Teaching Spelling: My Journey

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Teaching Spelling
My Journey
University of Nebraska Lincoln

Kelly Kingsley
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Teaching Spelling Kelly Kingsley
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 had been the thought, “There has got to be a better way to teach spelling.” I knew that
spelling was not only important on the Friday spelling test, but that it was important in all areas
of the curriculum, so I wanted to implement strategies and instruction into the spelling program
in my classroom to help my students become spellers throughout everything they write, not just
on a spelling 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 writing. What was
missing in my instruction that wasn’t allowing that connection to be made? Plus, using the basal
spelling program was just downright boring and thus un-motivating to say the least. If I am
bored with the program, then I am sure my students are.
Over the past year, I decided to change my practice in the instruction of spelling to help students
retain the word spellings beyond the weekly post-test. I felt there had to be components missing
in my lessons regarding spelling. I needed to find a better way to instruct my students to
increase their word spelling retention.
Background
Strategies need to be in place to help strong and struggling spellers, just like what is done for
reading instruction (Graham, Harris, & Chorzempa, 2002). The development of spelling skills
isn’t random, but evolves in stages, described as developmental. Masterson and Crede (1999)
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-
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word patterns-orthographic patterns are learned, (4) syllable juncture-use of doubling principle
(5) derivational constancy-roots and derivations used consistently. Knowing the stages of
spelling development will help the teacher to look for strategies for each stage her students are
in.
There are three main spelling perspectives that appear to parallel particular spelling practices:
(a) traditional, (b) transitional, and (c) student-oriented (Heald-Taylor, 1998). A good spelling
program will incorporate some of each practice. By themselves they are good practice, but
combined they create a strong spelling focus.
Traditional practices are based on traditional attitudes and an implicit learning theory.
Instruction, drill, memorization, imitation, rote learning, and an emphasis on correctness are
focused on. Traditional practices are taught formally as a separate subject. Teachers are the
main givers of information, and there is a test at the end of the week.
Transitional practices focus on the integration of numerous spelling strategies and the
significance of reading in learning to spell. Students are given direct instruction in phonetics,
spelling rules, study procedures, and weekly testing takes place. Spelling is mainly learned in
conjunction with various types of word study, like word sorts and spelling games. Teachers
integrate both direct and interactive instruction. Direct teaching is used for introducing words,
patterns, and spelling rules. Interactive strategies are employed when students use word sorts
and spelling games. Students are involved in their own learning. Evaluation is both formal and
informal. Formal evaluation comes from weekly and unit tests. Informal evaluation comes from
monitoring spelling competence in word sorting. Concerns regarding the transitional approach
are many of the activities are conducted separately from contextual reading and are conducted
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without regard for students’ developmental stages. Another concern is the lack of specific
instructional strategies to show teachers how they could assist students in improving their
spelling abilities through writing.
Student-oriented practice focuses on learning to spell as a developmental process,
reading provides a context for learning to spell, and spelling is a functional component of
writing. The teacher’s role changes dramatically from predominantly giving information to
facilitating learning based on developmental levels and individual student needs. Students are
expected to engage actively in their own learning as they figure out much of their spelling for
themselves. Strategies are developmental, word study is done through literature, themed units
and collaborative groups are employed. The teacher uses metacognitive conferences and mini-
lessons for instruction. Spelling is evaluated over time as students integrate numerous spelling
strategies into their repertoire and spelling effort moves toward conventionality. Individual
spelling profiles and conference logs are used to monitor authentic progress.
According to Scott, 2000, spelling integrated in authentic reading and writing allows the child to
begin with the task of producing a text for an authentic purpose. The teacher conferences and
circulates as children are writing, pointing out words spelled correctly, searching for underlying
principles in what isn’t spelled correctly and discusses these with the child. The key is to
capitalize on a teachable moment for spelling. The child should have an opportunity to apply
principle in another text-level writing experience. Students are taught to proof-read and self
correct spelling errors. Peer editing is also used to strengthen skills used in spelling. Poor
spellers need more opportunities to write. They need to find ways to bridge the gap between
explicit word-level spelling work and on-line reading and writing. There must be some text-
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level spelling activities in each instructional session. Spelling instruction for a child would be
integrated within a plan that addresses the child’s profile of language abilities.
Word Study
Word Study is an approach to spelling instruction that moves away from a focus on
memorization (Williams et al, 2009). Through word study teachers use different activities to
help students explore words and patterns. Word study also teaches students how to use word
knowledge strategically to support their spelling attempts during writing activities and to help
them decode unfamiliar words while reading (Bear & Templeton, 1998). Students learn how
words that are similar in spelling are related in meaning and to examine words in order to reveal
consistencies within our written language system, and to master the recognition, spelling, and
meaning of specific words (Bear et al, 2008).
The Study
I conducted the study in my third grade classroom located in a suburban area just outside of a
large city in the Midwest. I had twenty third grade students of varying academic abilities. Two
of my students received special education services in the school's resource room. I had five
students who received extra reading assistance from the school's reading specialist. Four of my
students qualified for the district's High Ability Learners (HAL) program. 60% of my students
were from middle class families that lived within walking distance or a short bus ride to school.
Of my 21 students 55% were female and 45% were male with 10% of the students being
African-American, 10% Hispanic, 5% Asian American, and 75% Caucasian.
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I gathered data on all 21 of my students, but primarily focused on 6 of those students. I pretested
students in August. From September through May, I integrated word study lessons and activities
as my spelling instruction. Post testing occurred in May. Data was collected from word
inventories, pre and post spelling tests, student interviews, lesson plans, student work, and my
personal journal.
The Word Study/Spelling Program
I decided to use Words Their Way (Bear et al, 2008) as the framework for my program. I also
referred to the professional journal Unlocking Literacy (Henry, 2009).
During the first week of school I administered the Primary Word Inventory (PSI) to my students.
The Primary Spelling Inventory is used in Kindergarten through third grade. The 26 words are
ordered by difficulty to sample features of the letter name-alphabetic to within word pattern
stages (Bear et al, 2008). Those students who spelled 21 or more words correctly on the
inventory were then given the Elementary Word Inventory. The Elementary Spelling Inventory
covers more stages than the PSI. It can be used as early as first grade. The 25 words are ordered
by difficulty to sample features of the letter name-alphabetic to derivational relations stages
(Bear et al, 2008). The inventories helped me to assess the developmental stages of my students.
The stages of spelling development are: (1) emergent spelling: students who are not yet reading,
(2) letter name-alphabetic: beginning readers who are using the names of the letters as cues to
the sound they want to represent, (3) within word pattern spelling: study words by sound and
pattern simultaneously, (4) syllables and affixes spelling: spelling words with more than one
syllable-upper elementary and middle school grades, and (5) derivational relations spelling:
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examine how words share common derivations and related base words and word roots, usually
middle school, high school or college students (Bear et al, 2008).
Once I had scored and analyzed the spelling inventories I use the provided feature guides to find
out what each student knew about specific spelling features and where I needed to take them
with instruction. I created a spelling profile of my students and then grouped my students for
instruction.
I organized my students into 3 small groups. I would be incorporating my word study instruction
within these groups. The spelling groups were given two copies of their word lists each Friday.
One list was to be kept at home and the other was to be kept at school. Students worked with
their parents to formulate a personal word list. On the personal word lists, each student could
pick 3 to 5 words they were interested in learning to spell. These words would be decided upon
by the student and their parent(s). The words could come from student writings, previous
spelling lists, or literature.
Mondays were pretest days. Each group was given the word, the word used in a sentence, and
then the word was repeated. After the pretest, students corrected their own tests and wrote the
words they missed along with their personal words in their spelling journals. Pretests were
turned in to me and I went over them. If I noticed an error in correction, I would have the
student fix the error and add the word(s) to their journals.
Tuesdays were Word Sort days. Initially, I had to model how to complete a word sort, but after a
few weeks, students were able to complete the sorts on their own, in partners, or in small groups.
I had my students look at their word lists to see if their noticed any patterns in the spellings of the
words, in the roots, or in the prefix or suffix of the words. Once the pattern(s) were discovered
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the words were sorted into the proper categories. After the students had sorted all of the list
words, they were challenged to come up with other words that could fit the pattern(s). When
each of the groups had completed their sorts they shared how they sorted the words with the
whole class.
Wednesdays were Definition days. Initially students worked together to figure out what each
word meant. They would draw pictures of each word, write what they thought the words meant,
write what the dictionary definition of each word was, and then write the word in a sentence.
After a few weeks of practice with the dictionary, students worked in pairs to complete 4 words
each and shared the words with the group when they were completed. Later in the year, I had
each student complete the activity individually, usually dividing the list up evenly so each
student defined 2 or 3 words each. Words were always shared with the group so each member
could learn each word.
Thursdays were Activity days. I used the Words Their Way book for suggestions. This was the
students’ favorite day. They really enjoyed the games and/or activities. I usually had activities
that the whole group could play or activities that they could do in groups of 2 or 3.
Fridays were Dictation Test Days. I wrote the words in sentences, usually 2 or 3 list words per
sentence. Students wrote the sentences and underlined the list words. Each group had 5
sentences for dictation. For the first semester, all 5 sentences were dictation. Second semester I
had the students complete 3 sentences of dictation and then for the final two sentences I would
give them a word and they would have to write a sentence for the word. This helped me to see if
my students were able to understand and remember the word meanings. After the group took
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their dictation test they met with their assigned spelling partner to give each other their personal
words. Once their personal words were completed they turned their tests into me.
I scored each test, circling and correcting list words that were misspelled and also correcting
other dictation words that were misspelled. The personal words were counted as bonus words
and gave each student extra credit points on their test.
It was important to meet with each small group 2-3 times each week. This was done during
group work time. I would meet with the group members to discuss patterns, word formation,
word meanings, word structure, vowel combinations and more, depending on what the needs of
the group were at that time.
The Participants
Violet (actual names are not used) is incredibly articulate and very comfortable speaking with
adults. She is a high ability learner with a great appetite for learning. Violet is a very bright,
energetic, and enthusiastic learner. She has very strong self-efficacy; she truly believes she will
succeed at any academic situation I can put her in. Violet loves to play with language and will
notice words she is not familiar with and pursue finding out what those words mean and how to
use them. She values learning and is willing to accept any challenge in learning set in front of
her.
Gabe, on the other hand, truly struggles in school. He has a difficult time with reading, writing,
and spelling, and also is easily distracted in learning situations. Gabe shies away from learning
challenges and seeks help often when involved in the learning process. Gabe plays with
language in a different way than Violet does. Since he struggles with learning new words, he
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relies on the help of others to figure out new words and how to use them. Gabe doesn’t appear to
value learning, but he wants to succeed to make his parents happy.
These two students have extremely different views on learning and their abilities to learn are on
opposite ends of the spectrum. Of course, Violet’s enthusiasm and ability is not the norm in my
third-grade classroom. Most students are of average learning ability and most enjoy learning and
playing with language. Megan is a bright young lady and enjoys learning. She is Gabe’s
constant helper in the classroom. Megan pursues new words and likes to play with language.
She is very shy, so her excitement is hard to gauge when observing her. Things come pretty
easily for her, as far as learning goes. John and Joni are students who are average learners and
like reading, writing, and spelling. They will take the necessary steps to find out what a new
word means and how to use it, but they usually won’t go beyond that step.
Evan is a unique learner. He is at the pre-first grade reading level and struggles to read and
understand third grade curriculum. He has been identified with a learning disability and receives
support services from the resource teacher across the hall in all academic areas. Evan struggles
with motivation and paying attention in class. He is usually in work avoidance mode, but with a
recent change in his medication, he seems more motivated to learn. Evan though, does not want
to be different than his peers. He does not like that he needs extra help in completing tasks and
that things do not come easy for him. He pretends he knows answers and can do things with
words that his peers can, but unfortunately for Evan, things do not come that easily and he really
struggles with language activities. Evan likes to pretend he knows the answer when asked a
question, but then cannot come up with an answer. Math is Evan’s stronger suit and he would
prefer to do mathematical tasks over literacy tasks.
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These six students took part in my classroom study of how children feel about playing with
language. As I explored this topic with my students, one thing became very clear-the students
were all engaged in playing with language in many different forms. They had their own ways of
learning, of believing, and their own purposes and reactions to language.
Student Reactions
I collected qualitative data during the months of February, March, and April 2010. Data were
collected from interviews with the individual students, a group interview, multiple observations
in the classroom, and my personal field notes. The information that was gathered from
collecting, organizing, and analyzing the data helped me to better understand how these students
play with language and led me to see how they personally feel about my spelling program.
It is important for educators to evaluate students’ self-efficacies and then provide meaningful,
motivational activities that will improve and enhance students’ confidence in their abilities
(Cole, 2003). I was curious to find out what my 6 students thought about the instruction of
words in the classroom. I was also interested to find out what they personally felt was their
strong area when playing with language and what was an area they felt was difficult for them.
Teachers need to become “kid watchers” (Goodman, 1985) and develop an awareness of what
their students are interested in and where they feel they need more teacher assistance.
I interviewed the 6 students and asked them to focus on my teaching and how I instruct new words for the
class. I then asked them to tell me something they thought I did well.
Violet stated, “Well, I will start with the things you do well. Things you do well are you teach what words
mean, like the morpheme triangle. You break up the word, like transported. You find out what each part
means and come up with more words. This helps make more sense. Megan said, “I think you do a good
job. You give use words that challenge us and stuff.” Joni commented, “You say it like 5 times maybe.”
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John told me, “You give great meanings. You tell us definitions until we know it.” Evan’s comment was,
“Um, well you’re good at teaching about the endings.” Gabe told me, “You, you, you let us do word work
which helps me ‘cuz it’s like we look up in the dictionary a lot.” (Student Interviews)
When I asked them, “What makes spelling different this year?” I was looking to see if they had
made comparisons to the previous year and could tell if there were any standout differences from
a traditional spelling program.
Megan noted, “The words are harder than last year. I did it by myself, but this year I’m with a group.” So
her previous teacher had differentiated her spelling, but she was unable to collaborate with her peers
because she was the only person in her group. (Megan/Interview)
Violet said, “You give me challenging words. You make my brain think harder. I like that it is harder, but
it makes me more work.” Violet had thanked me earlier in the year for challenging her in spelling and with
words because in 2nd grade she was not given the opportunity of differentiated spelling and had to do the
basal list along with the whole class. She told me she never felt challenged in 2nd grade. (Violet/Interview)
This information helped me to see if what I was doing in the classroom regarding playing with
and learning new words had any impact. Of course, everyone wants to hear about what they are
doing well, but I also wanted to know what they thought I should improve upon so I could adjust
my instruction to meet their needs.
Megan suggested, “You should work with those who don’t get it and help those kids with words.” Violet
mentioned, “I have to think about what you would improve. Maybe more practice with the words. Your
expectation should be to see the words in our writing.” Gabe told me he thought I should challenge the
kids more. When I asked if he thought I didn’t challenge them he said, “Maybe sometimes.” Both John
and Evan told me I did not need to improve. (Student Interviews)
From the answers I received from my 6 students, I noticed the kids wanted me to expect more
from them, to help and challenge them to become better players with language.
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Children’s Subjectivities
Their (students’) response to literacy events, especially those allowing them room for discretions,
for choice, were shaped not only by official curricular purposes, relationships, and textual
information, but also by unofficial child relationships and by their use of cultural materials that
figured into their lives as children (Haas Dyson, 2003). Thus, children’s subjectivities (their
sense of themselves and their own possibilities for action) develop along with their symbolic
resources and cognitive capacities (Bruner, 1990).
Playing with language requires some confidence and when a student feels that they are good at
something, they will enjoy the task more. If they feel they are having difficulty with an area of
playing with language, they may need more support from the teacher and peers so that the task
can be completed.
When I interviewed my 6 case study students, I asked them to think about reading, writing, and
spelling. Each one of them told which one was their favorite and which one was an area of
difficulty for them.
Joni’s response of spelling being her favorite did not surprise me. She likes to be challenged
with words and she feels she is good at it. She also told me that it was fun to spell. She said that
writing was the hardest for her because she struggled with punctuation. She also mentioned that
there are words she doesn’t know how to spell when she is writing and she has to slow down to
sound them out.
I asked Violet which was her favorite and which was the hardest for her. “Reading is my
favorite because it develops more in a quicker, elapsed time. I learn more meanings of words
quickly. Spelling is the hardest for me. It is more of a challenge.”

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Both Evan and Gabe surprised me with their responses. As their teacher, I wouldn’t have touted
them as being strong readers, writers, or spellers. I did feel that Gabe was a stronger speller than
reader and writer. So when he told me writing was his favorite I was surprised. He usually
avoids writing and won’t sit to complete a writing task unless he is forced to. Gabe usually uses
his free time to draw and rarely ever has text to accompany his pictures. Gabe told me he was
good at writing because he uses action words. I asked him to give me some examples and he
said, “So instead of using happy, I use the word excited.” He did tell me reading was hard for
him because he messes up on words a lot. This would seem to fit with Gabe’s profile. He
receives support from the building reading specialist and struggles to read at grade level. Gabe
enlightened me by telling me he was a good writer. He doesn’t usually like to write and is
disengaged and conversing with others during writing time. Maybe because reading and spelling
are so difficult for him he views writing as an easier task.
Evan reminds me of someone who goes to an all you can eat buffet and fills his plate to
overflowing, knowing he is going to eat everything on that plate. Evan is like that person. He
wants you to think he can do anything and knows everything. He will not admit to you that he
doesn’t know an answer or a word. He wants you to believe he can do anything.
Evan was always full of surprises. Just when I’d think I might have a handle on what interested
him or challenged him, he would rise to the occasion and spin me off in another direction. There
were two wonderful incidences of surprises from Evan captured in my field notes.
I gave Evan his spelling pretest today. I was quite surprised when he spelled all but one word correctly.
He missed the word know spelling it kno. I praised him for doing such fine work and told him I was going
to create a new list for him with some other words for him to study this week. He was in total agreement
with me and was encouraging me to create a new list for him. Then I thought, why not try him in the group
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a level above him. He has been asking for challenging words so he can fit in better with his peers. So I
walked over to the box where I keep the lists and grabbed a group 4 list for Evan. I returned to his desk and
showed him the list. He lit up like a Christmas tree. “I have been wanting to be in group 4!’ he told me
excitedly. I commented that the words were more difficult than what he was used to, but he assured me he
could handle it. I told him to write the words in his planner so he would have them to study. He then said
to me with a huge smile on his face, “I’ve always wanted to have 15 words on my list.” Right then and
there I saw some motivation and excitement about learning words.
Later on that afternoon, I asked Evan if he had his new list to take home to show his mom. “Oh, yes, it is
right here,” he said patting his back pack. I asked him again if he thought he could handle this new list. I
didn’t want him to be discouraged. “Yup, I can,” he commented. I then told him, “If you do a good job,
working and playing with these words this week, and show me you can spell them and use them in
sentences on Friday, you can be a member of group 4.” I can do it!” he replied. “I sure hope so,” I thought
to myself. (Field notes)
Field notes from April 16, 2010
Evan worked hard in class all week, but I am not sure if he shared his new list with his parents. Even
though he acts quite confident in his ability to spell his new list words, he only spelled 2 correctly on his
test today. I am not going to switch him back to an easier list. I know this would squash his confidence. I
am going to go ahead and give him another group 4 list, but I am going to send an email to his mom to let
her know about the change in lists and urge her to help Evan work with his list words at home. (Field
notes)
Field Notes from April 23, 2010
I was so anxious to see how Evan was going to do with his words this week. He settled in at the table full
of confidence and smiles. He gave me a look that seemed to say, “I can do this.” I read each sentence
slowly, watching Evan write each word. I noticed that he would really look at each list word after he wrote
it, sometimes erasing and rearranging letters until the word looked right to him. I was pleasantly surprised
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as he was writing. He really understood some of the vowel patterns in the words, only struggling with the
‘ee’ words. When the test was complete, he bounced over to the turn in folder smiling the whole way.
I quickly sat down to score his test, knowing from my observation that several were incorrect. All told, he
only missed 5 of the 15 words. This was so much better than last week’s list. I am so glad I left him in this
group. Evan is ready for the challenge! He showed me that he could rise to the occasion. Not only is the
new list/group helping him fit in with his peers, but it is also helping him to become more confident with
his play of language. Plus, the smiles on his face are worth so much! (Field notes)
Another Evan moment from my field notes on April 12, 2010:
I just scored Evan’s narrative using the 6 traits rubric provided by my school district. Evan’s story about
the most memorable time he had this year was so well written (Fig. 3). I looked twice to make sure it was
Evan’s paper. This is the most content Evan has written all year. Many of the words are misspelled, yet I
can figure them out phonetically, which is nice because usually I cannot. He has written 2 full pages of
text. All year I have pushed for him to write 6 sentences (see the example of a previous story he had
written, Fig. 4) and now I am getting 2 full pages. Amazing! The narrative has great description and is
well thought out. He was so proud of it that he included both the rough draft and the final copy for me to
look at. Although I see no difference between the two, I wasn’t about to say so. He worked on it in Miss
Janssen’s classroom, the resource room, as well as our own classroom, and she grabbed me after school to
let me know she had not helped him. The paper was completely his doing. We stopped to talk about the
change we were seeing in Evan. Was he really motivated to write and complete work requiring the use of
words? It seemed he was. We also wondered why it had taken 3 ½ quarters of school to get there. We
decided not to question why, just to enjoy the ride. (Field notes)
My Learning
So what did I learn from my spelling journey? First, I felt I knew each of my students as
spellers. I was able to identify their weak and strong areas and group them accordingly. If I had
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used the basal spelling program I would not have been able to identify the stages my students
were in and develop them as spellers.
I was able to keep the groups fluid and make changes as needed. There were times when a
student struggled in the group they were assigned to and I would have them work with another
group. This also was an option if the student found the words they were working with too easy.
When looking at my six students I discovered growth between stages in all but one student.
Violet and Megan began in the late syllables and affixes stage and progressed to the late
derivational stage by the end of fourth quarter. Joni and John started at the syllables and affixes
stage and progressed to the early derivational stage. Evan began the year in the early letter
name-alphabetic stage and ended in the late letter name-alphabetic stage. Gabe was the only
student in my study who did not progress from one stage to another. He stayed in the middle
within word stage for the entire year, but he did progress through that stage going from 41
feature points to 50 by the end of the year.
Since I used the same instrument each quarter to assess my students’ learning, I was able to look
at the understanding of each stage for each student. I could see the evolvement of their learning
as they progressed through their spelling development. Looking at the growth each student
showed lead me to believe that the instruction going on in my classroom was assisting my
students in their spelling and retention of new words. I was helping my students to become
aware of patterns in words and to recognize roots and stages in spelling.
Another indication of learning was that when I first administered the spelling inventories first
quarter, I didn’t have any students score well enough to move on to the Upper-Level inventory,
but by the end of fourth quarter I had 8 students who scored well enough to take the Upper-Level
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inventory. The Upper-Level inventory contains words that are used with upper elementary,
middle, high school, and postsecondary students.
The tables (Appendix 1) show the growth the students showed from August to May. The words
spelled correctly improved for each student. In the May tables you are able to see some of the
emergence of stage understandings in the misspellings of the words. This means the students
were progressing through the stages and beginning to put some of their learning into place even
though the words were still misspelled.
I feel I had accomplished my goal with my students. I had helped them learn to spell and to
recognize patterns and decode words. I had taught them to examine words, to learn their
regularities in the spelling system, and to help them learn how to look at words.
I truly learned how to look at each student and examine their word knowledge and how the
student uses those words. I was able to assess what they knew about words and to begin
instruction for each student at the stage they were able to work in. Along with the instruction I
was able to monitor my students’ progress over time and report to parents each quarter to show
that progress. (Appendix 2 Parent Report)
Appendix 1
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Assessment Check
Examples of Students’ Spelling in August (shaded words spelled correctly)
Evan Gabe Joni John

fan fan fan fane fan
pet pet pet pet pet
dig big ding dig dig
rob rob rode fobe rod
hope hop hope hope hope
wait wat wate want wait
gum gum gum gum gum
sled sled sled slad sleb
stick stic stik stike stick
shine shin sine shine shine
dream irem drem dream dream
blade bad blad blada blabe
coach cooch coac coauch coach
fright frat frit fright frite
chewed cood code chewod chewb
crawl crool crall crawd crowl
wishes wichis wish wishis wishis
thorn thoon thern thone thorn
shouted shatd soted shouted shoutib
spoil spool spole spoile spoil
Evan-words spelled correctly 4/26: Early letter name-alphabetic, short vowels
Gabe- words spelled correctly 6/26: Middle within word pattern-long vowel patterns
Joni- words spelled correctly 10/26: Syllables and Affixes-inflected endings
John- words spelled correctly 12/26: Syllables and Affixes-inflected endings
Assessment Check
Examples of Students’ Spelling in May (shaded words spelled correctly)
Evan Gabe Joni John

fan fan fan fan fan
pet pet pet pet pet
dig dig dig dig dig
rob rob rob rob rob
hope hope hope hope hope
wait waet what what wait
gum gom gum gum gum
sled sled sled sleid sled
stick stic stik stick stick
shine slene shin shine shin
dream deme drem dream dream
blade bade blad blad blade
coach coke choch couch coach
fright fiete frit fright fright
chewed codd chod chewed chewd
crawl ckrole crawl crawl crawl
wishes wishis wish wishies wishis
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thorn thorn thorn thron thorn

shouted sotit shotid shouted shouted
spoil spsoll sporer spoil spoil
Evan- words spelled correctly 7/26: Middle letter name-alphabetic, digraphs
Gabe- words spelled correctly 10/26: within word pattern-long vowel patterns
Joni- words spelled correctly 19/26: Early Derivational-harder suffixes
John- words spelled correctly 22/26: Early Derivational-harder suffixes
Assessment Check
Examples of Students’ Spelling in August (shaded words spelled correctly)
Violet Megan
bed bed bed
ship ship ship
when when when
lump lump lump
float float float
train train train
place place place
drive drive drive
bright bright bright
shopping shopping shopping
spoil spoil spoil
serving surving serving
chewed chewed chewed
carries carries carrys
marched marched marched
shower shower shower

bottle bottle bottle
favor faver faver
ripen ripen ripen
cellar celler cellar
pleasure pleasure pleasure
fortunate fortunent forunet
confident confident confindent
civilize civilise civilies
opposition opasicen oppisition
Violet-words spelled correctly 19/25: Late Syllables and Affixes-unaccented final syllables
Megan-words spelled correctly 19/25: Late Syllables and Affixes-unaccented final syllables
Assessment Check
Examples of Students’ Spelling in May (shaded words spelled correctly)
Violet Megan
bed bed bed
ship ship ship
when when when
lump lump lump
float float float
train train train
place place place
drive drive drive
20
bright bright bright

shopping shopping shopping
spoil spoil spoil
serving serving serving
chewed chewed chewed
carries carries carries
marched marched marched
shower shower shower

bottle bottle bottle
favor favor favor
ripen ripen ripen
cellar cellar cellur
pleasure pleasure pleasure
fortunate fortunate fortunate
confident confident confident
civilize civilize civilize
opposition opposision opposition
Violet-words spelled correctly 24/25: Late Derivational-assimilated prefixes
Megan-words spelled correctly 24/25: Late Derivational-assimilated prefixes

Appendix 2
Student’s Name ___________________________________________
Integrated Spelling Report
2009-2010
Beginning of School
Name of Inventory Words Spelled Feature Points Total Points Spelling Stage
Correctly
Primary /26 /56 /82
Elementary /25 /62 /87
Upper-level /31 /68 /99
End of First Quarter

Correctly
Primary /26 /56 /82
End of Second Quarter

Correctly
Primary /26 /56 /82
21
End of Third Quarter

Correctly
Primary /26 /56 /82
End of Fourth Quarter

Correctly
Primary /26 /56 /82
Summary
Each of my students shared with me that they truly enjoyed learning about words and that doing
word work the way we had been this year in the classroom was more of a challenge and that they
enjoyed and welcomed the challenge. Each felt that the level they were working on, with the
exception of Evan, was just right for them. The level offered them enough of a challenge to keep
them interested and motivated to learn and play with the language offered to them.
My students showed me that offering a rich language environment in the classroom was very
important. They used the Word Wall and word posters offered to them in the classroom. They
enjoyed and often used the dictionaries. The classroom library was often a source for
discussions and sharing of text.
My students’ voices were so important. Listening to what they valued, what they felt was fun,
and the challenges they spoke of, helped me to add a human side to the test scores and other
paper data I had been collecting. I need to supply them with more opportunities to express their
opinions and comments and take the time to truly listen to what they wanted to share with me.
22
My awareness of how my students view, play manipulate, share, and enjoy word play has
increased. Finding out what kept them engaged in word play and what would cause them to
disengage was a vital piece of my puzzle in learning about their feelings regarding playing with
language. The insights my students shared with me will impact my instruction from this day
forward.
References
Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2008). Words Their Way;
Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction. Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cole, J. E. (2003). What motivates students to read? Four literacy personalities. The Reading
Teacher, 56, 326-336.
Goodman, Y. M. (1985). Kidwatching: observing children in the classroom. In A. Jaggar & M.
T. Smith-Burke (Eds.), Observing the language learner (pp. 9-18). Newark, DE:
International Reading Association.
Graham, S., Harris, K., & Chorzempa, B. (2002). Contribution of Spelling Instruction to
the Spelling, Writing, and Reading of Poor Spellers. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 94, 669-686.
23
Dyson, A. H. (2003). The brothers and sisters learn to write: popular literacies in childhood
and school cultures. New York: Teachers College Press.
Heald-Taylor, B.G. (1998). Three Paradigms of Spelling Instruction in Grades 3 to 6.
The Reading Teacher, 51, 404-413.
Henry, M. K. (1997). The Decoding/Spelling Curriculum: Integrated Decoding and
Spelling Instruction from Pre-School to Early Secondary School. Dsylexia, 3,
178-189.
Masterson, J., & Crede, L. (1999). Learning to Spell: Implications for Assessment and
Intervention. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 30, 243-254.
Scott, C. (2000). Principles and Methods of Spelling Instruction: Applications for Poor
Spellers. Topics in Language Disorders, 20, 66-82.
Williams, C., Phillips-Birdsong, C., Hufnagel, K., Hungler, D., & Lundstrom, R. P. (2009).
Word study instruction in the K-2 Classroom. The Reading Teacher, 62(7), 570-578. doi:
10.1598/RT.62.7.3
24

Teaching Spelling: My Journey

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University of Nebraska Lincoln

on a spelling worksheet or test.

bored with the program, then I am sure my students are.

in my lessons regarding spelling. I needed to find a better way to instruct my students to

increase their word spelling retention.

mention Henderson’s 5 stages of spelling development: (1) preliterate-scribbles, drawing and

combined they create a strong spelling focus.

spelling abilities through writing.

Student-oriented practice focuses on learning to spell as a developmental process,

meaning of specific words (Bear et al, 2008).

African-American, 10% Hispanic, 5% Asian American, and 75% Caucasian.

The Word Study/Spelling Program

referred to the professional journal Unlocking Literacy (Henry, 2009).

by difficulty to sample features of the letter name-alphabetic to derivational relations stages

middle school, high school or college students (Bear et al, 2008).

spelling lists, or literature.

could learn each word.

and gave each student extra credit points on their test.

the group were at that time.

value learning, but he wants to succeed to make his parents happy.

prefer to do mathematical tasks over literacy tasks.

learning, of believing, and their own purposes and reactions to language.

a traditional spelling program.

because she was the only person in her group. (Megan/Interview)

my instruction to meet their needs.

and Evan told me I did not need to improve. (Student Interviews)

resources and cognitive capacities (Bruner, 1990).

difficulty for them.

sound them out.

quickly. Spelling is the hardest for me. It is more of a challenge.”

are so difficult for him he views writing as an easier task.

doesn’t know an answer or a word. He wants you to believe he can do anything.

there I saw some motivation and excitement about learning words.

to myself. (Field notes)

Field notes from April 16, 2010

Field Notes from April 23, 2010

Another Evan moment from my field notes on April 12, 2010:

were in and develop them as spellers.

feature points to 50 by the end of the year.

aware of patterns in words and to recognize roots and stages in spelling.

middle, high school, and postsecondary students.

though the words were still misspelled.

that progress. (Appendix 2 Parent Report)

Examples of Students’ Spelling in August (shaded words spelled correctly)

Evan Gabe Joni John

Joni- words spelled correctly 10/26: Syllables and Affixes-inflected endings

John- words spelled correctly 12/26: Syllables and Affixes-inflected endings

Examples of Students’ Spelling in May (shaded words spelled correctly)

Evan Gabe Joni John

thorn thorn thorn thron thorn

Joni- words spelled correctly 19/26: Early Derivational-harder suffixes

John- words spelled correctly 22/26: Early Derivational-harder suffixes

shower shower shower

bright bright bright

shower shower shower

Megan-words spelled correctly 24/25: Late Derivational-assimilated prefixes

End of First Quarter

End of Second Quarter

End of Third Quarter

End of Fourth Quarter

discussions and sharing of text.

River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.