Super Spellers

Mark Weakland

Spelling Beliefs

• Spelling should…

• Spelling should not …

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Mark’s 1-Minute Spelling Rant

• Scope of program is too wide

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Mark’s 1-Minute Spelling Rant

• Sequence moves too quickly

• Not based on mastery

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Mark’s 1-Minute Spelling Rant

• Emphasis on memorizing, not on

understanding how words work

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Mark’s 1-Minute Spelling Rant

• Not enough word work and

word study.

• Worksheets are mostly unhelpful

busy work

• Lack of authentic application

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Mark’s 1-Minute Spelling Rant

Not flexible enough

Not powerful enough

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Mark’s 1-Minute Spelling Rant

Basal programs can lead teachers

to become less effective over time,

not more.

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Tailoring content and instruction

“We can’t direct the wind, but we

can adjust the sails.”

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Understand

Assess

Step back

Teach

Bring

Build

Refine

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Understand

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• That students spell with strategies

• That sound, pattern, and meaning

lie at the heart of spelling instruction

• That spelling, reading, and writing

intersect, intertwine, and interact

• That spelling is developmental

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Assess

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• With spelling inventories

• With phonic inventories

• With independent writing samples

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xv

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Primary inventory analysis

• 32 second graders, May of 2015. On an

inventory with 25 words:

• 28% 0-2 errors (inflectional endings)

• 13% 4-5 errors (endings or low freq. vowel teams)

• 31% 7-10 errors (endings and low freq. vowel teams)

• 28% 14+ errors (digraph -CK, VCe, long vowel teams,

low freq. vowel teams, inflectional

endings))

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v

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Step Back

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Step Back

• Consider a more focused list

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x

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x

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What to Spell

24(Scott Foresman) Reading Street: Third Grade

Unit 1 / Week 4

cleanagreeteeth

dreamgraincoachdisplay

windowshadowcheesepeachbraid

Sundayfloat

thrown

entertaincomplainbleachers

willow

(challenge words)

What to Spell

25Open Court: Second Grade

Unit 1 / Week 2 (rule: dr-, gr-, tr-)

Unit One, Lesson Two (Come Back, Jack!)

List One List Two1. drip 1. drawer2. drum 2. driver3. gray 3. drapes4. grin 4. drowsy5. tree 5. grass6. trip 6. green7. grow 7. group8. truck 8. traveler9. try 9. trickster10. dress 10. trunk

How to Spell: Focus the List

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handletroublesimplepeoplemiddletablelittlegentlesaddlejuggleuncleriddlethrottlemiraclemuscle

Scott Foresman: Third GradeUnit 2 / Week 1 = closed /open Unit 2 / Week 2 = C+LE

How to Spell: Focus the List

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handletroublesimplepeoplemiddletablelittlegentlesaddlejuggleuncleriddlethrottlemiraclemuscle

handlesimplegentleuncle

littlemiddleriddlesaddlejugglethrottle

table

Scott Foresman: Third GradeUnit 2 / Week 1 = closed /open Unit 2 / Week 2 = C+LE

Step Back

• Consider a slower rate through

the sequence

• Consider mastery teaching,

especially of vowels

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Teach

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• Attention to sounds

• Attention to patterns

• Attention to meaning

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Phonemes

• The sounds of language

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• Sounds go together to make words

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Songs for Sounds

• What is the sound that starts / ends

these words?

• What is a word that starts with…?

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The Alphabetic Principle

• Sounds are represented by letters and groups of letters

• Encoding (spelling) and decoding (reading)

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Say, Segment, and Blend

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Cat to a Dog

cat

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sat sit

hoghit doghot

Spelling Grid

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Jaw Drop

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Six Syllable TypesType Example Exception

Closed cathamshrinkmossrobinpuppetathletic

wildfindmost

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Six Syllable TypesType Example Exception

Vowel- Consonant-e

VCe

hiketameRomelifetimecompetetrombonevalentine

give, love, have

lattice, adage

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Six Syllable TypesType Example Exception

Open gosheflurobotfrozenladyheropotato

Alaska

president

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Six Syllable TypesType Example Exception

Vowel teams

greenplaythroatrightcloudtoilslowpokecontain

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Six Syllable TypesType Example Exception

R-controlled

orstargermthirdconcertfarmerordersurgery

carry, worry

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Six Syllable TypesType Example Exception

Consonant + le

C-le

bugleriflepuzzlemaplecyclepeopletinkle

whistle

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Six Syllable TypesType Example Definition

Leftovers?

Stable final?

nationfutureinitialexplosion

Typically these are final, un-accented syllables

Bring

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How to Spell, Not What to Spell

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handletroublesimplepeoplemiddletablelittlegentlesaddlejuggleuncleriddle

examplethrottleobstaclemiraclemuscle

handlesimplegentleuncle

example

littlemiddlesaddlejuggleriddlethrottle

table

candlepimplemantlecycle

spittle cuddlefiddlesupple

titlebuglestaplerifle

maplenoblebridle

Scott Foresman: Third GradeUnit 2 / Week 1 = closed /open Unit 2 / Week 2 = C+LE

Bring in more words for…

• Word dictation

• Magnetic tiles, white board, iPads

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Word tiles

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Bring in more words for…

• Sentence dictation

• White board, iPads, pencil / paper

• Word study (ala Words Their Way)

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Where to find words

• Wilson Reading: Student Books

• Recipe for Reading

• Words Their Way

• Other

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Sir Reads-A-Lot

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