Spelling

Spelling is a highly complex task that is

gradually mastered over a period of time as an
individual becomes acquainted with the properties
and purposes of written language. Spelling involves
the use of strategies, which may vary according to
the words being attempted and the knowledge that
the writer has acquired through experiences with
words.
Faye Bolton & Diane Snowball

"My experience has been that teachers who have the strongest
reading-writing classrooms turn out the best spellers."
-Regie Routman

Richard Gentry (1982) described the developmental stages learners go through in learning to
spell as:

1. Prephonemic Spelling. Children scribble, form letters, and string letters together but
with no awareness that letters represent phonemes or speech sounds. Children can,
however, create meaningful messages through their exploration. Prephonemic spelling is
typical of preschoolers and beginning kindergartners.

2. Early Phonemic Spelling. There is a limited attempt to represent phonemes with letters
(i.e., using one or two letters for a word—"m" for "my" or "nt" for "night"). This stage is
typical of many kindergartners and beginning first-grade children.

3. Phonetic Spelling. The child uses letters for phonemes (i.e., "lik" for "like" or “brthr" for
"brother"). The child represents most phonemes, understands the concept of a word, but
may not quite be reading fluently yet. Many ending kindergartners and beginning first-
graders are at this stage.

4. Transitional spelling. In this stage, children are internalizing information about

spelling patterns. The words they write look like English words. For example, the child may
write "skool" for "school" and "happe" for "happy." Rules are not always employed
correctly. With continued reading and writing practice, children integrate more spelling
rules and patterns. This stage usually includes first through third-grade children.

5. Standard spelling. At this stage, children spell most words correctly. This stage
usually occurs by the middle to the end of third grade or in fourth grade. Children are
ready to learn to spell homonyms, contractions, and irregular spellings and to internalize
the rules that govern spelling.
 What Good Spellers Do

• Read a lot and enjoy reading

• Are committed writers
• Have a fascination with words
• Use what they already know about words to figure out new
words
• View spelling as a mostly logical system that makes sense
• Integrate sound, visual, and meaning knowledge
• Use a variety of strategies, including utilizing relevant
resources
• Care about correct spelling and self-monitor (are on the
lookout for errors)
• Assume responsibility for proofreading and editing
• Take pride in doing their best work
 What teaching strategies will help create and
support an effective spelling program?
ˆ Understand and support children as they invent spellings for words they may not have
yet learned to spell. Inventing spellings allows children to engage in thinking about
words and to demonstrate their acquired skills.

ˆ Teach spelling as part of the whole curriculum. Capitalize on opportunities to have

children write and spell in situations other than the spelling lesson, such as in math,
science, and social studies lessons.

ˆ Have children write frequently. Children invent and refine spelling by using the skills
they acquire when they write. Spelling practice occurs through free writing, such as
labels, lists, signs, plans, stories, songs, recipes, and letters. It is important to
remember to make the writing activity purposeful.

ˆ Adjust expectations for correctness, memorization, and writing mechanics to fit the
children's level of development and to make allowances for inexperience and mistakes.

ˆ Respond to children's writing in ways that help them discover more about spelling. In
the response (or feedback), build interest in words, make word study fun, answer
questions about spelling, and teach spelling skills. It is important to help young writers
develop a positive spelling consciousness.

Teaching Process Spelling

 Invented Spelling
Donald Richgels from Northern Illinois University discusses what invented spelling is and isn't,
and presents ways to support this beginning effort.

What Invented Spelling Is

Invented spelling is writing.

When children use invented spelling, they are using writing to communicate. They have many
of the same purposes for writing that adults have. In the example below, 5-year-old Carrie
used invented spelling to write a very important, personal message to her brother (I want to
play with you, Ted. Why won't you let me? Love Carrie)

Carrie
IYTU Love
PLA
YF
TED
YrOTULTME

Invented spelling is spelling!

Inventive spellers have discovered a system that is based on the same principles as
conventional spelling (letters stand for sounds). What they do not yet know are the fine points
of how their spelling system differs from the conventional spelling system that you and I use.
Eventually, they will learn the conventional system, but they have already learned the most
important thing—what spelling is all about.

Invented spelling is phonics in use.

Inventive spellers discover the use of phonics on their own. They learn the names of the
letters of the alphabet; they begin to pay attention to sounds in words and to sounds in the
names of letters; and they put those two discoveries together. (If "mmmmmm" is in the word
milk and in the name of the letter "M," then maybe the letter "M" can be used to write the word
milk.)

Invented spelling is a companion of early reading.

Children who write by paying attention to letters and sounds in their writing also begin to pay
attention to letters and sounds in other people's writing. For example, in the same week that
Carrie wrote the message to Ted, she was looking at a Life magazine. She asked what L-I-F-
E spelled. When a grown-up told her, she said, "I thought so, but why does it have an "E" at
the end?" This shows that she had been applying her idea of phonics (that letters are in words
because they stand for sounds in words) to her reading.
 What Invented Spelling Is Not

Invented spelling is not the first writing most children do.

Although invented spelling appears before conventional spelling, there are many steps in
writing development that occur before invented spelling. Earlier, for example, children may
write with scribbles, with mock letters, and with real letters that they do not combine into
words or do not associate with sounds in any systematic way. (Inventive spellers may also
use these earlier strategies for some writing tasks, especially if the task is very demanding.)
All these writing strategies deserve our understanding and support.

Invented spelling is not laziness.

Inventive spellers work diligently at their writing. They carefully analyze the words they want to
write. They listen for individual sounds in words, usually in the correct sequence; they review
the letters they know, looking for one that can represent the sound they have isolate; and then
they write the letter. Then they repeat these steps, moving on to other sounds in a word and
to other words in their message.

Invented spelling is not habit forming.

Inventive spellers are not learning bad habits. They do not memorize their inventive spellings.
They do the diligent sound-by-sound analysis described above each time they write a word.
Later, when they come to the point of using memory for how words look, they have plenty of
conventional spelling models in books and in other print all around them (signs, T-shirts, TV
screens, etc.)

Invented spelling is not every child's preferred way of writing.

Some children do not go through all the stages of invented spelling before becoming
conventional spellers. Inventive spellers use what they hear in words and what they know
about letter sounds. Some children are inclined right from the beginning to depend instead on
how words look. Other children are perfectionists. They want to be right. They may frequently
ask for help with spelling. Sometimes these children can be encouraged to make invented-
spelling discoveries, to risk being unconventional. If they can learn to use sound and letter
knowledge and to depend on themselves at least some of the time, then the risk-taking will
have been worthwhile.
 How to Support Children's Invented Spelling

Observe and reinforce.

Watch and listen to children when they read and write. Do they know the names of many
letters of the alphabet? Do they comment about and ask about sounds in words that they see
in books and elsewhere? If so, they may be ready for your reinforcing comments. For
example, point out the first letter in the title of Make Way for Ducklings. Say, "That's an M.
Make begins with "M," 'mmmmm', doesn't it?"

Treat early writers as you would treat early speakers.

You would not criticize and correct a beginning talker who has invented a two-year-old's
system for making sentences ("All gone dog" or "Daddy shoes"). Do not criticize and correct
a beginning writer who has invented a spelling system different from yours.

Encourage children to try their own spellings.

If you know children know the names of most of the letters of the alphabet, and you have
heard them talk about sounds in words, then occasionally refuse to tell them how to spell a
word. Say, "I think you can spell that word yourself. Pay attention to the sounds in mosquito
and think about the letters you could use." Carrie spelled mosquito bites after first asking how
to spell it and being encouraged in this way to spell it herself.

Write with children.

Be a good example by modeling for children. When you are writing, children want to join in.
Then you have opportunities to do the observing and give the support described here. Carrie
did a drawing and some writing while her father was writing a letter to a friend. She asked if
she could write a letter too and he said, "Sure."

Choose your words carefully.

Use "I" language rather than "right-and-wrong" language. When a child writes S-R-E for sorry
say, "That's good spelling-I can read that?" rather than, "That's good, but it is not right. I
should be S-O-R-R-Y." Point out that you are aware of what the child's spelling shows about
his or her stage of development. Say, "Good for you. I can see that you have figured out what
letter goes with "sss" in sorry."
 Sound – Symbol
Teach students the sound-symbol match of consonants and short vowels in a writing/
spelling format. Use the McCracken method in Spelling through Phonics as a way to
introduce students to the process of spelling.

In first grade, students should be taught to divide their chalkboards into four parts.

The teacher pronounces (dictates) words that illustrate the focused lesson. Students write
each of the four words in the specified quadrant, and then they erase the words in the order
specified by the teacher. (This procedure promotes a reading/searching task.) The lessons
move in the following progression.

Initial consonants

Initial and final consonants

Short vowel in three-letter words

Another short vowel in three-letter words

Mixture of three-letter words containing those two short vowels

Third short vowel in three-letter words

Mixture of three-letter words containing those three short vowels

And so on………
The progression continues until all the short vowels have been taught. At this point, or
perhaps earlier, the teaching/practicing can also include:

Initial "l" blends in four-letter short-vowel words

Initial "r" blends in four-letter short-vowel words

Initial "s" blends in four-letter short-vowel words

Initial digraphs (ch, sh, and th) in four-letter short-vowel words

Four- and five-letter examples using initial and/or final blends and digraphs

By the end of first grade, students who learn this process of demonstrating their knowledge of
the very reliable consonants and short vowels will be able to spell more than three hundred
words.

Please keep in mind these tenets about the short-vowel process approach.

• There is no need to memorize short-vowel words where every letter is

heard. Therefore, do not send these words home for memorization.

• Include some examples of the learned pattern on the weekly test. These
examples will not have been memorized, but they may have been rehearsed
during the process dictation practice.
 Generalizations
Teach the generalizations that are most useful to spellers. Some educators believe that there
are no generalizations beyond the short-vowel patterns and "heard" consonants that can be
taught. In reality, there are some helpful ways of grouping words for spelling consideration
that will help students learn the thousands of words within our language.

Blake and Evans in Elementary English, Volume 47, Number 2, stated:

"One view for teaching spelling is that each word must be memorized separately. Another
view is that children should be taught methods which help them learn a system in spelling
words without having to commit each of the many thousands of words to memory individually.
As part of the process, there are various rules which aid the speller. These rules state various
generalizations, which give clues as to how a word is conventionally spelled. By knowing a
given rule, a child may have a good clue as to how a word is spelled. However, English
spelling is extremely complex. Many exceptions are encountered for almost any rule. These
exceptions are seldom haphazard, but usually follow other rules. However, a child would have
to learn an extremely large number of rules if he were to rely on them. Consequently, a
compromise must be made between learning enough rules to give a system for spelling, but
not so many that the learning of such rules becomes a burdensome task. Thus, the selection
of which rules are most useful (i.e., those that do not require too many subrules to explain the
exceptions and which are applicable to a large number of words) puzzles both teachers and
researchers.”

Rules with Wide Application

These rules have been validated by research as having wide application. Other rules may
exist which may be more helpful and should be used instead, if deemed appropriate.

1. Words ending in "silent" e

a. A one-syllable word in which the vowel has the long-vowel sound followed by a
consonant sound often ends with a "silent" e (examples: make, write, hole, use).
This rule is generally true for the final syllable of a polysyllabic word (examples:
mistake, invite, before, perfume). Words with some other vowel sound usually do not
end in a "silent" e (examples: hit, hat, help).

b. In some one-syllable words or in some final syllables, the long-vowel sound is

sometimes spelled by a combination of two vowels without a final "silent" e
(examples: feed, coat, unload, repeat).

2. Spelling the i sounds as i or y

a. When the sound, either long or short, comes at the beginning or in the middle of a
word or final syllable, the letter i is usually the correct letter to use (examples: ice,
advice, bring, admit). This rule does have two exceptions: system, mystery.

b. When the i sound, long or short, comes at the end of the word, it is usually spelled
with a y (examples: fry, why, defy, rely, ready, many, very).
3. Spelling the ai sound as ai or ay

a. When the long a sound occurs in the medial part of a word, it usually is spelled ai
(examples: train, bait, tail, retain, explain, entertainment).

b. When this sound occurs at the end of a word, it is usually spelled ay (examples: day,
hay, bay, pay, anyway, holiday).

4. Words ending in ful

a. If the ful is a suffix, it is spelled with one l (examples: beautiful, powerful, wonderful,
graceful, careful).

5. Spelling the k sound as c or k

a. The k sound is generally spelled with a c before the vowel a, o, and u (examples:
camel, company, custom, scale, scare, scuffle, delicate, acorn, difficult).

b. The k sound is usually with a k before the vowels e and i (examples: kettle, kid, sketch,
skill, blanket, unkind).

c. When the k sound follows a long vowel sound, the k is usually spelled with a k
(examples: awake, duke, hike, joke, creek, leak, soak, crook).

6. Spelling the Q followed by u. In English words, q is always followed by u

7. Adding suffixes to words ending in y

a. When final y is preceded by a consonant, the y is usually changed to i before adding

any suffix that does not begin with i (examples: relied, reliable). When the suffix begins
with i, the y does not change (example: relying).

b. When y is preceded by a vowel, the y does not change when adding a suffix
(examples: played, staying).

c. Another way of saying the above two points is that when adding a suffix, change y to i
except when: (1) y is preceded by a vowel; (2) the suffix begins with i.

d. Exception: When adjectives of one syllable end in y, retain the y before ly and ness
(examples: spryly, dryness).

e. In one study, this generalization applied to about 80 words of the 1600 studied, and
only 3 exceptions were noted.

8. Adding suffixes to words ending in "silent" e

a. If the suffix begins with a consonant, generally retain the "silent" e (examples: lonely,
settlement).

b. If it begins with a vowel, generally drop the "silent" e (examples: lovable, moving,
movable, caring, arguing, guidance).
 c. Exception: Words that end in ce and ge generally reverse these two rules when the
suffix begins with a or o (examples: noticeable, changeable, courageous; also in a
few other words such as dyeing, argument, duly, truly, wholly, judgement).

d. One study showed that these rules applied to 300 of 1600 words studied, There were
only three exceptions on the list.

9. Doubling the final consonant when adding suffixes

a. Words ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel usually double the
final consonant before adding the suffix (examples: chopped, setting.). This rule also
applies to longer words when the last syllable is accented (example: forgotten).

b. One study showed that this rule applied to 74 of 1600 words studied. There were four
exceptions, three of which ended in the letter x, which was not doubled.

10. There are seven ways to form plurals:

a. By adding s (Most words follow this rule.)

b. By adding es when the pronunciation requires it, such as s, ss, ch, sh, x

c. By changing y to i and adding es when the final y is preceded by a consonant (This

rule is the same aforementioned rule (#7) for adding a suffix to words ending in y.)

d. By changing final f or fe to v and adding es (examples: scarves, calves)

e. By changing the internal vowels, as in foot, tooth, mouse, man

f. A few words are spelled the same in both singular and plural (examples: deer, sheep).

g. A few words change the letters ending the word to form the plural (examples: datum-
data, radius-radii, gymnasium-gymnasia, phenomenon-phenomena, criterion-criteria).
These words are of foreign derivation and are not encountered greatly by elementary-
school children.

h. One study showed that of the 1600 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade words studied, there
were 767 applications of these generalizations and 31 exceptions. These exceptions
included such words as scarf and tooth.

11. Rules for i before e

a. The vowel i comes before e except after c and in such words that have a long-a sound
as neighbor and weigh. (Exceptions: either, neither, foreign, their, height, leisure,
weird, seize) Some teachers use sentences to display these exceptions. "Neither is it
weird for foreigners to seize leisure, either." or "Neither has leisure to seize the weird
thing."

b. In Fitzgerald's basic list of 2650 words, 83 contain the ie and ei combinations; only
eight are exceptions to the rule.
12. Abbreviations are followed by a period.

13. Proper nouns and adjectives formed from proper nouns begin with a capital letter.

14. Adding the suffix ly

a. Most words add the suffix ly without change in the base word.

b. The exception occurs when a word ends in y or le.

(1) If the word ends in y, change y to I and add ly (examples: busily, luckily). This rule
is actually the aforementioned rule (#7) for adding suffixes to words ending in y.
(2) If the word ends in le, drop the le and add ly (examples: capably, respectably).

Not all children need to learn these rules, but teachers do. A clear understanding of the rules
will make it possible to diagnose professionally a child's spelling needs and to select and
recognize those rules which will be helpful.

When children learn spelling rules, they should probably learn them inductively, with the help
of the teacher. A rule taught by rote usually is one of little value to a child as he will seldom
apply it. Rules cannot be considered a central approach to the spelling problem, but if they
are approached with reasonableness and are derived inductively, they are of advantage to
many learners.

Spelling Generalizations with Decoding Generalizations

Integrate your teaching of spelling generalizations with the decoding generalizations you are
teaching in reading. Teach phonetic and structural analysis as a way to read and write more
efficiently. This means that students will learn to read and spell variant-vowel words or multi-
syllable words at the same time. Include the study of Greek and Latin roots as a way to further
vocabulary knowledge and spelling ability.

Multi-syllable Word Study

McCracken has developed a list of multi-syllable words which will help students begin the
process of "chunking" words for spelling and reading success.

Examples:
solid transfer contrast forbid until during charming
party music daring fever fifty habit format
detect select moment whisper shadow itself carpet
 Spelling Book
The words in the spelling book have been grouped by process generalization, and many
useful high-frequency words are included. There may be instances where the connections of
words in the spelling book provide a pertinent list or partial list. Feel encouraged to substitute
lists or words if you want to personalize the spelling sequence for your students.

Spalding
The Spalding program begins by teaching a set of phoneme-letter units that are called
phonograms. There are seventy phonograms which include the letters of the alphabet plus
some multiple-letter units like ea and igh. The letters represent minimal speech units
(phonemes), not blends. Learning the phonograms is a straightforward, paired-associates
learning task that forms links between the particular phonemes, particular letters, and
particular motor/writing movement. In actuality, Spalding is a combined phonics, spelling, and
handwriting process that helps the student to weave these components into his/her reading
and writing strategies.

Increasing Visual Memory of Conventional Print

1. Recognize that most words will require visual-memory training.
Once students know the process of spelling short-vowel words, all other instruction and
practice will involve some visual memory (product spelling) because long-vowel words,
variant-vowel words, and words with silent consonants contain letters that are not heard or
are depicted in a variety of ways.

2. Choose words for memory practice that students need to know for their writing.
These words can be studied and tested by the entire class or by spelling buddies.
Consider which words on Fry's lists of "Instant Words" need instruction. (Words like "with,"
"at," "in," and "them" are regular short-vowel words and do not need instruction if the
McCracken or alternate version of practicing short-vowel words is being used.) The
Instant Word lists appeared in The Reading Teacher, Volume 34, Issue 3 (1980). Dr Fry
reminded us that one half of all written English is composed of the first hundred "instant
words."

3. Teach the look-cover-write-check method of learning words.

This direct teaching/learning method can be useful if it is applied to
• high-frequency words,
• irregular words (not short-vowel words), and
• misspelled words (determined by a pretest or writing sample).
4. Employ multi-sensory techniques to help increase memory.
Those techniques include screen-wire templates and oral recitation of letters as they are
being written.

5. Develop word banks with students that depict words they need often.
The constant exposure to these words will help memory.

6. Use the pretest-study-test method.

This approach allows students to be very strategic in focusing their study time, and it alerts
the teacher about the difficulty level of the week's words.

Have the students write the pronounced words and then write them again in the next
column by listening to the letter-by-letter dictation. Ask the students to compare the two
spellings and write the words that were misspelled on the pretest a third time. This third
column of words forms the student's study list for the week.

7. Consider organizing your students for individual practice and testing of words.
Decide whether the individual lists will comprise the entire list or a portion of the list.
Decide also if the procedure will be utilized every week or only periodically. Students self-
determine their words with teacher assistance by looking at words being missed in their
writing. They learn the words by practicing with a buddy who pronounces the words. They
extend the same practice and testing help to their buddy.

8. Teach the students an efficient, multi-modality study method.

Most spelling programs promote the method established by Ernest Horn.

1. Look at the word.

2. Close your eyes and visualize the word as you say the letters.
3. Check to see if you were right. (If not, begin again at step 1.)
4. Cover the word and write it.
5. Check to see if you were right. (If not, begin again at step 1.)
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 two more times.

9. Teach the students to distinguish between homonyms and to decide from the
content which homonym is called for.
Miscue of homonyms is the cause of many errors in spelling and, therefore, warrants
study.
 Developing Interest
Teach students that spelling is a courtesy to the reader. It helps the reader understand
and give full value to the writing. Show students an early draft of writing and demonstrate how
the wonderful use of words is appreciated and can be polished in the editing stage. Too early
attention to spelling can limit vocabulary choice.

Applaud efforts to use the best word possible and then initiate efforts to move the word
toward conventional spelling. This acknowledgement can be done informally with praise
statements and/or more formally with grades or certificates. You may be able to use the poem
"Big" by Dorothy Aldis from Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young, selected by Jack
Prelutsky.

Now I can catch and throw a ball

And spell
Cat, Dog,
And Pig.
I have finished being small
And started
Being BIG!

Ask students what words are they able to spell now that they are "big."
 The Instant Words
First Hundred

First 25 Second 25 Third 25 Fourth 25

Group 1a Group 1b Group 1c Group 1d

the or will number

of one up no
and had other way
a by about could
to word out people

in but many my
is not then than
you what them first
that all these water
it were so been

he we some call
was when her who
for your would oil
on can make now
are said like find

as there him long

with use into down
his an time day
they each has did
I which look get

at she two come

be do more made
this how write may
have their go part
from if see over

Common Suffixes: s, ing, ed

 The Instant Words
Second Hundred

First 25 Second 25 Third 25 Fourth 25

Group 2a Group 2b Group 2c Group 2d

new great put kind

sound where end hand
take help does picture
only through another again
little much well change

work before large off

know line must play
place right big spell
year too even air
live mean such away

me old because animal

back any turn house
give same here point
most tell ask page
very boy why letter

after follow went mother

thing came men answer
our want read found
just show need study
name also land still

good around different learn

sentence form home should
man three us America
think small move world
say set try high

Common Suffixes: s, ing, ed, er, ly, est

 The Instant Words
Third Hundred

First 25 Second 25 Third 25 Fourth 25

Group 3a Group 3b Group 3c Group 3d

every left until idea

near don't children enough
add few side eat
food while feet face
between along car watch

own might mile far

below close night Indian
country something walk real
plan seem white almost
last next sea let

school hard began above

father open grow girl
keep example took sometimes
tree begin river mountain
never life four cut

start always carry young

city those state talk
earth both once soon
eye paper book list
light together hear song

thought got stop leave

head group without family
under often second ` body
story run` late music
saw important miss color

Common Suffixes: s, ing, ed, er, ly, est

 Fry Instant Phrases and Short Sentences
These phrases are made from the first 100 words in the Fry Instant Word List. The Fry list of
100 words represent 50% of all the words children encounter in the elementary-school
reading.

The people So there you are. Give them to me.

Write it down. Out of the water Then we will go.
By the water A long time Now is the time.
Who will make it? We were here. An angry cat
You and I Have you seen it? May I go first?
What will they do? Could you go? Write your name.
He called me. One more time This is my cat.
We had their dog. We like to write. That dog is big.
What did they say? All day long Get on the bus.
When would you go? Into the water Two of us
No way It's about time. Did you see it?
A number of people The other people The first word
One or two Up in the air See the water.
How long are they? She said to go. As big as the first
More than the other Which way? But not for me
Come and get it. Each of us When will we go?
How many words? He has it. How did they get it?
Part of the time What are these? From here to there
This is a good day. If we were older Number two
Can you see? There was an old man. More people
Sit down. It's no use. Look up.
Now and then It may fall down. Go down.
But not me With his mom All or some
Go find her. At your house Did you like it?
Not now From my room A long way to go
Look for some people. It's been a long time. When did they go?
I like him. Will you be good? For some of you people
 Spelling Problem Words
Those who study children’s’ spelling errors and writing difficulties have repeatedly found that a
relatively small number of words make up a large percentage of all spelling errors. Many
commonly misspelled words are presented in this “Spelling Demons” list. Other lists, such as
homophones, Instant Words, and subject matter words, can also be used as spelling lists.

dairy hour quarter teacher vacation

dear house quit tear very
decorate instead quite terrible wear
didn't knew raise Thanksgiving weather
doctor know read their weigh
does laid receive there were
early latter received they we're
Easter lessons remember though when
easy letter right thought where
enough little rough through which
every loose route tired white
everybody loving said together whole
favorite making Santa Claus tomorrow women
February many Saturday tonight would
fierce maybe says too write
first minute school toys writing
football morning schoolhouse train write
forty mother several traveling you
fourth name shoes trouble your
Friday neither since truly you're
friend nice skiing Tuesday
fuel none skis two
getting o'clock some until
goes off something used
grade often sometime
guard once soon
half party straight
Halloween peace studying
handkerchief people sugar
haven't piece summer
having played Sunday
hear plays suppose
heard please sure
height poison surely
hello practice surprise
here pretty surrounded
hospital principal swimming
 Which Rimes Do You Teach First?
Suggested Teaching Order

Rimes Examples
-ay jay say pay day play
-ill hill Bill will fill spill
-ip ship dip tip skip trip
-at cat fat bat rat sat
-am ham jam dam ram Sam
-ag bag rag tag wag sag
-ack back sack Jack black track
-ank bank sank tank blank drank
-ick sick Dick pick quick chick
-ell bell sell fell tell yell
-ot pot not hot dot got
-ing ring sing king wing thing
-ap cap map tap clap trap
-unk sunk junk bunk flunk skunk
-ail pail jail nail sail tail
-ain rain pain main chain plain
-eed feed seed weed need freed
-y my by dry try fly
-out pout trout scout shout spout
-ug rug bug hug dug tug
-op mop cop pop top hop
-in pin tin win chin thin
-an pan man ran tan Dan
-est best nest pest rest test
-ink pink sink rink link drink
-ow low slow grow show snow
-ew new few chew grew blew
-ore more sore tore store score
-ed bed red fed led Ted
-ab cab dad jab lab crab
-ob cob job rob Bob knob
-ock sock rock lock dock block
-ake cake lake make take brake
-ine line nine pine fine shine
-ight knight light right night fight
-im swim him Kim rim brim
-uck duck luck suck truck buck
-um gum bum hum drum plum
Resources for Developing Spelling Strategies
The following can be used to develop strategies in a print-rich environment that provides
students with lots of opportunities for reading, writing, and collaboration.

Have-a-Go
This instructional technique adapted from Australia (Jo-Ann Parry and David Hornsby, Write
On: A Conference Approach to Writing) is based on the concept that children, like adults, can
usually identify a misspelled word even if they cannot spell it correctly. After choosing
misspelled words from their writing, students attempt to "have-a-go" at standard spellings until
they can meet with a teacher who helps them identify/confirm their spelling decision and
guides their thinking throughout the process.

Peer Help

Students will often ask a peer when they don't know how to spell a word and have tried
several sources. Students quickly learn who the good spellers are and seek them out. We
need to encourage collaboration as an important spelling strategy.

Minilessons

This is direct instruction through modeling/demonstration to provide opportunities for student

observation, participation, and practice. The lessons are based on the instructional needs of
the students. They may occur as whole class or one-to-one when the teacher conferences
with a child.

Personal Dictionary

Once a student has the standard spelling of a word, the word may be recorded into his/her
personal dictionary. Students add words they want to spell and that teachers expect them to
spell. High-frequency words may also be recorded. Encourage the students to keep the
dictionary handy while writing to be used as a reference.

Wall Charts/Word Walls

Wall charts are lists and/or charts compiled to go along with a particular topic, theme, rule,
generalization, phonograph, etc. These lists are especially useful in the primary grades
where students do not yet have a large core of words they can spell. As a rule is taught or
generated through a mini-lesson, a chart may be started. After the chart is posted, the
children can be encouraged to continue to add words they find.

Word walls display high-frequency words, words that the children tend to misspell, or words
that the children may need to reference in their writing. These words do not need to follow a
spelling pattern. One idea is to put a symbol, such as a helping hand, next to words that can
help students spell many other words, and repeatedly tell and show them, "If you know (this
word), then you also know (that word)."
Spelling Big Books

After a chart is taken down from the wall, and corrections have been made, a copy can be
prepared as a page for a class Spelling Big Book. This book can help reinforce the
minilessons taught and be a valuable resource for the students. A table of contents can be
added to the big book.

Spelling Games

Spelling games, whether they are commercial, teacher-made, computer-generated, or

student-made, can be used to reinforce and develop standard spelling in an informal setting.

Conferencing

A teacher can reinforce standard spelling patterns or rules while conferencing with individuals
or small groups of students as part of the writing process.

Spell check

Computer users know how helpful the spell-check features is. They also know how necessary
it is to have some background spelling knowledge to get the word close enough for help,
close enough to determine the accuracy of one of the choices, and close enough to determine
that the original word is indeed accurate, just not within the spell-check word bank.
 Have - A - Go
Copy 1st 2nd Standard
Word Try Try Spelling
 Professional Resources:
Bean, Wendy, & Bouffler, Chrystine. Spell by Writing. Heinemann.

Gentry, J., Spel is a Four Letter Word. Heinemann.

Gentry, J., & Gillet, Jean Wallace. Teaching Kids to Spell. Heinemann

Mccracken, Robert & Marlene. Spelling Through Phonics. Pegus.

Parry, Jo-Ann, & Hornsby, David. Write On: a Conference Approach to

Writing. Heinemann.

Routman, Regie. Conversations. Heinemann.

Routman, Regie, Invitations. Heinemann.

Sitton, Rebecca, & Forest, Robert. The Quick-Word Handbook for

Everyday Writers. Curriculum Associates.