I really enjoyed reading this article. Before this, I did not realize just how important spelling is and how spelling, reading, and writing are interrelated. Through reading this article I learned that spelling is a developmental process that slowly evolves over time.
Students normally progress through at least three stages during first and second grade. The first stage is the semi-phonetic stage. This is where children normally spell using only the consonant sounds one-syllable words. The next stage is letter-name or phonetic. In this stage students begin to represent vowels in their spelling. Students typically try to sound out the word and use one sound for one letter. The last stage is within-word pattern and many first and most second graders progress into this stage. During this stage students begin to represent short vowels correctly.
After our class discussion on Tuesday, I thought that this article provided me with an even greater understanding of differentiated spelling instruction. I feel that this is so much more beneficial to students if they are able to work with words where they can understand the patterns within the word and successfully spell them. I really liked how the teacher in the article talked about her weekly schedule for spelling. On Monday there is a pretest with ten words. After the test students are able to self-correct their own test. I think this would help students identify and fix their own mistakes and help them to pay more attention to the mistakes they made. On Tuesday students sort their spelling words into patterns with guided teacher instruction and then students are to make their own cards and sort them at their desk. My favorite day was Wednesday when students got to play neat games using their spelling words. I gained some really creative and effective games for students, such as Bingo, Memory, and Racetrack. On Thursday the students partnered up for an oral spelling test with students calling out the spelling words for their partner to spell and then they switched roles. I also liked the idea of a “word hunt.” Students get to read a story that they are familiar with and find new words that fit into their spelling patterns for that week. This activity would allow students to identify these patterns in their reading and make connections between their spelling and reading. On Friday the weekly spelling test is given.
I was very impressed with how much improvement the students who were in the lower spelling group had made by the end of the year. This proves that differentiated spelling instruction is the best way to go to ensure that each student has a chance to be successful.
