Effective Spelling Strategies and Games

The teaching of spelling is one of the most difficult tasks that a primary or elementary teacher can tackle. The process and art of spelling actually takes complex knowledge of phonics, phonemic awareness, knowledge of dozens of letter sounds and complex rules for combining them. Even when a child has the basic phonic skills and phonemic awareness, spelling can be a challenge. For many, spelling strategies can help with the learning of challenging words. Spelling strategies can also help students learn new or content-specific vocabulary.

Basic Guidelines for Spelling Strategies:

In my Language Arts classroom, I have come to the following conclusions about the teaching of spelling and the use of spelling strategies:

Memorization doesn't work alone. Sitting your child down and making him/her memorize a long list of words and how they are spelled will not yield great results. Try having your child use the words in context, group them according to patterns, or match them with a visual representation of the word.

Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. If a child drills spelling with errors, those errors will become permanent. Interacting and monitoring your child during their practice will not only help avoid the cementing of errors, but your interest and involvement will help motivate him or her.

Find a gimmick for spelling. For example, I have had fantastic results with portable dry-erase boards. Some teachers or parents use flash cards, Magna-doodles, or even paint. A gimmick for spelling practice will make disguise learning and increase buy-in and engagement.

Effective Spelling Strategies:

Word Sorting - Word sorting is a very powerful spelling strategy. It is particularly powerful for if your child's teacher sends home a weekly or monthly spelling list. There is a tremendous amount of brain research that demonstrates that our brains learn well when they are asked to organize and make connections.

To use the word sorting strategy, have your child correctly write down each new word on an index card. Work with him or her to ensure that the word is being written down correctly. As they write, have them spell the word out loud.

After the sorting cards are made, help your child find organizational patterns in the words. For example, sort them by syllable count, vowel patterns, words that begin with consonants, parts of speech, or by prefix or suffix. Come up with a sorting rule, and time your child to see how fast they can sort them. After the categories are sorted, have him or her spell out each word.

Spell TV - Recording your child spelling their word list on video or audio tape is a very effective spelling strategy. Not only is this gimmick good for actively engaging your child in learning the new words, but it also provides a strong study guide for the new words.

In order to effectively video or audio tape your spelling words, the following template should be used: your child should say the word, spell the word, say the definition, spell the word again and then repeat the word. For example: "(say) sovereign (spell) S-O-V-E-R-E-I-G-N (say) having supreme or ultimate power (spell) S-O-V-E-R-E-I-G-N (say) sovereign.

Once your child has recorded their spelling list, they can watch or listen along with it and practice.

Chain Spelling Game - Chain spelling is an excellent tool to explicitly and systematically practice spelling. In order to chain spell, your child will need a pencil and a piece of paper. At the top of the page, your child should spell and say a word. For example: (say and spell) S-O-V-E-R-E-I-G-N. Your child then folds the paper over the line they have just written, and they say and spell the word again leaving off the last letter, but your he/she should still say the skipped letter. For example: (say and spell) S-O-V-E-R-E-I-G-?, but still say -N. This chain continues, and each time a link is added, a letter is left off. On the last line, your child sill simply say the letters without writing anything.

By practicing chain spelling, your child is practicing perfectly. They are using the skills of repetition and scaffolding to build a strong sense of spelling. You can turn chain spelling into a challenge game between two people or you can even race through the words. By actively engaging your child, they will remember the spellings easily.

By implementing spelling strategies and vocabulary learning strategies, you can help your child become a competent, proficient speller. Not only will they be more confident in their writing, but their reading fluency will increase as well. He or she will also love the time spent together learning.