Sensible Tips to Figure Out How to Spell Words
- Picture what the word looks like. Close your eyes. If you've seen it before, do you remember and of the letters in that word?
- Think about what the word sounds like when you say it. Chop up the word, and then write down the letters that stand for the sounds you hear.
- Decide if the word is long or short. Do you need a few letters or a lot of letters?
- Use the spelling pattern we've learned to help you write and spell words.
- Check the word wall. Is it a word we've studied and practiced? If so, spell it conventionally.
- Ask yourself, "Is the word somewhere in our classroom where I can find it?"
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Why is the Use of Developmental Spelling Beneficial for Students?
* Encourages writers to experiment with writing longer, more colorful words
* Increases students' writing fluency
* Enhances children's ability to decode words
* Results in increased accuracy as they transition to conventional spelling
(Clark, 1988; Routman, 2005; Spandel, 2004)
* Increases students' writing fluency
* Enhances children's ability to decode words
* Results in increased accuracy as they transition to conventional spelling
(Clark, 1988; Routman, 2005; Spandel, 2004)
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How to Help Persistent Perfectionists - Students Who Only Want to Spell Words Conventionally
- Encourage students to take a chance and use the sounds they know to spell words.
- Include developmental spelling in your own modeling.
- Celebrate young writers' approximations as they share their written work.
- Model the fact that making mistakes is part of learning.
- Utilize the print resources developed with your students, such as charts and word banks, to help you spell words as you model your own writing.
- Provide writers with handy, easy-to-access resources such as a personal dictionary or word bank.
- Confirm students" spelling successes by attending to their partially correct attempts to spell.
- Be patient; this process may take a while. Don't give up! With your support, children will eventually realize that they can write more fluently once they stop worrying about spelling every word correctly.
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