1. Emerging Spelling: Stages and Teaching Strategies
Chapter 12

2. Stages of Spelling Development
Stage 1: Emergent Spelling
Stage 2: Letter-Name Spelling
Stage 3: Within-Word Spelling
Stage 4: Syllables and Affixes Spelling
Stage 5: Derivational Relations Spelling

3. Stage 1: Emergent Spelling
This stage is typical of 3- to 5-year old children who learn these concepts:
The difference between drawing and writing
The direction of writing on a page
Some letter-sound matches
The formation of letters

4. Stage One: Emergent Spelling
Characteristics of Writing
Use scribbles, letters, letter-like forms, numbers.
Show no understanding of phoneme-grapheme (letter-sound) relationships.
Show a preference for uppercase letters.
Write from left-to-right, right-to-left, top-to-bottom, or randomly on the page.
Know that the print carries the message.

9. Emergent Spelling: Teaching Strategies
Develop interest in print: Read aloud daily, create a print-rich environment, spend time with books.
Encourage children to write.
Use LEA and teacher/student modeling.
Teach letter names with letter forms.

10. Emergent Spelling: Teaching Strategies, cont.
Introduce concepts and terms: letter, beginning/ending sounds, word, sentence.
Begin developing understanding of letter sounds, concept of rhyming.
Discuss and model directionality.
Discuss spelling with children & family members.
Find an appreciative audience.

11. Stage 2: Letter-Name Spelling
Spellers are usually 5- to 7-year old children who learn these concepts:
The alphabetic principle
Short vowel sounds
Consonant sounds
Consonant blends and digraphs

12. Letter Name Spelling: Characteristics of Writing
Sometimes have not developed directionality: write from left to right, top to bottom.
Use letters to represent sounds.
Use abbreviated 1, 2, 3 letter spellings; omit some important letters in words.
Use letter-name strategy for spelling.

17. Letter Name Spelling: Teaching Strategies
Encourage attempts at writing.
Continue to develop phoneme-grapheme correspondence.
Do LEA, asking for help with spelling.
Model writing.
Read daily.
Brainstorm words (& spelling) to make word banks prior to writing (sometimes).

18. Letter Name Spelling: Teaching Strategies, cont.
Encourage children to write by representing sounds in the order they hear them.
Display words used frequently in writing.
Let children see what other children write.
Discuss developmental spelling with children and family members.

19. Stage 3: Within-Word Spelling
Spellers are usually 7- to 9-year old children who learn these concepts:
Long-vowel spelling patterns
Complex consonant patterns
r-controlled vowels
Diphthongs

20. Within-Word Spelling: Characteristics of Writing
Select letters on basis of sound alone.
Spelling represents all essential sound features.
Spelling is readable (more or less).

27. Within-Word Spelling: Teaching Strategies
Read daily.
Model writing and encourage children to write.
Develop awareness of correct spelling, emphasizing visual features of words.
Expose children to word families, spelling patterns, word structure.
Teach students how to study a word.

28. Stage 4: Syllables and Affixes Spelling
Spellers are usually 9- to 11-year old children who learn these concepts:
Inflectional endings
Homophones
Syllabication
Possessives

29. Syllables and Affixes Spelling: Characteristics of Writing
Include a vowel in each syllable.
Apply many spelling rules; may overgeneralize.
Spelling resembles English spelling.
Spelling is easily read.

35. Syllables and Affixes Spelling: Teaching Strategies
Teach how to divide words into syllables / rules fir inflectional endings
Teach schwa sound / spelling patterns
Teach homophones, contractions, compound words, possessives
Sort two-syllable words / homophones
Students make words using letter cards
Teach proofreading skills

36. Stage 5: Derivational Relations Spelling
Spellers are usually 11- to 14-year old students who learn these concepts:
Consonant and vowel alternations
Greek affixes and root words
Latin affixes and root words
Etymologies

37. Derivational Relations Spelling: Characteristics of Writing
Have internalized the alphabetic principle.
Have learned basic spelling words.
Spell words according to adult standards.

38. Derivational Relations Spelling: Characteristics of Writing
Teach root words / derivational affixes
Make clusters with root word in center and related words on rays
Teach students to identify words in English, Latin, and Greek spellings
Sort words according to roots or language of origin
Have students check etymologies of words in dictionary

39. Analyzing Spelling Development
Example of a first grader’s spelling – p. 403
Example of a fifth grader’s spelling – p. 405

40. References
Some of the examples of student writing are from Temple, C., Nathan, R., Temple, F., & Burris, N. (1993). The beginnings of writing (3rd edition). New York: Allyn and Bacon.