Teaching spelling exploring commonsense strategies and best practices (2014)

Teaching Spelling: Exploring commonsense strategies and best practices equips teachers with the vital knowledge and skills needed to help their students become proficient writers and spellers. Peter Westwood provides a very clear and concise account of the important skills and processes that underpin accurate spelling, and he describes in very practical terms, many evidencebased strategies and methods that teachers can use to help all students become confident, capable and independent spellers. The book also addresses the purposes of various forms of assessment of spelling skills, to guide teaching and planning.

[...]... its various forms • Best practice is reflected in teaching approaches that stress the logic and rationality behind the spelling of most English words, not in approaches that imply spelling patterns are entirely random and must therefore be memorized by rote • The teaching of spelling should be part of a much broader study of the English language, in both oral and written forms Online and print resources... 1970 to 1990, when the teaching of spelling was neglected And when they later trained as teachers, their colleges and universities devoted little or no time to pedagogy related to such basic skills instruction (Manning and Tibshraeny, 2013) Newspaper and other media reports frequently express concern about falling standards of spelling in our schools and this includes teachers’ own spelling (e.g., Alphonso,... master language conventions (spelling and punctuation) And in each state in the US published standards now contain much more detail of what students are expected to achieve in spelling at various grade levels (e.g., MDE, 2010; OSPI Washington, 2010) The aim of this book is to provide teachers and parents with information that is relevant to improving spelling standards, and also for assisting those... in detail why teaching students to spell is indeed still vitally important; and she suggests that research-based approaches are the most effective This view is fully supported by Jones (2009) and Leipzig (2000) who recommend teaching spelling as an essential aspect of learning about language Teaching 17 spelling also fully supports underlying knowledge and skills required in reading and vocabulary... by engaging in daily writing and being exposed to print Formal instruction in spelling and phonics became unfashionable Surveys in Britain and Australia added to the perception of poor spelling standards It was found from test results that too many students in both countries were failing to achieve minimum standards in spelling It was even reported that the accuracy of spelling of some teachers left... given up on spelling? ’ Do our schools still teach spelling? The importance placed by schools on the teaching of spelling has varied over the years Traditionally—until the mid-1970s—primary schools almost always devoted specific time and attention to teaching and testing of spelling within the weekly classroom programme This tradition most often involved the children memorizing a weekly spelling list... difficulty becoming proficient spellers Best practices • Accurate spelling is still very important The teaching of spelling should no longer be placed on the back burner and virtually ignored 24 • The evidence is that spelling skills need to be explicitly taught, beginning in the kindergarten with a focus on developing phonological skills, and extending on through the primary and secondary years to include... concerning both students and teachers In response to these concerns, revisions to the National Curriculum in Britain now include clearly stated standards for spelling at various age levels; and students’ spelling ability is formally tested at Key Stage 2 Similarly, the new Australian Curriculum has given due importance to the teaching and testing of spelling in both primary and secondary schools Under... of the alphabet and to note subtle differences in spelling patterns A learner must be able to see and remember these differences and apply them when writing According to Puranik, Lonigan and Kim (2011), spelling may be regarded as a developmental skill that begins in preschool and incorporates early letter recognition, letter formation and print knowledge As long ago as 1949, Hudson and Toler confirmed... schools still make excuses for not providing 15 minutes a day of direct and systematic instruction in spelling And more than 60 per cent of the teachers surveyed by Fresch (2003) still relied almost entirely on published basal spelling programmes for their curriculum content, and 21 were not overly confident in how best to teach spelling strategies A common weakness of published programmes is that often . Publication Data Westwood, Peter S. Teaching spelling : exploring commonsense strategies and best practices / Peter Westwood. pages cm English language Orthography and spelling Study and teaching. I.Title. LB1574.W47. Needs, 2011, now in its sixth edition, and Inclusive and Adaptive Teaching, 2013. 3 Teaching Spelling Exploring commonsense strategies and best practices Peter Westwood 4 First published 2014 by. Teaching Spelling Teaching Spelling: Exploring commonsense strategies and best practices equips teachers with the vital knowledge and skills needed to help their students become proficient writers and