This study investigated first and second grade teachers' understanding of their students' skill in spelling words of varying difficulty. Specifically, teachers judged their students' item-by-item performance on a twelve-item spelling test adapted from a commercially available developmental spelling inventory. Results showed that teachers'…

"Words Their Way"[TM] is an approach to phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction for students in kindergarten through high school. The program can be implemented as a core or supplemental curriculum and aims to provide a practical way to study words with students. The purpose of word study (which involves examining, manipulating,…

The "Spalding Method"[R] is a language arts program for grades K-6 that uses explicit, integrated instruction and multisensory techniques to teach spelling, writing, and reading. The program and its textbook, The "Writing Road to Reading," provide 32 weeks of lesson plans. Students work on program materials in spelling,…

Treiman and Cassar (1996) argued that young children are capable of assembling spellings from their constituent morphemes. The present study aims to replicate the methodology used by Treiman and colleagues to investigate whether young children in the UK are using morphological spelling strategies. Eighty-three children between five and nine years…

Primary grade teachers randomly selected from across the United States completed a survey (N = 168) that examined their instructional practices in spelling and the types of adaptations they made for struggling spellers. Almost every single teacher surveyed reported teaching spelling, and the vast majority of respondents implemented a complex and…

This study examined the ways in which 18 first-grade teachers and their students in 11 high-risk urban schools began to use literacy-focused technology. The goal of the study was to observe the technology in use by the students, to observe the classroom dynamics and teachers' instructional choices centered around technology use, to look at student…

This study examined the role of variability and change in children's strategy performance within the context of spelling. The spelling ability of 34 eight- to nine-year-olds was examined using an experimental spelling task comprising 45 items, which varied with regard to rime unit frequency. The spelling task incorporated a series of consistent,…

Sixteen second graders who participated in a Spelling Mastery (direct instruction) program made significantly greater gains than 20 Ss in the Spellng in Language Arts (traditional) program. Findings further suggested that acquired spelling skills generalized to reading. Results were interpreted within an arousal hypothesis framework. (Author/CL)

Describes Spelling Cheerleading, a whole-group activity for spelling practice connecting the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic that students enjoy. (SR)

This Student Activity Book is designed to be used with the "Guidebook for Parents and Teachers" of the same series. The Level 1 activity book consists of worksheets intended to help children discover and practice the most important patterns and principles that govern English spelling, including short vowels, various consonants and consonant…

This Student Activity Book is designed to be used with the "Guidebook for Parents and Teachers" of the same series. The Level 2 activity book consists of worksheets intended to help children discover and practice the most important patterns and principles that govern English spelling, including short and long vowels, various consonants and…

Discusses a strategy that provides a structure for students to do what adults do naturally: determine the correct spelling of a word by rewriting it until it looks right. Notes that the technique can be incorporated into the classroom as a regular editing technique. (RS)

A peer tutoring spelling game using social and token reinforcement, team competition, distributed practice, and error correction resulted in dramatically improved spelling performances by six learning disabled third graders. Eighteen average peers also benefited, although not to the same extent. (CL)

This paper, a Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) technical note, contains preliminary guidelines for the development of spelling instruction for kindergarten through grade three. It includes information on program content and organization, word-attack instruction, written exercises, teacher materials, and supplementary activities. The material…

Finds no evidence that the standard procedure for administering a spelling test (in which the examiner pronounces the word, uses it in a sentence, then pronounces it again) is any less effective than those utilizing additional visualization and vocalization components. (RS)