This study evaluated whether the sophistication of children’s invented spellings in kindergarten was predictive of subsequent reading and spelling in Grade 1, while also considering the influence of well-known precursors. Children in their first year of schooling were assessed on measures of oral vocabulary, alphabetic knowledge, phonological awareness, word reading, and invented spelling; approximately one year later they were assessed on multiple measures of reading and spelling. The researchers found a direct line from invented spelling leading to improved reading scores at the end of first grade. The study suggests that invented spelling integrates phonological and orthographic growth and is a unique predictor of growth in early reading skills, over and above children’s alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness.
Spelling and Word Study
Invented spelling in kindergarten as a predictor of reading and spelling in Grade 1
The role of part-time special education supporting students with reading and spelling difficulties from grade 1 to grade 2 in Finland
Leena K. Holopainen et al, The role of part-time special education supporting students with reading and spelling difficulties from grade 1 to grade 2 in Finland (April 25, 2017). European Journal of Special Needs Education (2017). DOI: 10.1080/08856257.2017.1312798
The reading skills of children with reading and spelling difficulties (RSD) lag far behind the age level in the first two school years, despite special education received from special education teachers. Furthermore, the spelling skills of children who in addition to RSD had other learning difficulties also lagged behind their peers in the first two school years. Small group education and a moderate amount of part-time special education (approximately 38 hours per year) predicted faster skill development, whereas individual and a large amount of special education (more than 48 hours per year) were related to slower skill development and broader difficulties.
Does spelling instruction make students better spellers, readers, and writers? A meta-analytic review
Graham, S., Santangelo, T. (2014) Does spelling instruction make students better spellers, readers, and writers? A meta-analytic review. Reading and Writing October 2014, Volume 27, Issue 9, pp 1703-1743.
Some scholars have argued that spelling should not be directly or formally taught as such instruction is not effective or efficient. The authors conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental studies to address these claims. Results provided strong and consistent support for teaching spelling, as it improved spelling performance when compared to no/unrelated instruction or informal/incidental approaches to improving spelling performance. Increasing the amount of formal spelling instruction also proved beneficial. Gains in spelling were maintained over time and generalized to spelling when writing. Improvements in phonological awareness and reading skills were also found. The positive outcomes associated with formal spelling instruction were generally consistent, regardless of students’ grade level or literacy skills.
A Written Language Intervention for At-Risk Second Grade Students
Hooper, S. R., Costa, L. C., McBee, M., Anderson, K. L., Yerby, D. C., Childress, A., & Knuth, S. B. (2013). A written language intervention for at-risk second grade students: A randomized controlled trial of the process assessment of the learner lesson plans in a tier 2 response-to-intervention (RtI) model. Annals of Dyslexia, 66(1), 44–64.
The study examined the effects of Process Assessment of the Learner (PAL), a writing expression curriculum. The program was tested with second grade students in a suburban–rural school district in the southeastern United States. Three sections of PAL lessons were implemented in the district as a small-group curriculum supplement — Talking Letters, Spelling, and Handwriting and Composition. The study found that the average written expression skills of the PAL intervention group were higher than those of the comparison group at the beginning of third grade. However, a review of the findings by What Works Clearinghouse did not confirm that the observed effect of the PAL intervention on growth in written expression skills was statistically significant.
Contributions of Emergent Literacy Skills to Name Writing, Letter Writing, and Spelling in Preschool Children
Puranik, C.S., Lonigan, C.J. and Kim, Y-S. Contributions of emergent literacy skills to name writing, letter writing, and spelling in preschool children. (2011) National Institute of Health.
Teaching Spelling in the Primary Grades: A National Survey of Instructional Practices and Adaptations
Primary grade teachers randomly selected from across the United Sates completed a survey (N = 168) that examined their instructional practices in spelling and the types of adaptations they made for struggling spellers. Almost every single teacher surveyed reported teaching spelling, and the vast majority of respondents implemented a complex and multifaceted instructional program that applied a variety of research-supported procedures. Although some teachers were sensitive to the instructional needs of weaker spellers and reported making many different adaptations for these students, a sizable minority of teachers (42%) indicated they made few or no adaptations. In addition, the teachers indicated that 27% of their students experienced difficulty with spelling, calling into question the effectiveness of their instruction with these children.
Preventing Writing Difficulties: Providing Additional Handwriting and Spelling Instruction to At-Risk Children in First Grade
Reconceptualizing Spelling Development and Instruction
Templeton, S., & Morris, D. (2001, October). Reconceptualizing spelling development and instruction. Reading Online, 5(3). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/handbook/templeton/index.html.
Over the years, researchers' thinking about "spelling" has evolved. Once seen simply as a tool for writing, it's now acknowledged that spelling offers perhaps the best window on what an individual knows about words. Learn how spelling has been reconceptualized, and the implications for spelling instruction.
Extra Spelling Instruction Promotes Better Spelling, Writing, and Reading Performance Right from the Start
The consequences of poorly developed spelling skills for both writing and reading led researchers to develop an instructional program designed to boost or accelerate the spelling development of the poorest spellers, including children with disabilities, in second grade classrooms in four schools. The National Center on Accelerating Student Learning (CASL) Spelling Program was designed to teach children basic sound/letter combinations, spelling patterns involving long and short vowels, and common spelling word that fit these patterns.
