Principles and Practices Guide Spelling Instruction

Janet Giannotti

Introduction and Bio

Janet Giannotti

MA/TESL, MEd Reading Education Associate Professor of ESL

Northern Virginia Community College

My Class: ESL 72 Spelling and Vocabulary3 credits; elective+/- 10 students

Interesting Quote

“Each word in English seems to have its own compass, some pointing to phonology, some to morphology, some to history, and some pointing in one direction in one syllable and another in the next.”

“The Challenge of Spelling in English” English Teaching Forum Vol. 46 No. 3 2008.

Do your students make these errors?

He put them in a mach box.

He trys to figure out . . .

I read about who caches the scorpion.

He took that instate of taking the right

one.

The writter likes the scorpion.

He went to dinning room to joine family.

Or these?

The family members started moveing it.

They stoped moving.

Can you beleive we have classmate all

around the world?

I hopped to meet you for my first day

at NOVA.

What are our students doing, or not doing, when they . . .

write mach for match or caches for

catches?

write trys for tries?

write instate for instead?

write writter for writer, or dinning for

dining?

write joine for join?

How about when they . . .

write moveing for moving?

write stoped for stopped?

write beleive for believe?

or write hopped for hoped?

TEST! Try my first-

day diagnostic.

TEST!

1. peck2. blade3. poke4. prom5. mute6. swine

7. clutch8. bubble9. bliss 10. squish11. screech12. badge

Write the words you hear. You may not know the meanings!

What do our

students need to know to

spell these words

correctly?

How do we teach spelling?

Memorize lists ? Write each word 10 times?

Why do these techniques work, if they DO work?

What does it mean if they don’t work?

Internalize rules or memorize sight words?

Students who spell well probably see patterns and internalize rules. They spell by analogy.

Some students may treat every new word like a “sight” word.

Some students may know some rules and apply them inconsistently.

“Word Study”

In L-1 Reading Education:

A student-centered approach to spelling instruction that actively engages the learner in constructing concepts about the way words work.

Provides students with opportunities to investigate the patterns in words. Knowledge of these patterns means that students needn't learn to spell one word at a time.

Word study activities teach students defining characteristics about words through the use of compare-contrast tasks. Students learn how patterns are spelled and how they sound. The open-ended nature of these activities allows for repetition and over-learning which is necessary to attain automaticity in reading words and to enable the orthographic features to become internalized. The ultimate goal is for students to take knowledge and automaticity gained while doing these sorts and transfer this knowledge to reading [and spelling] unfamiliar words.

www.uurc.utah.edu/General/WordStudy.php

Spelling Instruction in ESL Classes

Spelling INSTRUCTION

Can accelerate the natural process that successful learners go through in internalizing the rules of English.

Can be a separate class, but combine with vocabulary or pronunciation.

Or set aside 15 to 30 minutes a couple of times a week in another class.

Two General Principles

ALWAYS . . .

link ORAL and WRITTEN language.

use kinesthetic activities.

Order of Presentation

Apply the principles in lessons presented in this order:

Teach 5 “short vowels” first.Introduce the concept of doubling.Introduce 5 “long vowels.”Introduce e-drop. Review with a focus on syllable

junctures.

Link Oral and Written Language

Listen and repeat.

Listen and respond.

Listen and write.

Dust off your old dictation exercises.

Dictation!

Sheet, 4/6 card, pencil, red pen.

Listen and Write, Uncover and Check.

Teachers: Trust but Verify!

Kinesthetic Activities

Use of a variety of muscles aids in memory.

Spelling instruction can be boring; get students moving a little!

Use Kinesthetic Activities

Word Study uses MOSTLY kinesthetic activities. For adult learners, save them for the spice of your class.

Listening Discrimination

Vowel Cards:

Listen to the word I say. Hold up the card with the vowel that you hear.

Listening Discrimination

Vowel Cards

SORT!

Word Study uses sorts to ask students to notice or discover patterns.

Unless adults are very low literacy, keep sorts to a minimum, but try them to illustrate to students that they can analyze exemplars to see patterns.

Sorting for Plurals with Final -o

Groups Work on Sorting

Almost Finished!

Short Vowels Trigger Consonant Patterns!

Teach short vowels and the consonant clusters (blends and digraphs) that follow them.

Let’s work on a sort to discover consonant patterns.

▪ Please note that if you do this with a class, you should only introduce one contrast at a

time!

You Get a Bunch of Words Like This

Now you can analyze the ends of the words and generate “rules.” Ask students to formulate them

Your Sort Might Look Like This:

The RULES That We Noticed In our sort, we noticed that after a short vowel,

the sound [č] is spelled –tch. the sound [j] is spelled –dge. the sound [k] is spelled –ck.

and most other consonant sounds are represented with a single consonant.

But remember: if you do this with a class you should only introduce one contrast at a time!

White Boards Are Fun!

White Boards in Action

Discover Spelling “Rules” or Patterns

Build a List of Rules with the Class

Rule 1: A one-syllable word with a short vowel sound is spelled with ONE vowel.

Rule 2: The [k] sound at the end of a short vowel syllable is spelled –ck.

Rule 5: The [ǰ] sound at the end of a short vowel syllable is spelled –dge. (This is an exception to Rule 1.)

Modify Rules as You Go

Rule 1 becomes: A short vowel syllable contains only one vowel.

Rule 2 starts out: Add –s to make a word plural.

Rule 2 becomes: Add –s to make most words plural. If the word ends with ss, sh, ch, or z, then we add –es to make it plural.

Ask Students to Focus on . . .

BUILDING rules first.

This could take several weeks. You can post them on a site like Blackboard, but stress that the list is not complete.

Then when your list is complete, you can print it or post on Bb.

OUR RULES (Week 1)

Rule 1: In a one-syllable word that has a short vowel sound, we write ONE vowel.

Rule 2: To make a word plural, we add –s.

Rule 3: The [k] sound is spelled –ck at the end of a short vowel word of one syllable.

Our Rules (Week 2)

Rule 1: In a one-syllable word that has a short vowel sound, we write ONE vowel.

Rule 2: To make a word plural, we add –s. However, if the word ends with ss, sh, ch, or z, we add –es

Rule 3: The [k] sound is spelled –ck at the end of a short vowel word.

Rule 4: The [č] sound is spelled –tch at the end of a short vowel word. Exceptions are rich, which, sandwich, such, and much.

Rule 5: The [ǰ] sound is spelled –dge at the end of a short vowel word.

Consonant Doubling

Introduce Consonant Doubling

First, identify 1-1-1 words.

▪ ONE SYLLABLE▪ ONE VOWEL IN THE MIDDLE▪ ONE CONSONANT AT THE END.

Are These 1-1-1 Words?

sit▪ yes

beg▪ yes

pack▪ no

bill▪ no

rob▪ yes

stuff▪ no

hug▪ yes

read▪ no

Then Add –ing:

sit + ing = sitting

but

pack + ing = packing

And Add to Your List of Rules Rule 8: 1-1-1 words have 1 syllable, 1

vowel, and end in 1 consonant.

Rule 9: When we add –ing to a 1-1-1 word, we double the final consonant.

***LATER, you can generalize Rule 9 to:

Rule 9: When we add an ending that begins with a vowel to a 1-1-1 word, we double the final consonant.

Long Vowel Patterns

Then Introduce 5 LONG Vowels

Once short vowels patterns are solid.

While they may not actually be LONG, they are in a distinct category.

Long vowels “sound like the name of the letter.”

First Day: LONG VOWELS

Introduce LONG vowels with silent –e first.

What happens when I add just one letter?

Point out that normally when we add a letter, we still have the same word. ▪ hat hats▪ smoke smoked

But what happens when I add silent –e?

Show students pairs like these and ask them to explain what happens! can + -e cane pet + -e Pete sit + -e site hop + -e hope cut + -e cute

A Fun Kinesthetic Activity

Flip it open and you have a new word!

Teach Long Vowel Patterns

Use some reading material to search for long vowel words. This helps students see frequencies.

I use a short novel for vocabulary, idioms, and as a source of words for our spelling.

Long Vowel Search

Five Long Vowels, All Patterns

Investigating Patterns

Syllable Junctures

Pay Attention to Syllable Juncture

Typical ESL spelling practice asks students to add endings: big + er = biggest shop + ing = shopping

You should also ask students to HEAR the medial consonant by attending to the vowel before it.

The Most Powerful Spelling Rule

In a two-syllable word,

a short vowel in the first syllable is followed by TWO consonants or a DOUBLE consonant.

a long vowel in the first syllable is followed by A SINGLE CONSONANT.

“Listen” for Medial Consonant!

ta___ingtaking

ta___ingtacking

hi___enhidden

hi___inghiding

And Don’t Forget to Work Backwards

Given what you know about word endings and the changes that occur to the base, write the base forms of these

words. stitches

▪ stitch judges

▪ judge hopping

▪ hop hoping

▪ hope copied

▪ copy

studying▪ study

reddish▪ red

redness▪ red

scarves▪ scarf

heroes▪ hero

RESULTS?

First Day Diagnostics (Listen+Write)

First Day Diagnostics: Listen + Write

First Day Diagnostic: Add Ending

Mid-Term Test (Short Vowels)

Mid-Term Test Add Ending

Mid-Term Test Find the Base

Spelling Don’ts!

Don’t assign lists of unrelated words to be memorized.

Don’t explain meanings of unfamiliar words.

Don’t get too stuck in exceptions.

Don’t teach rules to be memorized.

Don’t confuse intelligent nods with acquisition.

Spelling Do’s!

Do mimic real-world tasks as often as possible.

Do point out exceptions.

Do teach sight words separately.

Do use some real text to search for exemplars.

And Keep in Mind

Deliver spelling instruction in small doses.

Use a variety of activities, including kinesthetic.

Quiz often.

And . . .

Have fun teaching spelling!

Have fun introducing spelling instruction into your classes!