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1Kelly KingsleyTEAC 991Action Research PlanMay 2009
Rationale
For the past 21 years, I have tried many different methods and strategies to teach spelling,from spelling basal programs, worksheets, tests and word activities, and always in the back of 
mind has been the thought, “There has got to be a better way to teach spelling.” I know that
spelling is not only important on the Friday spelling test, but that it is important in all areas of thecurriculum, so I want to implement strategies and instruction into the spelling program in myclassroom to help my students become spellers throughout everything they write, not just on aspelling worksheet or test.Spelling has always interested me. I have always wondered why a student who can get
100% on each weekly spelling test couldn’t transfer that learning to their wri
ting. What was
missing with my instruction that wasn’t allowing that connection to be made? Plus, using the
basal spelling program was just downright boring. If I am bored with the program, then I amsure my students are. Why am I teaching spelling in the first place? Should spelling be taught asa separate curriculum component, or should it be integrated in the content areas? How can doingworkbook pages help children learn to spell words?I have experimented with individualized spelling lists, but they still contained a hugeportion of basal lists. Each student was to pick 3-5 words they wanted to learn to spell, but thosewords really had no relation to the patterns we were learning, or words the kids needed forindependent writing. So how do I find words that my students should be learning? What words
 
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should I teach and how? How will students get contextualized practice with multipleopportunities? I know I will have above average to below average spellers in my classroom, sohow do I serve each one in the best possible way? How do I incorporate words for all learners touse and learn to spell? How do I keep my students actively involved in learning to spell withoutturning them off of spelling altogether?I have played around with a word wall in my classroom, using it to show contentvocabulary or third grade list words, but I never used the wall as a teaching tool. So how do Iincorporate the word wall words into my spelling program?
Question for Fall 
Therefore, my question for fall 2009 will be:
Will the integration of spelling in reading and writing increase the spelling abilities of my third grade students? Literature Learning
Research has shown me that children learn to spell in the same manner they learned tospeak. Children need to take risks when learning to spell (Gentry, 1987). They need toexperience invented spelling and not have the pressure of spelling correctly when they arewriting. Children need to experience being wrong when spelling words, so that they are notafraid of writing, but are learning from it (Gentry, 1987). Students need to do purposefulwriting to experience words and the teacher can guide them with instruction to help them learn
strategies to use when they don’t know how to spell a word
(Graham, Harris, & Chorzempa,2002). Research has shown that there is a close relationship with spelling, reading, and writing,
so spelling needs to be instructed throughout the curriculum, and it shouldn’t be a fragmented
subject (Noell, Connell, & Duhon, 2006). Just because students are experiencing spelling in
 
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their writing, does not mean they shouldn’t receive spelling instruction.
The students need to begiven instruction on spelling strategies and word study. Combining writing with spellinginstruction will give students tools to use when needing to spell an unknown word (Henry,1997). Spelling can be taught as a sensible and interesting task that strengthens the relationshipsbetween reading and writing, and helps build vocabulary knowledge. I would like to callattention to words as students encounter them in functional context because words becomemeaningful and fully conceptualized when students use them in purposeful situations.I have also noted from the research that poor readers tend to be poor spellers and thosestudents will need more opportunities to see and use words to make them their own. Strategiesneed to be in place to help strong and struggling spellers, just like what is done for readinginstruction (Graham, Harris, & Chorzempa, 2002). T
he development of spelling skills isn’t
random, but evolves in stages, described as developmental. Masterson and Crede mention
Henderson’s 5 stages of spelling development: (1) preliterate
-scribbles, drawing and some letter,(2) letter-name stage-children enjoy representing sounds with letters, (3) within-word patterns-orthographic patterns are learned, (4) syllable juncture-use of doubling principle (5) derivationalconstancy-roots and derivations used consistently (Masterson, & Crede, 1999). Knowing thestages of spelling development will help the teacher to look for strategies for each stage herstudents are in.There are three main spelling perspectives that appear to parallel particular spellingpractices: (a) traditional, (b) transitional, and (c) student-oriented (Heald-Taylor, 1998). A goodspelling program will incorporate some of each practice. By themselves they are good practice,but combined they create a strong spelling focus.
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