In recent years English newspapers have started featuring a number of puzzles other than the ubiquitous crossword. Many of the puzzles are of Japanese origin such as Sudoku, Kakuro or Hidato. However, one recent one is very English and is called variously Cross-code, Alphapuzzle or some other name. In this article, it will be known as Codeword.…

Making spelling instruction effective, fun, practical, and meaningful is a challenge faced by many teachers. Spelling is traditionally taught with prepackaged word lists using a test-practice-test method, which results in little transfer to independent word use. Because spelling is an important component and gauge of literacy skills, students need…

This resource is a compilation of three documents that support the teaching of spelling in today's schools: a discussion of "Why Spelling Instruction Matters", a checklist for evaluating a spelling program, and tables of Common Core State Standards that are linked to spelling instruction. "Why Spelling Instruction Matters"…

Teachers' concerns regarding spelling instruction and the spelling abilities of their students were sought in a national survey. Using a random sample of teachers of grades one through five across all 50 states, respondents reported teaching practices, degree of agreement with theoretical statements, and responded to open-ended statements.…

The author's experience with helping his granddaughters learn their spelling words led to a review of the literature on spelling theory and instruction. The purpose of this review was to answer the following questions: How should spelling words be chosen? Should spelling words be taught and tested in the list format? Is there a problem with using…

An alternating treatments design was used to assess the effects of a constant time delay (CTD) procedure and a cover-copy-compare (CCC) procedure on three students' acquisition, subsequent maintenance, and adaptation (i.e., application) of acquired spelling words to reading passages. Students were randomly presented two trials of word lists from…

What logic should educators use in choosing words for students to learn to spell? Common sense provides the answer: students should learn to spell the words they use in writing. What these words are has been a subject of concern since the beginning of this century. Dozens of word frequency lists have been developed over the years, based primarily…

A weekly plan is presented for teachers as an alternative to the more traditional spelling list and instructional techniques. Each student has an individualized spelling list featuring frequently misspelled words and content area vocabulary. Activities are designed to increase student confidence in spelling. (CB)

This report (a continuation of the Indiana University vocabulary study) identifies words children frequently misspell and analyzes the representative spelling patterns at different grade levels. The report is in three sections and addresses seven questions. Section 1 reports on the analysis of the high frequency words across grades, asking: (1)…

This pamphlet on spelling research contains the practical outcomes of two recent studies investigating how children learn to spell. The pamphlet presents the findings and discusses the implications of a study which examined writing samples from 1,250 primary school children, ages 7 through 12, to determine the most frequently used and most…

To determine the words that children misspell as they write and then to analyze those words as they represent different spelling patterns at different grade levels, for different proficiencies of writing, and in the context of the essay in which the misspelling occurred, this study examined writing samples from across the country. The study was…

Diverse issues in the spelling curriculum must be resolved. One issue in spelling involves whether students learn to spell words better from a list or within the framework of a practical learning activity. Linguists advocate that words follow a pattern in spelling, yet research studies have been used to select lists of spelling words that may have…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of the "Word Master in Spelling" program. In it, students study core words on the Ves Thomas "Canadian Spelling Program." Every 6 weeks, they are given a written review test and a proofreading test based on the five units they have completed. In 1981-82, subjects were 160 children in grades K…