Why Teach Spelling? Importance, Strategies, and Impact on Learning

1. Why teach spelling?

2. Precision Personalisation Appropriate pedagogical experiences Daily Instruction Assessment Data Readiness to learn Precision Building Leadership Capacity Personalisation MoralPurpose Professional Learning Professional Learning Focused daily learning of teachers; individually and collectively ‘Breakthrough Framework’ Breakthrough- Fullan,Hill & Crevola

3. Walk and Talk………Is spelling important? Walk and talk

4. What is a ‘good’ speller? Record 3 characteristics.

5. What is a good speller? A good speller is not necessarily someone who spells all words correctly. • Good spellers take risks and attempt new words. • Good spellers use different strategies to try words as they are writing. • Good spellers use resources like dictionaries and word lists. • Good spellers are interested in words. • Good spellers are aware that their writing needs to be easily read by others.

6. What is a good speller? A good speller is not necessarily someone who spells all words correctly. • Good spellers read often and enjoy reading. • Good spellers use what they already know about words to figure out new words. • Good spellers assume responsibility for proofreading and editing. • Good spellers integrate sound, visual and meaning knowledge.

7. Spelling beliefs • Revise • 1 – 2 – 4 • Turn and talk…what are the implications for our teaching? • Share

8. Writing samples One day I went to daycuer and I brot two benebabs. One was a rabit and one was a duk. I poot them in my bacpac and then when I cam bac to my bacpac they wergon. I looktevrewer. The techerpoot up a sin a bat my benebabs. Thaywermising. I had a cat. I like my cat. My cat is fat. My cat is good. Who would you rather teach?

9. What is the difference between a ‘good’ speller and a ‘safe’ speller?Turn and talk

10. Jasper year 3 working on wordsElla year 5 working on words

12. What is the difference between a ‘good’ speller and a ‘safe’ speller?Turn and talk

13. Learning spelling separately from writing is like learning music theory without playing music. What’s the point and where’s the enjoyment?

14. Research tells us… • Good spellers are usually good readers and writers. • Children move through predictable, developmental stages in spelling. • Children use invented spelling to explore their understanding of spelling rules and patterns. These ‘errors’ inform our teaching. • Helping a child to become a competent reader and writer must take priority over helping him to become a proficient speller. • Students learn more about words through an inquiry approach than a one-size-fits-all memorisation process. Summary from Gentry & Gillet (1993)

15. What does this look like in reality? How does it work??Take home question: How can you support all students to be ‘good’ spellers?