Spelling Information Evening Tuesday 1 st March 2016

During the evening, we will be covering: Why spelling is important The new national curriculum changes as regards spelling Our new approach to teaching spelling How we assess spelling How you can help your child at home with their spellings

Why is spelling important?

And the children said...  Getting a job  Passing exams  Don’t trust computers completely  People won’t understand what you have written (this included teachers, postcards, party invitations, older people writing shopping lists and instructions)  Helps with your speech/pronunciation  Passing spelling tests and getting a good score

Our teachers say:  Helps children with their reading  Helps with writing fluency  Improves vocabulary  Enhances comprehension  Pride  Self-esteem  Helps you to communicate effectively  A necessary skill for life  A requirement of the end of key stage

In a nutshell “The more deeply and thoroughly a student knows a word, the more likely he or she is to recognise it, spell it, define it, and use it appropriately in speech and writing.“ Joshi, R., Treiman, R., Carreker, S., & Moats, L.. ( , Winter). The real magic of spelling: Improving reading and writing. American Educator, 9. p. 10

Why is spelling important? It is fluent readers who can figure out this highly predictable text. The path to fluent reading includes a firm foundation in the sounds represented by letters and their spelling.

The new national curriculum changes as regards spelling By end of Year 6: Proofread for spelling and punctuation errors Spell some words with ‘silent’ letters Continue to distinguish between homophones and other words which are often confused Use knowledge of morphology and etymology in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically Use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words Use the first 3 or 4 letters of a word to check spelling, meaning or both of these in a dictionary

What makes a good speller?  An interest in words  An appreciation of why spelling is important  An understanding of how words build up and the principles of combining morphemes  Can see patterns and links  A wide reader – good vocabulary  Active learner – take responsibility for own spelling  Can apply strategies they are taught independently  Good phonic knowledge  Good link between their speech and their spelling  See the image of the word in their head  A good memory

We need to help every child become a good speller For the majority of children, reading extensively is not sufficient to secure accurate spelling; spelling must be taught explicitly and systematically. The majority of children need to be taught spellings. They don’t catch them!

What does this say?

enough = f

What does this say? women = i

What does this say? station = sh

What does this say?

Learn these

How do children remember spelling? There are four main ways in which children process the spelling of words: Visual: Does it look right? ‟ Writer responds to the shapes of words and the patterns of the letter-strings within words. Kinesthetic: “Let the spelling come out of the end of your pencil! ‟ Spelling as a grapho-motor skill: writer is accustomed to making specific hand-movements to produce particular words or letter strings. Auditory: “Sound it out! ‟ Writer recognises the relationship between sounds and letters or groups of letters, and analyses words in these terms. Linguistic: “Why is it spelt like that? ‟ Writer is aware of relationships between words or parts of words, based on meanings, syntax, derivations, etc.

Our new approach to teaching spelling Teach, Model, Define Practise and Investigate Apply, Assess, Reflect

Teaching – The Rules! How the pattern/rule/structure works It is important that our children have an understanding of the patterns and structures of words. They need to be able to apply their learning to their writing. There are still words that need to be learnt: e.g. words that the children find difficult, subject-specific words, exceptions to the rule, etc. However, the children will be encouraged to understand that most of our spelling follows rules and conventions and, by learning about these, they will be able to apply this knowledge to the spelling of new words. Teach, Model, Define

Teaching – What Rules? We teach specific spelling rules – as prescribed by the National Curriculum The lower and upper school rules are divided into distinct Year groups, with a revision of the previous year’s spellings (to deliver over- learning). Teach, Model, Define

The way Forward The biggest change is that the children are now learning about words rather than given words to learn. Children now take responsibility for investigating spellings to learn. In school, children are given the opportunity to work independently and with others, to practise and consolidate new learning. Spelling is now taught discretely during the week Practise and Investigate

Practise and Investigate – Examples of activities in school (and home!) Spelling the word out of scrabble letters. Breaking the word up into individual letters and saying each letter out. Feeling the word in your mouth – what is your tongue doing? Tapping each letter out on a finger and saying each letter. Breaking the word into chunks. Saying each chunk. Saying the whole word in different ways – shouting it, whispering it, opera it! Clapping the syllables. Writing each syllable on a different post-it note Colour coding different parts of the word. Making a mnemonic. Writing the word in the air/ on a partner’s back Practise and Investigate

Sharing success and tips Practise and Investigate

Apply, Assess and Reflect Children are given the opportunity to reflect on what they have learnt. They are given the opportunity to apply the words orally and in writing. Children are assessed through tests and dictation. Apply, Assess and Reflect

How to help your child Help them to investigate the rule they are learning. Ensure they know the meaning of their words, and can use them in context. Play spelling games with your child. Encourage your child to use some of the activities used in school. Help them to learn their spellings, using a range of strategies – e.g. silly sentences, odd one out, etc.

Write silly sentences using a spelling word in each sentence. Underline your spelling words! Example: My dog wears a blue and purple dress when he takes a bath.

Write your spelling words on a list, but replace all the vowels with a line. Then go back to the beginning of your list and see if you can fill in the correct missing vowels.

Write a song or rap that includes your words. Share with a friend or family member.

Write your words on graph paper. Write “middle” letters, one letter in each box. Use two boxes for “tall” letters like t and l and “low” letters like j and g. Then outline the words using different colours.

ODD ONE OUT?  frost  cycle  build  place

ODD ONE OUT?  defrost  recycle  rebuild  replace

ODD ONE OUT?  right  threw  store  flower

ODD ONE OUT?  right/write  threw/through  store  flower/flour

BOGGLEBOGGLE!

Any questions?