What About Spelling Instruction?
The complete Oxford English Dictionary, the largest English-language
dictionary, contains some 290,000 entries with some 616,500 word forms.
(e.g. louse, lice, lousy) Of course, there are lots of slang and regional
words that are not included, and the big dictionary omits many proper
names, scientific and technical terms. Estimates of the total vocabulary
of English start at around three million words and go up from there
depending on whose research you're reading.
Of those, most experts in such things agree that approximately 200,000 words are in common use today. All of those are spelled with various
combinations of just 26 letters. How can we help our students gain insight into how those combinations work?
Effective spelling instruction requires purpose, practice, and information. Planned classroom writing activities provide both purpose and
practice. Information about words can be brought out during a writing conference, during a mini-lesson, or whenever a golden opportunity
arises that might interest a few or all of your students.
A writing conference is a perfect opportunity for providing spelling information on a one-to-one basis. When the content and organization
are complete, you can select a spelling concept or a misspelled word to focus on.
A mini-lesson may be planned or spontaneous. It may involve a few students or be of interest to the whole class. It may last two minutes,
or lead to an ongoing list of related words we find over a few weeks. Either the teacher or the students can initiate the investigation into
an interesting word or aspect of spelling that arises in the classroom. (Just why is it the Toronto Maple Leafs, anyway? This is the Golden
Rule. Harold Ballard had the gold … he owned the team, and he didn't like the sound of the Toronto Maple Leaves.)
Any activity in which students are using written language has the potential to increase their awareness of spelling. Engage the
students in various spelling experiences such as collecting and categorizing words, looking at spelling patterns, sharing spelling
strategies, solving spelling problems, playing spelling games, and learning about word origins and derivations.
Spelling can be a fascinating and worthwhile subject in its own right. Words have a history, a logic, and a capacity to interest and
engage our students. By drawing students' attention to words throughout the day, we can reinforce the idea that spelling is a natural part of writing activities.
During writing activities, look for opportunities to point out and develop spelling strategies such as:
1. Looking for spelling patterns like …
the same rhyming pattern: could would should
the same root: please pleasant pleasure
2. Making meaning connections like …
two twice twins
3. Breaking longer words into syllables like …
team / mate ir / re / sist / i / ble To / ron / to
4. Pronouncing tricky words slowly to hear all the
parts like …
clothes February probably
5. Learning patterns for building words by combining
roots, prefixes, and suffixes like …
place
replace
replaces
replaced
replacing
replaceable
irreplaceable
Keep your eyes out for interesting spelling challenges for
the students and for you.
Here's an easy one.
Which synonym for car contains all the vowels a, e, i, o, u?
Here's a hard one.
How many words can you think of that contain all of the vowels, a,e,i,o,u, and y, and in that order?
Answer in the next Jack's Corner.
Email me if you can't wait. info@learningthroughliteracy.com
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