A study determined if significant differences existed between the mean scores of students receiving formal spelling instruction when compared with scores of students who did not receive any instruction in spelling. Subjects, 50 first-grade students, were given either formal spelling instruction throughout the week for 6 weeks or received no formal…

The goal of this study was to determine if spelling instruction was more effective when the words presented followed a general spelling pattern or when the words were randomly chosen with no correlation to spelling generalizations. In this six-week study, the spelling performance on pre and post spelling tests of nine boys and seven girls in grade…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of learning spelling words in context on 17 students in a third grade classroom. The students ranged from low to high ability in spelling. To investigate whether or not practicing spelling words in context has an effect on the learning of those words, students began the school year…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a program of systematic instruction in proofreading would increase: (a) the accuracy of spelling, (b) the gross number of words used, and (c) the number of different words used in original compositions by fourth- and sixth-grade children. In addition, performance was examined in relation to family…

This report describes a program to enhance spelling word retention through the use of background music. The targeted population consisted of elementary students in three middle class communities located in the southwestern suburbs of Chicago. The problems for poor spelling retention were documented through data revealing the number of students…

In this study, written compositions were obtained from each of the elementary students during the four years of testing. The students were shown silent movies--thereby eliminating any possibility of providing spelling clues--and were then asked to write their compositions explaining how the movie made them feel or what they say in the movie. The…

A study compared the exclusive use of an electronic speller, the exclusive use of a personal spelling dictionary, as well as the use of a combination of the two, as tools for students to increase their consistent use of standard spelling. Subjects, 21 heterogeneously grouped fifth-grade students attending a suburban elementary school, completed a…

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a program based on the utilization of a synthetic multisensory modality of teaching spelling emphasizing dactylology and to test its effect on reading and spelling achievement. One hundred forty-eight second graders and 16 teachers from Bladen County, North Carolina, participated in the study.…

This action research project describes a program to increase the application of spelling skills in students' writing. The target population consisted of first grade students in a middle-class community in the northern suburb of a large metropolitan area. The problems of inadequate application of spelling skills to student writing were documented…

This research focuses on a program for improving spelling achievement through an integrated approach using high-frequency words. The targeted population consisted of a third grade class, a fourth grade special education resource class, a sixth grade language arts class, and an eighth grade language arts class. All classrooms were located in rural…

This project describes a program for increasing student retention and transfer of weekly spelling words across the curriculum. The targeted population consists of first, second, and third grade students in a middle class community located in the Northeast quadrant of Illinois. The problems of adequate transfer of previously taught spelling skills…

A teacher in a small Christian school noticed that many of her third grade students found the A Beka spelling drill rather tedious. Many Christian schools use the A Beka spelling curriculum with lessons based upon special phonetic sounds. The students are introduced to alphabetical order and dictionary skills. These skills seem appropriate and…

A study explored the effectiveness of adding a daily, structured practice session of weekly spelling words to the traditional pattern of pretesting on Monday, posttesting on Friday. Subjects, 28 second graders from the Grapeland Independent School District (Texas), were divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group paired up…

This report describes a program for improving students' spelling skills through the use of effective teaching strategies. Because the literature review of solutions named these categories: using various instructional strategies, moving away from simple memorization, and supporting students with freedom to take risks in spelling, these researchers…

Thirty-eight rural kindergarten students participated in this quasi-experimental study designed to assess the effect of employing daily, sequential phonemic awareness exercises on kindergartners' developmental spelling skills. In September all students were assessed for letter recognition, symbol-sound correspondence, phoneme segmentation and…