The Different approaches to teaching spelling in the middle

years

Introduction and key terms

• Spelling - The act or process of writing words by using the letters conventionally accepted for their formation; orthography (Farlex, 2013).

• During the middle students must master the elements of English orthography.

• Orthography- refers to alphabetic, writing and spelling system of a language.

How is spelling learnt

Spelling is learnt through ….

• Phonics- knowledge of the sound of words

• Visual cues- how the word looks (shape,

length ect… big• Morphemes- how words are constructed from

meaningful elements

• Etymology- word history and origin

(Winch, 2010)

Key terms when teaching and learning spelling

• Syntactic- word function knowledge

• Semantic- meaning knowledge eg: link between happy and happiness

• Vowels- a,e,i,o,u

• Consonant- the letters of the alphabet other than the vowels

• Homophones- different words that sound the same

When teaching spelling in middle years, teachers should…..

• Make spelling instruction engaging and fun

• Increase amount of discussion, analysis and thought

• Provide explicit instruction and practice with spelling strategies

• Increase student awareness and the use of important language patterns

• Introduce spelling strategies, rules and resources

• Regularly test students and to find specific problem areas (formal and informal)

• Cater for all learning styles and provide strategies to suit all learning styles

• Provide a routine or steps that students follow when they cannot spell a word

• Incorporate multi-literacies into lessons (power points, interacting whiteboard activities, videos and recordings)

References

• Farlex. (2013). The Free Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/spelling

• Winch, G &Johnston, R & March, P & Ljungdahl, L & Holliday, M. (2010). Literacy: Reading, Writing and Childeren’s Litereature. Australia & New Zealand: Oxford University Press.