Spelling Strategies

"Word Wall" is a permanent fixture in your classroom. You need a place to tack up the alphabet and room under each letter for several words. The common feeling among teachers is that it would be nice to have it within reach of the children for interactive teaching, but then there are difficulties with children seeing it. Master teachers that we have listened to use two word walls. One is the permanent one - up high, visible to all children from anywhere in the room. This would contain the high-frequency words commonly misspelled words. The second word wall is more transient in nature, depending on the class work. For example, you may be looking at beginning, middle, end sounds of the /sh/ digraph. These words could be listed in this 'temporary' word wall which could be at a center, at the "Our Work" board, on chart paper, or a bulletin board.

"Key words": Children always want to learn words that are special to them.   Let each child have a ring (shower curtain rings, page holder rings, etc.) to keep words cards of interest and need. These key word rings would be hung on hooks or nails in one location in the classroom. Precut cards (with one hole punched on the end) should be ready for you and the child to write the word together in standard spelling. For example, David may need to write the word tarantula and bring a card to you. You would stretch the word asking him what sounds can be heard in the word and write them as listed filling in the rest to make it standard spelling. David would then have the tarantula key word, and from then on after, anytime someone asked you for the word tarantula, you would refer them to him. It's amazing how easy it is for the class to remember which children have which words. Or, a quick question of "Who has the word tarantula on their key ring?" will prompt class support.

Games and materials that encourage capital and lower case letter learning

Lessons in word awareness that help children become conscious of individual words, their boundaries, their appearance and their length.

Activities that encourage children both to use words they are learning in their own writing, and to keep records of interesting and related words.

Practice in decoding and identifying words that contain the letter-sound relationships children are learning to read and need for reading and writing.

Practice activities that involve word families and rhyming patterns.

Practice activities that involve blending together the components of sounded-out words.

"Word play" activities in which children change beginning, middle, or ending letters of related words, thus changing the words they decode and spell.

Activities that help children understand that spoken sentences are made up of groups of separate words, that words are made up of syllables, and that words can be broken down  into separate sounds.

Alphabetic awareness activities in which children learn that printed words are made up of patterns of letters.

Lessons in sound-letter relationships that are organized systematically and that provide as much practice and review as is needed.

Activities in which children combine and manipulate letters to change words and spelling patterns.

As children exhibit behaviors indicative of emergent literacy, parents and teachers can seize the teachable moments, and provide developmentally appropriate materials and interactions to further literacy development.

Alphabetic knowledge activities in which children learn the names of letters and learn to  identify them rapidly and accurately.

Activities that are related to the words that children are reading and writing.

Proofreading activities

An emphasis on pride in correct spelling

Lessons that help children attend to spelling conventions in a systematic way

Early support of letter knowledge and phonemic awareness.

Instruction on letter-sound correspondences and spelling conventions.

Opportunity and encouragement to use spelling-sound knowledge in reading and writing.

Alphabetic awareness activities in which children learn that printed words are made up of patterns of letters.

Lessons in sound-letter relationships that are organized systematically and that provide as much practice and review as is needed.

Practice in decoding and identifying words that contain the letter-sound relationships children are learning to read and need for reading and writing.