Presented by: Kim Beeson, Heather Crawford, Stephanie Swartz, and Sally Williams

Stage 1: Emergent/Preliterate Stage 2: Letter Name Stage 3: Within Word Pattern Stage 4: Syllable Juncture Stage 5: Derivational Constancy

The first stage of spelling development Includes the writing attempts of

students who are preliterate Children’s knowledge of writing will

vary considerably during this stage Students do not move out of this stage

until they develop phonemic awareness

Children have only recently achieved a concept of word and begun to read

Children at this stage rely on the names of letters to spell words, approaching each word one sound at a time

Characteristics of Letter Name spellers: › Omits silent, long vowel markers (SHAD=shade)› Omits vowels in unstressed syllables (TMATO=tomato)

Letter name features: › Initial & final consonants› Initial consonant blends and digraphs (The word blend starts

and ends with a blend(bl-nd) and diagraph ends in a diagraph (-ph))

› Short vowels› Affricate (-ch and –j) the speech sound heard in some words

ex. “Job” spelled like “gob” and “drum” like “jrom”› Final consonant blends and digraphs

Children have developed sight word vocabularies, they are able to chunk parts of words, fluency is evident in phrase-by-phrase reading

Move to more conventional spelling Short vowel substitutions gradually disappear, and

long vowel markers appear Pattern mastery, especially the marking of long

vowels is at the heart of this stage Within Word features:

› Vowel-consonant-e› R-controlled vowel patterns› Additional common long vowel patterns› Complex consonant patterns› Abstract vowels

Children have become proficient readers and process print efficiently

Most vowel patterns in single-syllable words are used correctly

The focus of this stage is learning to apply pattern knowledge within syllables and across syllable boundaries

Student difficulties at this stage stem from the schwa sound (pronounced “uh”) that occurs in unstressed syllables because it can be represented by any of the five vowels

Syllable Juncture features:› Doubling & e-drop with -ed and -ing endings › Other doubling patterns› Long vowel patterns in the stressed syllable› R-controlled vowels in the stressed syllable› Vowel patterns in the unstressed syllables

The last stage of spelling development and one that continues through adulthood

Focus on meaning related to prefixes, suffixes, and roots

Learning to preserve the meaning units of derivationally related words is the key issue confronting spellers at this stage (when root words do not stay in tact, example: audible)

Derivational Constancy features› Silent and sounded consonants (hasten / haste)› Consonant changes (exclude – exclusion)› Vowel changes (democracy – democratic)› Assimilated/absorbed prefixes

(in+merse=immerse)

Helps tailor instruction and allows teachers to learn about their students’ orthographic understandings

Ongoing monitoring of students’ writing is one part of the information-gathering process

Periodic assessment with a dictated word inventory is another

Enables teachers to identify stages of spelling development, highlight specific strengths and weaknesses, and monitor progress over time

Includes: › A Screening Inventory (identifies the

developmental spelling stage of students)› Two different, but parallel, Feature Inventories

(identifies strengths and weaknesses of spelling features and used to determine the particular instructional needs of students)

Determines a child’s stage of development so that the appropriate portion of the Feature Inventory can be dictated

Consists of 20 words, grouped into sets of five, that become progressively more difficult (focuses on a different stage of word knowledge)

Not intended for repeated use with the same students – once the spelling stage is established and the feature inventory used, the screening inventory is no longer necessary

The feature inventory is like the county-wide spelling inventory that was taken from Words Their Way.

Form A and Form B were created so students wouldn’t become overly familiar with certain words as a result of repeated use across grade levels (Form A p.54-57 and Form B p.64-67 in Word Journeys)

Dictating one inventory form more than twice to a child during the same school year is discouraged

We suggest that you give the features inventory to those students that fall into two stages based on the screening inventory.

Small group instruction enables students to explore spelling features within their zone of proximity

When planning appropriate activities start with an area of strength› For instructional strategies to be beneficial,

they must move forward from the child’s secure knowledge base

› Students are likely to remain at a given stage of development for a year and a half or more

Word sorts allow students to discover and reflect on certain orthographic features (spelling patterns) by examining words with and without that feature

Many types of sorts: closed, open, blind, writing, speed, concept

Some sorts rely on words and others on pictures, but they all involve categories in which the students can sort the words

Both sight and sound associations need to be integrated into a student’s orthographic knowledge

It is desirable to develop sorts that have both sound and visual patterns

See example (Word Journeys pg. 78) Outlier words that do not fit a particular

pattern can be included in sorts – this discourages overreliance on either visual or sound clues

Students need to be able to read the words being used so they can attend to pattern rather than decoding

Consider the word’s sophistication relative to the student – will they use this word in their writing or likely encounter it in their reading?

How many words? › They need enough examples of each category

type to distinguish similarities and differences

Explicit instruction should occur at the start of each exploration of new words› See Steps for Guided Word Walk – Word

Journeys pg. 86

Closed – students match words to like categories identified by key words or labeled categories

Open – students sort a set of words freely and come up with their own classifications

Blind – students do not see the words they are sorting. A word is read aloud and a student identifies which category in which it belongs based on sound clues.

Writing – words are written down under appropriate categories Speed – students sort their words into appropriate categories

as quickly as possible (takes place after students can accurately categorize their words)

Concept – see Word Journeys pgs. 91-92

ALWAYS have students write a discovery sentence (what they learned from the sort) after each initial sort!

Concept Sort Example

Earthquakes› Faults› Tectonics› Tremor› Richter› Magnitude

Volcanoes› Magma› Fissure› Igneous› Emit› Crater› Vent

SAW (Sort, Alphabetize, and Write)- students complete a closed sort (with categories given), put the words under each category in alphabetical order, then write each list down under the appropriate category heading.

This is a great opportunity to have students record a discovery about their categories.

Write & Draw – students choose to either write a sentence with a word or draw a picture of that word (this is done for each weekly word)

Each drawing or sentence must illustrate the meaning of the word!

Students should paint a picture with words. Any drawings should be labeled and weekly words within sentences should be underlined.

All weekly words should be spelled correctly

Word Hunts – students search through material they are reading to find additional words with the features being studied (best reserved for the middle or end of the week because students must apply and extend their understandings of the pattern). Students should find at least 10 words, with a minimum of 1 word per category.

A closed, blind, written sort is the best way to evaluate a students spelling, as well as their knowledge of the pattern focused on that week

The student is given a key word or category label for each pattern to be sorted. Words are called out orally be the teacher while students must write that word under the correct category

One point is awarded for correct spelling, while another point is awarded for correct category placement

Helpful Websites

Both of these websites include sorts that are organized based on the letters given to each orthographic feature.

http://www.wcsnet.org/ci/ReadingPlus/word_sorts.html

  http://db.dadecountyschools.org/

~davis/wordstudy/

Your Turn! Cut your words apart. Try to figure out a way to sort the words.

Is there another way you can sort them? Discuss your findings and determine a

class sort (or two!). Sort words according to the class sort

and write down the sort in alphabetical order.

Don’t forget your “What I learned…” statement.