Peter Westwood - Teaching Spelling: Exploring commonsense strategies and best practices

Teaching Spelling

Teaching Spelling: Exploring commonsense strategies and best practices equips teachers with the vital knowledge and skills needed to help their students become proficient writers and spellers.

Peter Westwood provides a very clear and concise account of the important skills and processes that underpin accurate spelling, and he describes in very practical terms, many evidence-based strategies and methods that teachers can use to help all students become confident, capable and independent spellers. The book also addresses the purposes of various forms of assessment of spelling skills, to guide teaching and planning.

Chapters in this accessible and timely text include:

the importance of correct spelling

visual, auditory and cognitive components of spelling ability

general principles for planning instruction

proven teaching strategies and methods

word study as a teaching approach

formal and informal assessment.

At the end of each chapter the author provides a list of online and print resources, thus enabling readers to extend their knowledge in the various topics. The extensive reference list is also an invaluable source of information on recent research and thinking on the topic of spelling instruction.

Teaching Spelling is an essential resource for all those in teacher education and taking in-service courses.

Peter Westwood has taught in schools and universities for many years and is currently an editor and freelance education writer. His most recently published books with Routledge include Commonsense Methods for Children with Special Educational Needs, 2011, now in its sixth edition, and Inclusive and Adaptive Teaching, 2013.

Teaching Spelling

Exploring commonsense strategies and best practices

Peter Westwood

First published 2014

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2014 P. Westwood

The right of P. Westwood to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Westwood, Peter S.

Teaching spelling : exploring commonsense strategies and best practices / Peter Westwood.

pages cm

English language--Orthography and spelling--Study and teaching. I.Title.

LB1574.W47 2014

372.632--dc23

2013035117

ISBN: 978-0-415-73993-1 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-415-73994-8 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-81590-9 (ebk)

Contents

The renewed emphasis on teaching spelling in primary and secondary schools can be traced back to concerns expressed online and in the community that students standard of spelling seems to have declined over the past three decades. Rightly or wrongly, it is felt by many parents in recent years that schools were doing too little to teach their children how to spell. This situation was linked partly to the now discredited whole-language approach to literacy. Under that approach, students were expected to learn to spell merely by engaging in daily writing and being exposed to print. Formal instruction in spelling and phonics became unfashionable.

Surveys in Britain and Australia added to the perception of poor spelling standards. It was found from test results that too many students in both countries were failing to achieve minimum standards in spelling. It was even reported that the accuracy of spelling of some teachers left much to be desired (Taylor, 2004; TESS, 2005). In the US similar concerns were voiced concerning both students and teachers.

In response to these concerns, revisions to the National Curriculum in Britain now include clearly stated standards for spelling at various age levels; and students spelling ability is formally tested at Key Stage 2. Similarly, the new Australian Curriculum has given due importance to the teaching and testing of spelling in both primary and secondary schools. Under guidelines provided for the Australian Curriculum, spelling is to be taught as an integral part of the broader study of language, and is formally tested at school in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. In the US, in November 2012, the powerful National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association (IRA) reaffirmed the Standards for English Language Arts (NCTE, 2012). These standards include specific reference to students needing to master language conventions (spelling and punctuation). And in each state in the US published standards now contain much more detail of what students are expected to achieve in spelling at various grade levels (e.g., MDE, 2010; OSPI Washington, 2010).

The aim of this book is to provide teachers and parents with information that is relevant to improving spelling standards, and also for assisting those students who continue to struggle to achieve adequate proficiency. The first four chapters provide important background information on the knowledge, skills and processes that underpin proficiency in spelling. The remaining five chapters describe research-based approaches to teaching and assessment.

Additional resources for teachers are listed at the end of each chapter; and the Appendix contains a number of items useful for teaching specific principles embodied in English spelling. Some of this material can also be used selectively for assessing students current word knowledge and spelling skills.

It is reassuring to find that education policy-makers in Britain, Australia and the US are now promoting the more effective teaching of spelling skills to students of all ages. It now remains for this good intention to be translated into best practice in our classrooms.