THEMES Middle Year learners

Stages of spelling development

Learning styles

MIDDLE YEAR LEARNERS

Middle years as students

Students in the middle years are going through a transition from childhood to adolescents. They go through many significant changes including…- Intellectual- Social- Physical- Emotional- Ethical - Moral

They also more from concrete to abstract thinking

Middle years as learners

Middle years learning style is different from early years learner.

This is because- They seek challenges and engagement - They prefer an hands on approach to learning- They want a say in how they learn and what they are

going to learn- They strive and desire independence

Middle year learners and technology

Technology is making a huge impact on the lives of middle year students today. Many students see mp3 players, video games, mobile phones and particularly the internet a way of life rather than just a gadget. To them and so many adults, this is the way they communicate, research and live life.

This is why the use of technology in the classroom is a major factor in the way Middle year’s students learn (NSW, 2009).

STAGES OF SPELLING DEVELOPMENT

1-Precommunicative- letters/symbols strung together randomly2-Pre-phonetic- alphabet letters are recognised, spelling is attempted by sounding words3-Phonetic- one-syllable spelling patterns and syllable combinations4-Transitional stage- the spelling of meaningful parts of words (morphemes)5- Correct spelling

• It is important to understand that not everyone will go through these stage at the same time. It will depend on the students learning capability, their access to resources and their learning integrity (Winch, 2010).

Stage 1- Precommunicative • During this stage letters and symbols are randomly strung

together to make words. • They rely on the sounds of words to attempt to build their

word. • There is no age bracket as students learn to spell at their

own pace however it begins with the ages of 2 and 4 (Winch, 2010).

Stage 2- pre-phonetic • Spelling is attempted by sounding words out and using

the knowledge of the sound of letters to help write words.• The meaning of the words is recognised.• Vowels are introduced• The concept of left to right is gained.• This stage begins between the ages of 3 and 6 (Winch,

2010).

Stage 3- Phonetic• Students are confident with making the connection

between sound and symbol. • Students are developing word knowledge • The teacher will analyse the misspelling and give

strategies to overcome them.• This stage occurs at the start of formal learning (5-7

years of age) (Winch, 2010).•

Stage 4- Transitional• Students use phonological, sight and morphemic

knowledge to spell. • Students include vowels in every syllable and begin to

spell digraphs.• An increased amount of words are now spelt correctly

using a number of strategies• This stage occurs between the ages of 6 and 8 (Winch,

2010).

Stage 5- Correct Spelling• Are able to self correct and acknowledge misspelt words. • Students can deal with contractions, compound words,

suffixes, prefixes and silent letters. • This stage can happen at any time however it is most

common after the age of 8 (Winch, 2010).

LEARNING STYLES

VisualAuditory

Kinaesthetic

Winch (2010)

Teachers Role• The teacher should be constantly recording how students

learn to write and spell and record what strategies they used to do so. This will allow teachers to cater for all students learning preference and have a variety of activities that cater for them. The teacher also needs to make sure there are adequate resources in the room such as dictionary’s or even students personal ‘have a go’ books (Winch, 2010).

Visual Learners • Visual learners will often rely on how a word looks rather

than the meaning of that word

•Big• ‘have a go’ book would be very effective here as they will

be able to write the word out numerous times and see which one looks right and if they are still not sure they can look it up in the dictionary (Whitton, 2010).

Auditory learners • Auditory learners rely on listening and speaking to learn.

They understand things better if things are verbally explained rather then writing down.

• A good strategy for these students for when they are trying to spell a word is to sound it out or say it in their head before writing it down (Whitton, 2010).

•

Kinaesthetic learners • Kinaesthetic learners are people that learn better when

they carry out the skill being learnt physically. • There are numerous different activities that could work for

them. One could be the ‘have a go’ book as they are physically writing the word until they get it right. Another activity could be look the word up in the dictionary (Whitton, 2010).

References • Winch, G &Johnston, R & March, P & Ljungdahl, L & Holliday, M.

(2010). Literacy: Reading, Writing and Children's Literature. Australia & New Zealand: Oxford University Press.

• NSW Department of Education & Training. ( 2009). Our Middle Years Learners- Engaged, Resilient, Successful. An Education Strategy for Years 5-9 in NSW. Retrieved from http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/detresources/Our_Middle_Years_gANxIHEeuA.pdf

• Whitton, D.(2010). Learning for Teaching, Teaching for Learning, 2nd edition. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia