CHAPTER NINE
ASSESSING AND TEACHING SPELLING
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Phases of Spelling Development
According to Gentry (1982, 2004, 2006), students move through two distinct phases of spelling
development.
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Phase 1 - Learning to Spell
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Level I: Precommunicative Spelling: Uses scribbles, letters, and letter like forms and
shows a preference for uppercase letters.
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Level II: Semiphonetic Spelling: The child has some awareness that letters are used to
represent sounds.
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Level III: Phonetic Spelling: The child represents all essential sound features.
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Level IV: Transitional Spelling; Begins to use conventional alternatives for representing
sounds and includes a vowel in every syllable.
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Phase 2 - Correct and Automatic Spelling
Developmental Sequence of Spelling Instruction
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)
2nd
Assessment of Spelling Skills
Formal Spelling Assessment
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Achievement Tests
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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.”
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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.(KTEA)
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Peabody Individual Achievement Test—Revised (Markwardt, 1998). Assesses ability
to identify the correct spelling of a word after hearing the word pronounced. (PIAT)
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Wide Range Achievement Test—4 (Wilkinson & Robertson, 2006). Assesses skill in
writing one’s name and writing letters and single words from dictation. (WRHT)
Assessment of Spelling Skills
Formal Spelling Assessment
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Diagnostic Tests
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Test of Orthographic Competence (Mather, Roberts, Hammill, & Allen, 2008)
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Test of Written Spelling—4 (Larsen, Hammill, & Moats, 1999)
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Word Identification and Spelling Test (Wilson & Felton, 2005)
Assessment of Spelling Skills
Formal Spelling Assessment
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Criterion-Referenced Tests
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Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills—II (Brigance, 2010a)
Assessment of Spelling Skills
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Informal Spelling Assessment
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Dictated Spelling Test: Procedure for assessing various skills in spelling and determining
spelling grade level. (ake)
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Informal Spelling Inventory: Used to determine the student’s approximate grade level in
spelling achievement.
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Curriculum-Based Measurement: Rate samples on words from a given spelling curriculum are
used to measure the students spelling skills.
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Spelling Error Analysis: Used to provide a profile of spelling strengths and weaknesses.
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Cloze Procedure: Visual means of testing spelling.
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Probes: Assessed through the use of probe sheets.
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 phonemegrapheme 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:
Multilinguistic Approach
Spelling instruction can utilize a multilinguistic approach that focuses on phonemic, orthographic, and
morphological knowledge (Berninger et al., 2008; Kelman & Apel, 2004).
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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.
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Fernald’s (1988) multisensory approach : Four sensory modalities: visual, auditory,
kinesthetic, and tactile.
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Gillingham method: Uses an alphabetic system with repetition and drill.
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Kearney and Drabman (1993) used a modified write-say spelling intervention: Designed to
provide immediate feedback to the visual and auditory modalities of students with learning
problems.
Cover-and-write method: Multisensory Approach: Covering the word, writing it, and checking
the spelling.
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).
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1. Say the word.
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2. Point to the word.
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3. Repeat the word.
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4. Cover the word.
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5. Print the word.
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6. Compare the word to the correct model.
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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
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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
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FIXED word list:
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A new list of words is assigned each week.
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Words may be either somewhat unfamiliar or completely unknown to the students.
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Students practice independently.
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Students practice at their own rate.
FLOW word list:
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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.
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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)
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Secondary level:
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Help the adolescent understand the social and practical significance of correct spelling.
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The student’s own interests and various areas of study provide new words.
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Vocational words also can be emphasized.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Spelling Blaster – Ages 6-9
Spelling Rules
Stickybear Spelling
Word Zapper