Children progress through spelling stages on their literacy journey. J. Richard Gentry lists these five stages of development: Stage 1 – Precommunicative Stage 2 – Semiphonetic Stage 3 – Phonetic Stage 4 – Transitional Stage 5 – Conventional Follow this link to read more about these developmental spelling stages. Kid Writing in the 21st Century, …
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Word Study
Invented Spelling
Invented spelling has become a dirty word in many circles. For this reason I prefer the following terms to describe this stage in a literacy learner’s life: temporary spelling developmental spelling sound spelling The practice of inventing spelling leads children to consciously try to hear the sounds in words so they can match letters to …
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Developmental Spelling Inventory
J. Richard Gentry developed a developmental spelling inventory, sometimes called the “monster test”, which is an easy way to determine a child’s developmental spelling stage. It does not give as detailed information about students’ phonics development as the Words Their Way spelling inventories do, but it’s a quick and efficient way to get some valuable information, especially with …
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Personal Word Wall
Word walls are great tools for teaching vocabulary, high-frequency words, and word patterns. It is often a challenge to get students to use these tools, however. “Word Wall Bobs” provide great opportunities for students to have repeated exposure to the words on our word walls and for encouraging students to use them independently. Some children …
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Elkonin Sound Boxes
I have found this technique to be extremely effective with my young spellers who have not developed full phonemic awareness. It helps them train their ears to hear each part of a word and eventually be able to represent each sound with a written letter. View a slide show demo of sound boxes. Draw a …
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Word Family Cards (Downloadable Tool)
I recently presented a workshop on spelling strategies to some 1st and 2nd grade teachers in Dallas and Kansas City. Part of the discussion focused on the importance of using onset and rimes in our word study instruction. A few teachers asked for a copy of my word family cards, so I decided they might …
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Onsets and Rimes / Phonograms / Word Families
Follow the link at the bottom of this post for some FREE downloadable word family cards that you can use to help your primary students learn some basic phonics patterns. First, a quick review: What are onsets and rimes? An onset is the consonant(s) before the vowel(s) in a syllable:/m/ in mind /str/ in streetNot all …
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But how do you spell…?
If you teach young children, you probably hear this question on an almost-daily basis. I am often asked by teachers, “What do you do when children refuse to write unless they know the correct spelling?” This is a really important question that I will attempt to answer here. First, let me remind you of the …
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