Assessing and Teaching Spelling
Lara McDowell
Janna Martinson
Tanya Kmiech
Carrie Shull
Molly Johnson
PreCommunicative Spelling
Typical of preschoolers, ages 3 to 5
 The child uses scribbles, letters, and
letterlike forms and shows a preference for
uppercase letters.
 There is no understanding of phonemegrapheme correspondence.
 The child’s writing shows a lack of
understanding of conventions of print such
as spaces between words and left to right
progression of writing.

Semiphonetic Spelling



Ages 5 and 6
The child has some awareness that letters
are used to represent sounds and may use
abbreviated one-, two-, or three-letter
spellings to represent an entire word ( e.g.
DA for day, LF for laugh)
Demonstrates awareness to left-to-right
progression but tends to run letters
together with little or no sense of separate
words ( e.g. RUDF for Are you deaf?)
Phonetic Spelling



Typically, 6 years old
The child represent all essential sound
features in spelling a word and chooses
letters on the basis of sound (e.g. PEKT for
peeked, KOM for come)
The child is aware of not only sounds but
also of mouth positions used to make
sounds (e.g. y may be used to spell /w/
because the mouth position to say the letter
name y is the same as to say /w/.
Transitional Spelling





Typically 7 to 8 years old
The child begins to use conventional alternatives
for representing sounds and includes a vowel in
every syllable (e.g. AFTERNEWN for afternoon,
TRUBAL for trouble).
Child becomes more aware of patterns in words
Many words are spelled correctly but words with
irregular spellings continue to be misspelled.
The child’s spelling may become a mixture of
phonetic components and salient visual features
in words
Correct Spelling
Typically reach this stage by age 8 or 9
 The child spells many words correctly
and applies the basic rules of the English
orthographic system.
 The Child recognizes when words “look”
incorrect and can consider alternative
spellings.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE
26 letters in the alphabet
 44 phonemes
 More than 500 spellings to represent the
44 phonemes!

Assessment of Spelling Skills
Formal Spelling Assessment

Achievement Tests
◦
◦
◦
◦
Standardized Spelling Tests
Norm referenced
Recall and Recognition
Achievement tests with Spelling Subtests




Iowa Tests of Basic Skills
Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement
Peabody Individual Achievement Test
Wide Range Achievement Test

Diagnostic Tests
◦ Standardized Spelling Tests
◦ Norm referenced
◦ Provide Detailed Information

Criterion Referenced Tests
◦
◦
◦
◦
Fixed Criteria
Determines Mastery
Measures Progress
Used for Instructional Planning
Informal Spelling Assessment

Diagnostic information
◦ Written Work
◦ Oral Responses
◦ Attitude
Types of Informal Assessments
Dictated Spelling Tests
 Informal Spelling Inventory
 Curriculum-Based Measurement
 Spelling Error Analysis
 Cloze Procedure
 Probes
 Modality Testing

Teaching Spelling Skills
An effective spelling program teaches spelling
through the use of phonemic, whole-word,
and morphemic instruction that use both
direct instruction and other research-based
supplemental materials.
Spelling Competencies
Auditory discrimination: Ability to discriminate
consonant sounds and vowel sounds and use correct
word pronunciation
 Consonants: Knowledge of consonants in initial, final,
and medial positions in words and ability to identify
consonant blends i.e. /bl/ in blend and /cl/ in close
 Phonograms: Ability to identify phonograms in initial,
medial, final positions in words and ability to identify
word phonograms

◦ A phonogram is any written symbol that stands for a
sound, syllable, morpheme, or word. (more commonly
referred to as the rime part of the word that comes after
the onset, from the vowel to the end of the word i.e.
“dog”- d is the onset and og is the rime/phonogram




Plurals: Ability to form a plural by adding s,
es, changing f to v, making medial change, and
knowledge of exceptions
Syllabication: Ability to divide words into
syllables gorilla- go/rill/a
Structural elements: Knowledge of root
words, prefixes, and suffixes
Ending changes: Ability to change ending of
words that end in final e, final y, and final
consonants

Vowel diagraphs and diphthongs: Ability to
spell words in which a vowel diagraph forms
one sound (ai, ea, ei, ie) or a diphthong forms
a blend (oe, ou, ow)
◦ *A dipthong is a combination of the short vowel
sound put together. (known as the “gliding vowel”
because of it’s smooth movement when being
spoken)

Silent e: Knowledge of single-syllable words
that end in silent e i.e in the word game- the
silent e creates a long /a/ sound.
Approaches
for Word
List
Selection
When creating spelling lists you
should…
Allow students to choose words from
their writing.
 Teach words that students commonly
misspell when writing.
 Teach words that students are most likely
to use in their writing.
 Identify words that fit different but
related patterns (ee and ea for the long e
sound, words that end in tion, etc.)

Here are a few great online
resources for teachers!

Spelling City

edHelper
Rule-Based Instruction





Based on teaching rules and generalizations using linguistic or
phonics approach
Linguistic approach stresses idea of the regularity in
phoneme-grapheme correspondence and words are selected
according to their linguistic patterns i.e. cool, fool, pool;
hitting, running, batting
Phonics approach stresses this same relationship, but within
parts of words. This allows the student to determine how
sounds should be spelled
These generalizations apply to more than 75% of words.
However, students should still be taught that there are
exceptions to some rules that do not follow such
generalizations
Despite the frequency of phonetic teaching approaches, only
about 50% of words follow regular phonetic rules.
Multisensory Approach
Spelling involves using skills in visual, auditory, and
motor sensory modalities.
Ferdinand’s Approach (VAKT)
1. Teacher writes/says word while student
watches/listens
2. Student traces with finger while reciting word
3. Word is written from memory. If correct, it is
place in file box. If incorrect, the second step is
repeated.
4. Tracing method is not always needed at later
stages. The student eventually learns the words by
looking at it in print while writing it, and finally by
just looking at it.

Multisensory Approach Cntd.
Gillingham Method
Day 1- Students get word list and study on their
own
Day 2- Teacher gives verbal feedback after taking
spelling test, and students simultaneously say
aloud and write the correct spelling of any
incorrect spelled word 5 times
Day 3- Procedure is repeated, except misspelled
words are written correctly 10 times
Day 4- Repeated 15 times
Day 5- To assess accuracy, students write words
from list verbally presented by teacher
Test-Study-Test Technique
Pretest at beginning of each unit of study.
 Words misspelled on pretest become
study list.
 After instruction, posttest determines
mastery.
 Misspelled words on posttest are added
to the next unit.

Fixed and Flow Word Lists

Fixed Word Lists
◦
◦
◦
◦

Frequently Used
New list every week
Tested on Fridays
Seldom Results in Mastery
Flow Word Lists
◦ Words are dropped from list only after
mastery.
◦ New word replaces mastered word.
Lists for Learners with LD
Initially should be limited to high
frequency words.
 Misspelled words from their writing.
 5-10 words per list
 2-3 words introduced daily and practiced
until list is mastered.

Modifications and Other
Considerations
For Students with Learning Difficulties
Study Strategies
This strategy has been found to increase
immediate recall of words in students with
learning problems:
 1. Say the word
 2. Write and say the word
 3. Check the word by comparing it to a
model
 4. Trace and say the word
 5. Write the word from memory and check.
 6. Repeat 1-5.
Self-correction
Hear the word on audiotape
 Write each word
 Compare each word with a model on an
answer key
 Correct misspellings with proofreading
marks
 Write the word correctly
 Repeat the task.

Visual Mnemonics
Can be used on spelling lists or flash
cards
 Method:

◦ Student closes eyes
◦ Visualizes the word
◦ Attempts to see the mnemonic in the word
◦ Writes the word from memory
*general recall can also be used, such as “the
principal is your pal” or “dessert is something
sweet”.
Self-Questioning
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Do I know this word?
How many syllables do I hear in this word?
(write down # of syllables)
I will write the word I think it should be spelled.
Do I have the right number of syllables.
Is there any part of the word that I am not sure
how to spell? (Underline and try spelling it again)
Does the word look right to me? (No?
Underline and try again. Listen to find any
missing syllables)
When I finish spelling, I will tell myself that I have
worked hard.
Peer Tutoring







S - spot the word
P- picture the word
E- eyes closed
L- look to see if the visual picture is correct
L- look away and write the word
E- examine the spelling word by checking it
R- repeat the procedure if the word is
spelled incorrectly or reward if spelled
correctly
Imitation Methods
Teacher provides both oral and written
model of spelling word.
 Student imitates model by spelling word out
loud, and by writing it.
 Student is given immediate praise or
feedback for a correct response, and
incorrect responses are retrained.
 Repeat the method until student can spell
and write the word without any assistance.
 Administer spelling probe to check mastery
and retention.

Types of Correctional Procedures
Visual image
 Word Meaning
 Add words misspelled in compositions to
spelling lists.

◦ Increases motivation
Teaching and Reinforcing Spelling in
a Language Arts Curriculum
A program that teaches both learning to
spell and read can be very effective
 -reading gives the student the meaning of
words, and correct usage

- Oral reading helps the student to learn
correct entire word sounds
- Spelling lists can consist of words from
reading vocabulary
- Can encourage use of spelling words in
writing
Dictionary Usage

Training in using the dictionary is an
important part of a spelling program
◦ Encourage independence in finding spellings
◦ Provide information such as syllabication,
meaning, pronunciation, synonyms and
homonyms
◦ Picture dictionaries for younger grades
Dictionary Usage

Technique
◦ Predict possible spellings
-determine root words and affixes
-determine related words
-determine sounds in the word
-- Check predicted spelling by using dictionary
Considerations for Secondary
School
Social and practical significance
 Own interests and areas of study
 Vocational words
 Teach with other activities
 Strategies to compensate for poor
spelling can be taught
