Supplement to Spelling Under Scrutiny: Assessment and Implementation
Assessment
There are a number of assessments in Spelling Under Scrutiny:
1.
Gap Analysis assessments
These assessments identify gaps in specific areas of spelling knowledge. Following is a table that
links the assessments to the teaching topics in Spelling Under Scrutiny for each Gap Analysis topic.
Assessment focus
Adding suffixes (Gap Analysis 1,2, 3)
Adding suffixes to words ending in y
(Gap Analysis 1,2, 3)
Spelling Patterns for the ‘k’ sound
(Gap Analysis 1, 2)
Spelling words containing the ‘ow’ sound
(Gap Analysis 1, 2)
Spelling words containing the ‘oy’ sound
(Gap Analysis 1, 2)
Soft c and g words (Gap Analysis 1)
Spelling long vowel sounds inside and at end of
words (Gap Analysis 2, 3)
Adding ly suffix (Gap Analysis 3)
le, el, al, ol endings (Gap Analysis 1)
Spelling other vowel sounds (Gap Analysis 3)
Plurals (Gap Analysis 1,2, 3)
Contractions (Gap Analysis 1, 2)
Possessive apostrophes (Gap Analysis 1,2, 3)
Prefixes (Gap Analysis 1,2, 3)
Suffixes (Gap Analysis 1,2, 3)
Proofreading (Gap Analysis 1,2, 3)
Topic in Spelling Under Scrutiny
Topic 4 (short vowels sounds), Topic 6 (long
vowel sounds)
Topic 6 (long vowel sounds)
Topic 8
Topic 7
Topic 7
Topic 8
Topic 6
Topic 12
Topic 8
Topic 7
Topic 13
Topic 16
Topic 17
Topic 11
Topic 12
Chapter 4
The assessments do not assess everything taught in Spelling Under Scrutiny. Topics 7 and 8 for
example, cover a number of sounds that are written in different ways according to specific
conventions. If students’ results show that they do not know the conventions for spelling the ‘oy’
and ‘ow’ sound correctly they are also likely to have similar gaps in their knowledge about the other
vowel sounds covered in Topic 8. Similarly, if they don’t know the conventions for spelling the ‘k’
sound or the ‘s’ and ‘j’ sounds (which include the soft c and g spellings), it is likely that the
conventions for spelling other sounds in this topic will be unknown. The results of the Gap Analysis
assessments are designed to guide you towards teaching topics that will enhance students’
knowledge of specific aspects of the spelling system of English.
Topics 10-15 of Spelling Under Scrutiny focus on enhancing vocabulary knowledge, knowledge of
word structure and spelling of common morphemes. Knowledge of all these topics is not measured
in the Gap Analysis assessments. Teachers are expected to make their own judgment about
teaching these topics, according to the needs of their students.
Topic 9 (Syllables) is a very useful topic because it provides knowledge about the structure of
syllables in words which informs both spelling knowledge and decoding strategies. It is useful to use
the Pseudoword Spelling and Pseudoword Reading assessments that are part of this topic as pre and
post tests.
This topic can be taught as a complete stand-alone topic at any time, or it can be taught in sections.
For example:
Teach Topic 4 (Short vowel sounds). Teach pages 243-247 (hearing and seeing syllables in words).
Teach section 1 – Find the Short Vowel sounds in words (pages 248 – 252).
Teach Topic 6 (Long vowel sounds). Teach section 2 – Find the Long vowel sound in words (pages
253 – 258).
Teach Topic 7 (Other vowel sounds). Teach Section 3 – Find other vowel sounds (pages 259 – 261)
Teach section 4 – Find the schwa sound in words at any time.
After teaching all these sections, teach students to divide written words into syllables (pages 265 –
269) at any time.
2.
Pseudoword Spelling Test
Some extra notes on administering and marking the Pseudoword Spelling Test
Students record their words in the Word column, writing their answers beside each number. When
marking the results, tick the box under each number if the whole word is spelled correctly. You can
also tick each box across the page to show that each sound is correct if you wish. The total number
of correct words /31 can then be written in the box at the end of the assessment sheet. If parts of
the word are incorrect, write the correct spelling pattern into the appropriate box where the error
occurred. Tick other boxes where the spelling of word parts is correct. See the marked student
sheet (pages 59-60) for an example of this marking approach. Add up the totals of correct answers
for each vertical column (Consonants – one letter, blends, long and short vowel sounds, other vowel
sounds, consonant sounds – digraphs, spelling rule, suffixes). This will give you a very clear picture
of the areas of need for each student. The same assessment can be repeated at the end of the year
and the totals /31 (whole words correct) and /120 (individual parts correct) compared to show
progress.
3.
15 Minute Writing Samples
Extra notes on analysing errors and scoring in appropriate columns
Phonological errors would be words that have sounds missing (jip for jump). Orthographic errors
indicate an incorrect spelling pattern for a particular sound (berd for bird). Morphological, Rules and
Conventions errors indicate a lack of knowledge of morphemes (greatist for greatest) or spelling
rules and conventions (gran for grain, running for running, cryed for cried). Proofreading slip/error
indicates an error that was probably made by writing quickly that was not picked up during
proofreading (th for the, the for they). The Other column provides an opportunity to include other
errors that don’t fit the other columns (abbreviations, spelling words the way they sound – famly for
family). Errors made with words that come from the most common 300 words of written English
(often called high-frequency words or sight words) can be recorded in the last column – an
alphabetical list of these 300 words can be found in the English Spelling Dictionary.
Implementation
Once teaching topics and specific skills have been selected you will need to decide how to plan and
manage spelling instruction. Most teachers find it easier to choose a topic for whole class
instruction, particularly when they first begin to use Spelling Under Scrutiny. If you are teaching the
same topic to the whole class, you could use planning Option 1 from the template on page 82.
Students who already correctly use the spelling convention you are teaching can be involved in the
initial whole class lesson, but they do not need to complete practice activities. They could be
involved in vocabulary development or writing activities instead of practising a skill they have
already acquired. Other students can complete appropriate practice activities suggested in the
teaching topic, to suit their learning needs. Proofreading goals should be linked to students’
individual needs and to the teaching topic for the week. Students rarely apply new learning to their
writing immediately. Targeted proofreading practice allows new knowledge to be transferred to
writing. Throughout the year you can revise previously taught topics by including revision activities
in homework, or by rotating proofreading targets to include previously taught information. See
Chapter 4 for proofreading suggestions.
A plan for getting started
Teach Topic 1 first, teaching one sound (or group of sounds) for about 10 minutes a day. This will
ensure that all students understand these foundation concepts of written English:

words are made up of sounds

sounds can be written in different ways

sounds can be written with single letters and letter clusters

the position of the sound in a word often influences how it is spelled.
After completing Topic 1 (and this may take the whole of a term) use the results of the Gap Analysis
Assessment and the Pseudoword Assessment to choose teaching topics. Topics 2 and 3 are likely to
be necessary for students who have significant difficulties with phonemic awareness but they are
unlikely to be taught as whole class topics to students in year 5 and beyond. Topics 4-7 cover the
vowel sounds and their spelling conventions and Topic 8 covers some consonant sounds that have
particular spelling conventions. Topics 9-17 are stand-alone topics. You might choose to teach a
sound topic (any from Topics 4-8) and then one of the stand-alone topics such as contractions or
plurals. You can select topics in any order unless the topic you choose tells you teach another topic
first. It is quite useful to intersperse teaching sounds with one of the stand-alone topics.
For example: Teach Topics 4 and 5, then Topic 13, then Topic 6, then Topic 16 and 17 etc.
The information in Spelling Under Scrutiny is likely to take at least two years to cover. At the end of
a year of teaching, redo the assessments you did at the start of the year to measure progress. The
results will tell you if some topics need to be revisited, or if some students need extra help in certain
areas. If you do need to address the needs of students in small groups, refer to Option 2 in the
planning template on page 82 for planning ideas.
Some minor corrections for the Activity books
No matter how much proofreading is done, some errors always seem to slip through. You may wish
to change these few errors in the Activity Books. If you go to the Spelling Under Scrutiny resource on
my website (www.spelling.co.nz) there is a downloadable, updated version of the answers for
Activity Books 1 and 2 which includes fuller answers for activities needing dictionary definitions that
were not in the original answers.
Changes to Activity Book 1
Exercise 40, Box 3: delete the crosses in the ly and ness box.
Exercise 42, Number 4: Should say I only have h______ a teaspoon of sugar in my tea.
Exercise 46 : instructions should say ‘er’ sound, not ‘ar’ sound.
Exercise 71, No 5: Last word should say ____ocoon.
Exercise 143, third column: should say _____metre.
Exercise 148, second section, no 2: the word practise should be ise not ice – practise, because it is a
verb not a noun.
Exercise 153: Instructions should say - Add one of the suffixes in this table to the words or roots in
the left column to make a verb or an adjective. …. Write the definitions of the words beside them.
Exercise 157: change legible to read
Exercise 183 : we’re should be beside weir, wear should be beside where.
Changes to Activity Book 2
Exercise 4: Instructions should say: The following words are either one-syllable words with short
vowel sounds, or words with a short vowel sound (or a schwa vowel) in the last syllable.
Exercise 32: Change poignant to poised.
Exercise 79: Instructions - Third sentence should say – If a single vowel is inside a syllable, it will be a
short vowel, closed syllable (e.g. pen/cil, re/fund) or if it is in an unstressed syllable, it will have a
schwa vowel sound (se/cret, sec/ond).
Exercise 122: Instructions should say – Add one of the suffixes to this table to the words or roots in
the left column to make a verb or an adjective. …. Write the definitions of the words beside them.
Change the definition for compassionate to - sympathetic , having or showing sympathy.