nies & Belfiore, 2006).
* 1. Say the word.
* 2. Point to the word.
* 3. Repeat the word.
* 4. Cover the word.
* 5. Print the word.
* 6. Compare the word to the correct model.
* 7. Correct errors if necessary.

Spelling Study Strategies

*Visual mnemonics can help students with learning problems remember spelling
words. With eyes closed, the student visualizes the word, attempts to see the
mnemonic aid presented in the word, and then writes the word from memory.
Moreover, the student can generate associations to facilitate recall of correct
spellings (e.g., principal is your pal, dessert is something sweet).

Self-Questioning Strategy
* 1. Do I know this word?
* 2. How many syllables do I hear in this word?
* 3. I will write the word the way I think it is spelled.
* 4. Do I have the right number of syllables?
* 5. Is there any part of the word that I am not sure how to spell?
* 6. Does the word look right to me?
* 7. When I finish spelling, I will tell myself that I have worked hard.

Fixed and Flow Word Lists

* FIXED word list:
* A new list of words is assigned each week.
* Words may be either somewhat unfamiliar or completely unknown to the
 students.
* Students practice independently.
* Students practice at their own rate.
* FLOW word list:
* Words are dropped from each student’s list when mastered (e.g., spelled
correctly on two or three consecutive days), and then a new, unpracticed
word is added.
* List is individualized, and the student does not spend time practicing known
words.

Spelling for Students with Learning Problems

* Spelling words taught to students with learning problems initially should be
limited to high-frequency words and misspelled words from their writing.
* Recommend weekly spelling lists be limited to 6 to 12 words, all of which
emphasize a common structural element, if possible
* 2 or 3 words from the list introduced daily and practiced until the entire set of
words is mastered [Graham and Voth (1990) ]

Additional Considerations
* Visual image should be emphasized.
* Words the student misspells in written compositions may be included in his or her
spelling program.
* Spelling also may be taught and reinforced throughout the language arts
curriculum.
* Training in dictionary usage also should be included in the spelling program.

Additional Considerations (cont’d)

* Secondary level:
* Help the adolescent understand the social and practical significance of
correct spelling.
* The student’s own interests and various areas of study provide new words.
* Vocational words also can be emphasized.
* It may be best to teach spelling in conjunction with other activities rather than
to use class time solely for spelling instruction.

Spelling Activities
* Ask the student to complete words in sentences by filling in omitted letters.
* Provide a worksheet showing various words and their configurations.
* Use a hidden-word format to provide practice in letter sequence of spelling
words.

Spelling Activities (cont’d)

* Have the student keep a file box of spelling words that have caused some
difficulty.
* In compiling the weekly spelling word list, ask class members to volunteer words
* Describe a current spelling word phonetically. For example, the word move may
be described as “a one-syllable word beginning with a consonant and ending with
a vowel.”

Spelling Activities (cont’d)

* To focus on particular spelling patterns, have students sort a pack of word cards
or the words on their weekly spelling list into two or more categories (e.g.,
according to vowel patterns, affixes, or root words).
* Have the student count the phonemes in a spelling word and write the word in
Elkonin boxes, which also are called word boxes.
* Have the student work with anagram activities, in which the student is given a
word and must rearrange all the letters to make a new word.

Instructional Games in Spelling

* Find-a-word
* Detective
* Jaws
* Spell It—Keep It card game
* Spelling bingo
* Golf game board
* Connect the dots
* Checkers
* TV talent
* Dictionary store hunt
* Baseball spelling game
* Football spelling game
* Nym game
* Bottle top scrabble

Self-Correcting Spelling Materials

* Spelling word puzzles
* Flip-sider spelling cards
* Spelling spinner
* Tape recorder spelling
* Answer box
* Fill in the letters
* Spelling crossword puzzles
* Scrambled letters
* Poke box
* Color magic
 Commercial Spelling Programs
* Instant Spelling Words for Writing
* Spelling Mastery
* Spelling Through Morphographs
* Spellography
* Stetson Spelling Program
* Target Spelling

Computer Software Programs

* Spelling Blaster – Ages 6-9
* Spelling Rules
* Stickybear Spelling
* Word Zapper