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The
stages of spelling and how parents can help
Stage 1 Scribbling
At this early stage children know that
what they have written carries meaning. They experiment with scribble that
looks like writing. The child may use letters, or approximate letter shapes,
but there is no sound match and their writing is not readable by others.
Ways
you can help:
• Encourage your child to draw and scribble.
Praise any letter-like attempts. Don’t worry if they are mixed up with
scribble or numerals. Display your child’s efforts and praise the writing
to family and friends.
• Let your child see you write and share
in the writing with you, e.g. when writing a shopping list, a note you
are leaving for someone, a post card or greetings card.
• When reading, point with your finger
to encourage left to right movement and show how, when you are writing,
you go from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom.
• Read lots of books containing rhymes
and get the child to join in. Encourage recognition of rhymes by getting
the child to supply the words which rhyme or by whispering/shouting them
together. Children love the sounds of rhymes and language play, e.g. ‘rice
is nice,’ ‘easy-peasy.’ Rhymes are important because they help the young
child to discriminate between sounds in words.
• Draw attention to your child’s name and
how it is spelt, particularly the first letter. Encourage your child to
write his/her name e.g. on birthday cards, on labels (for the bedroom/
drawers/possessions) and on pictures they draw.
• When reading a book with your child,
sometimes comment on interesting or unusual words, pointing and saying,
‘What a long word!’ or ‘that word starts with the same letter as your name.’
• Make the connection between the letter
sound at the beginning of the child’s name and the letter name, e.g. ‘Nathan
starts with a ‘nnnn’ sound and that letter name is ‘N.’
• Sing the alphabet, e.g. to the tune of
‘I like to go a-wandering.’
• Encourage correct letter formation for
known letters, not just on paper, but in sand, in the air, in the condensation
on a window etc.
Stage
2 Abbreviated Spelling
At this stage children start to make the
links between the sounds of spoken letters and the letters of written words.
The words have some correct sounds with one or two letters standing for
a word.
Ways
you can help:
• Encourage the child to recognise rhymes
and the similarities in sounds. Make mistakes in the way you say familiar
nursery rhymes and encourage the children to correct you, e.g. ‘Jack and
Jill went up the mill.
• Continue to encourage your child to write
as often as possible. Do joint writing or let your child write alongside
you on a separate piece of paper.
• Buy or borrow some plastic letters for
your child to play with and make up his or her name and other simple familiar
words.
• Be very encouraging whenever your child
puts two or more letters together when writing a word. This means that
they have begun to get an idea of what a word is as distinct from a letter.
This is a very important step. Be patient and do not put pressure on the
child to be accurate too soon.
• When giving the sound of a letter, try
to hiss or hum the sounds, e.g. ‘Ssss-aaa-mmmm’ not ‘Suh-a-muh.’
• Encourage your child to use a finger
space when writing once they have an understanding of what a word is.
• Continue to ‘sing’ the alphabet.
• Play I spy with my little eye something
that begins with/ends with/rhymes with…
• Always encourage your child to ‘have
a go’ before helping with a spelling.
• Praise any part of the word which the
child has spelt correctly. Focus on what they have got right – and then
on the part they have had problems with. Decide which word or words you
will focus on, e.g. if the child has written Iwtpitp for ‘I went to play
in the park,’ focus on the ending of ‘in’ because it is a very common,
regular word and the child only has to add one letter to get the word completely
right.
• Whenever possible use the ‘look-cover-say-write-check
routine, again focussing on looking at the part of the spelling which is
causing the difficulty.
• Use simple picture dictionaries and word
books as a source of enthusiasm and interest in words.
Stage 3 Spelling by ear
Children choose letters mainly on a basis
of sound. What they write is now readable by others because all the sounds
in a word are represented in some ‘invented’ but not necessarily correct
way.
Ways you can help:
• When reading, draw attention to (and encourage
your child to point out) occasional funny or significant words, or words
where the spelling is unusual, e.g. the kn in ‘knock.’ Usually you would
do this after you have read and enjoyed the story, unless the child stops
to focus on a particular word.
• When looking at what your child has written,
always concentrate on the meaning first and foremost. If you do
comment on the spelling, celebrate what
the child has got right or nearly right. Try not to be negative; it is
very important that the child’s developing confidence as a writer and speller
is not checked at this stage.
• Continue to encourage your child to ‘have-a-go’
and to use the ‘look-cover-say-write-check’ routine.
• Encourage children to read through what
has been written and point to or underline any words they are uncertain
about. Do not do this for them. Get them to try and say what they are unhappy
about, e.g. ‘I don’t think I’ve got the ending right.’ See if they can
suggest alternatives, choosing the one which looks right. Try to do this
co-operatively rather than acting as the expert speller.
• Continue to foster the child’s interest
in and enthusiasm for words by playing word games, looking at picture dictionaries
and enjoying poems, puns, jokes and riddles together – especially those
which play on words.
• Continue to develop familiarity with
the alphabet, e.g. using an address book, finding a word in the index of
a non-fiction book, locating words in a simple dictionary.
Stage
4 Spelling by eye
Children begin to use conventional spellings
of words alongside words spelt by ear. The child has realised that sounding
out a word does not always work and that it is necessary to rely on other
spelling strategies, particularly the visual. Words look like English words
although they are not necessarily spelt correctly. Children may remain
at this stage for a long time.
How
you can help:
• Continue to use reading as a source of discussion
about unusual spellings of words.
• Play word games such as Shannon’s Game,
Boggle and Junior Scrabble.
• Encourage the child to write, particularly
where there is a real purpose, e.g. a holiday post card, a thank you letter,
a story or poem for a younger brother or sister, a personal diary or journal,
a note or message.
• Continue to focus on the meaning in a
child’s writing and praise good spelling or good attempts at spelling.
Try to get the child to explain their spelling choice and praise plausible
answers, e.g. ‘I spelt it (great) g-r-a-t-e, because that’s how you spell
late and hate and mate.’
• Articulate the sounds in words as clearly
as possible, e.g. spinach not spinage.
• If there are several spelling errors,
focus on the error which will be of most benefit, e.g. a word often used
or a word ending misspelt more than once.
• If a child lacks confidence in their
spelling, count the number of words that are right rather than those that
are wrong.
• When trying to learn a spelling:
- encourage the child to ‘have-a-go.’
- praise what is correct and focus on
the part of the word or syllable which is incorrect.
- if possible, make up a simple way of
remembering the spelling, e.g. ‘I’ll be your friend to the end’ or apply
general rules, e.g. words
ending in –x add –es in the plural form.
- employ the ‘look-cover-say-write-check’
routine.
• Encourage dictionary use if the child
is able to use one without it becoming too much of a chore.
• Help with word investigations brought
home for homework.
Stage
5 Independent Spelling
Children spell with increasing accuracy
and consistency. Most words are spelt correctly and they have confidence
that their spellings are mostly correct. Errors are plausible and children
are alert to mistakes which may have been made. The child has a good understanding
of the rules, conventions and patterns found in the English spelling system.
A range of strategies are used when the spelling of words are in doubt,
e.g. use of a dictionary or spellchecker, thinking of the meaning or origin
of a word, using common letter patterns.
How
you can help:
• Continue to focus on the content of the
writing.
• If appropriate, continue to help with
the learning of spellings as at Stage 4.
• Talk about words with unusual, problematic
spellings. Share those words which you have difficulty in remembering.
Can you help each other?
• Talk about newly coined words and their
spellings, including the language of ICT.
• Encourage the child to return to a piece
of writing after a lapse of time to check for clarity of meaning as well
as
for possible spelling errors
• Play word games as a family.
• Have ready access to an appropriate dictionary.
• Make use of a spellchecker on a word
processor, but do not trust it entirely!
Reference:
Effective Spelling – Norma Mudd (Hodder
and Stoughton) 1994
Parents as Partners – First Steps (Rigby
Heinemann) 1997
Progression in Phonics (DfEE) 1999
Spelling Bank (DfEE) 1999
Teaching Spelling – J. Richard Gentry
(GHPD) 1999 |
SPELLING