Make Learning To Spell Exciting And Empowering
Learning how (and why) certain letters fit together to make words can be a fascinating and rewarding experience that spans the curriculum, says Rebecca Cosgrave…
Don’t worry about your spellings; we’ve all said it. We want a really imaginative, creative piece of writing and we’re concerned that a focus on spelling will detract from the content. At other times – the Friday spelling test, for example – we require children to ‘worry’ greatly about their spelling.
But what does this communicate about the place of spelling within the writing process, and why should children only ‘worry’ about spellings in selected contexts? What this illustrates is that spelling is perceived to be a challenge for many children, and teaching it a challenge for many teachers.
The 2015 national curriculum has elevated the importance of spelling considerably; it could even be argued that improving accuracy in transcriptional elements lies at its very heart. But while we could debate the ethical and pedagogical issues relating to this at length, we still have to teach the new curriculum and make it work for the children in our classes.
In many of the schools in which I work, spelling has not been taught as well as it might. And when the introduction of the Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar test increased the emphasis on spelling within KS2 SATs (it is now worth double the marks) the outcomes reflected this. However, we don’t just teach spelling because that is what we’re told to do. Spelling can be engaging, exciting and empowering. Learning about how our language works can grip children, enable them to generalise, and encourage them to find out more. So what makes for effective teaching of spelling?
1. Make it integral to the writing process
This means teaching spelling effectively, but ensuring learning is constantly applied in writing:
Don’t just focus on single word work. Children need to learn to spell words in context, which will only happen if you teach and assess in context. Learning must be applied in sentences and paragraphs in order to be sure children can (and will) use this learning when they write independently.
Teach spelling strategies for all parts of the writing process. In No Nonsense Spelling we target three types of spelling strategies: strategies at the point of writing (what do I do if I don’t know how to spell a word as I am writing?); identifying misspelt words (what does proofreading look like and how do I spot words I may have spelt wrong?); and strategies for learning words (how do I build my bank of known words and learn the tricky ones?)
Practise what you preach! We need to model all of the strategies we have taught whenever we write with children. It’s no good expecting children to ‘have a go’ at unknown words as they write if we don’t do it ourselves – or require them to do it when we are with them.
Teach spelling whenever children are writing. Spelling is a cross-curricular skill and we need to apply the same high standards and effective strategies at all times.
2. Actually teach it… don’t just learn the spellings
We need to ensure we devote quality time to the direct teaching of spelling, of which learning spellings is a part. Effective teaching needs to be:
Regular, systematic and progressive.Many of you may recognise these principles from the guidance on the teaching of phonics. The move from phonics for reading in FS and Y1 into phonics for spelling and a wider spelling curriculum from Y2–6, builds on the effective pedagogies used in the best phonics teaching.
Linked to meaning. Much of the word structure of our language is linked to meaning. We need to expose children to this in order to help them generalise. For example, adding the suffix ‘–ly’ creates an adverb. We need to teach this when we tackle grammar, spelling and writing in context. It can be fascinating to explore the etymology of words too. For example, did you know that ‘grammar’ and ‘glamour’ are derived from the same source? The term ‘grammar’ goes all the way back to Latin and Greek, where it referred to all aspects of the study of literature. In the Middle Ages it came to be associated with just the linguistic parts, and particularly with the study of Latin. The fancy, educated class studied Latin and also things like magic and astrology, so the word grammar sometimes referred to that aspect too. A mispronounced version, glamour, went on to stand for the magical, enchanting quality it is used to represent today! (reference: mentalfloss.com).
Based on curriculum expectations, but adapted to meet the needs of the class/ group, which are informed by assessment for learning. In No Nonsense Spelling we suggest a range of assessments strategies, but particularly error analysis.
Multi-sensory. Children learn about spelling in as many and varied ways as they learn anything else. We need to use images to support our teaching and to support their learning. Images can help to contextualise spelling so that we are focused on vocabulary and related words as well as patterns and conventions. Using images to support teaching can also provide hooks for children when they are trying to remember how to spell words.
3. Ensure children do the work, not the teacher!
Being a good speller is largely about taking responsibility for using what you know to the best of your ability. Strategies for developing this include: a) Using spelling journals and giving children ownership of these. Let them make choices and decisions about how to organise and record their learning.
b) Setting clear ‘non-negotiables’ that are based on effort and the efficient use of resources, rather than being correct. For example, if a word is written on the board or on a table top chart, the expectation is that you spell it correctly.
c) Using praise and feedback to focus on the effective use of strategies and previous knowledge, rather than always on correct spelling.
d) Ensure that marking is targeted and enables children to develop their spelling through responding.
We need to teach spelling better because it is an entitlement for children, but also because it can be fascinating, rewarding, engaging, challenging, scintillating – all words I wouldn’t choose to use if I wasn’t confident about spelling them.
Browse our round-up of spelling games.
