LINGUISTICS FOR EDUCATORS Weeks 12 & 14: Spelling

PROFESSORS TALKING TO STUDENTS IN WEEK 12:

THE REST OF THE YEAR
Week 12: Spelling
 Case Study 1 due Wednesday, Nov. 20
Week 13: Thanksgiving
 No classes Wednesday – Friday
 Infographic Draft 2 due Monday, Nov. 25
Week 14: Spelling
 Case Study 2 in class on Friday, Dec. 6
Week 15 (11-14): Review Week
Week 16 (15-18): Finals Week
 Case Study 2 Due Sunday, Dec. 15
 Final Infographic Project Due Monday, Dec. 16
 Case Study Groups Members Assessments Due Monday, Dec. 16
 Final Project Group Members Assessment Due Tuesday, Dec. 17
THIS WEEK
Spelling
Case Study 1 due tonight

A cartoon by Jimmy Craig. #NewYorkerCartoons

WHAT DO TEACHERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
WRITING & SPELLING?
The history of writing & spelling
 General
 Of English

The (lack of a) connection between speaking, reading & spelling

Acquisition & teaching of spelling
How writing & speech are related
Acquisition of writing
The effect of dialect on writing
HISTORY OF WRITING & SPELLING
The acquisition of spoken or signed speech develops naturally
 Barring disorders or neglect, all children learn to speak or sign
Writing is not naturally acquired
 Language emerged in humans about 150,000-200,000 years ago
 Writing emerged only 5,000 years ago but was limited
 World literacy rates were under 10% until after 1820

 Requires explicit instruction

 Consistency of orthography affects acquisition of spelling
 Italian – very accurate after only 2 years of instruction
 English – poor accuracy even after 5 years of instruction
GRAPHEMES
Writing involves establishing a system of graphemes & imbuing them with
sound &, when combined, meaning
A grapheme (analogous to phoneme)
 Smallest units in a writing system capable of causing contrast in meaning
 <c> & <b> in English - <cat> vs <bat>

Graphemes include letters, punctuation, & symbols

Graphemes are abstract
 What sound/meaning you associate with them is completely arbitrary
 In Modern Irish, bh = [v]
 Maeve = Meabh (Old Irish Meadbh)
GRAPHEMES
Graphemes can be shared by languages, but pronounced
differently
 <j> Julia
 English = [ʤe] = [dʒuljə]
 French = [ʒi] = [ʒylja]
 Spanish = [xota] = [xulja]

Some graphemes may represent a whole word - logogram

 <2>
 English = ‘two’
 French = ‘deux’
 Spanish = ‘dos’
 HISTORY OF WRITING
What was the earliest writing?
 Complex – hard to decide whether a graphic expression was used as
a written symbol or artistic expression

For sure: Clay tablets from the Middle East & southeast
Europe around 3500 bce
 Writing termed proto-cuneiform

Example:
 Administrative account of barley distribution with cylinder seal
impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, & boars
 ca. 3100–2900 B.C., Uruk, Sumerian

(https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-
art/1988.433.1/)
HISTORY OF WRITING
Writing systems of the world evolved independently
 Mesopotamia (3000 bce) - Sumerian
 China (1200 bce) – Old Chinese
 Mesoamerica (900 bce) - Olmec

There are overlapping similarities due to the limitation on the number of ways of
making a grapheme
TYPES OF WRITING SYSTEMS: PICTOGRAPH
Pictographic
 Grapheme is a recognizable picture of
the represented idea/thing
 Hieroglyphs are pictographic
 Though there are some symbols
 Example: Dongba pictographic glyphs
used by Bon priests of the Naxi people
of southern China
TYPES OF WRITING SYSTEMS: IDEOGRPAHIC
Ideographic
 Abstract conventional meaning associated with grapheme
 Pictograph that has evolved to no longer as concrete connection with the
represented
 Example: Emojis!
 IDEOGRPAHIC
Cuneiform
 A sequence of short straight stokes
 Combination of symbols & graphemes that represented phonetic
elements
TYPES OF WRITING SYSTEMS: LOGOGRAPHIC
Logographic
 Grapheme represents word (logogram)
 Chinese
 Derived from an ideographic script & still ideographic to an extent
 Characters represent linguistic units
 Characters often represent part of a word, as well as whole word
 Modern Chinese requires around 2,000 characters
 Japanese kanji
 1,945 characters
 1,006 taught in first six years of elementary
 Other languages have logographs - @, #, $
 TYPES OF WRITING SYSTEMS
Syllabic
 Each grapheme represents a spoken syllable – usually CV pair
 Mycenaean Greek
 Cherokee
 Japanese kana

Alphabetic
 Each grapheme represents a phoneme
 Most common system

https://nebci.org/cherokee-syllabary
ALPHABETIC SYSTEMS
Alphabets are sets of graphemes that each represent a single sound
Most common across languages
Adaptable to a wide range of languages
Requires fewer symbols than logographic or syllabic
 Most alphabets have 20-30 symbols
 Smallest: Rotokas (Solomon Islands) – 11 letters
 Largest: Khmer (Cambodia) – 74 letters
 English: 26 letters

Most alphabets do not have a 1:1 grapheme:phoneme ratio

 Writing system did not keep pace with pronunciation changes
 Language is using alphabet not designed for it
GRAPHEME:PHONEME
Regular:
 Spanish
 Finnish

Irregular:
 English
 Gaelic

Irregular correspondence results in number of arbitrary spelling “rules”

Identity of written words is conveyed by the correct selection & sequence of
graphemes = spelling rules
 Includes the standardized rules, dialectical, stylistic, & free variation
HOW WE WRITE & SPELL
All writing involves planning
 Unlike speech, which often is unplanned

Unlike speech, writing involves more pausing

 Pauses indicate mental planning & provide clues to the difficulty of the task
 More pauses = more difficult

Different parts of the brain are used when speaking than when writing
 If you suffer brain damage dramatically affecting your speech, your ability to write could be
completely unaffected or vice versa (Rapp et al., 2015)
SPELLING
Reading & writing are thought of as complementary
It has been assumed that students will learn to spell by reading
 In many schools, spelling instruction is not included
 <4% of 1st & 2nd grade instruction devoted to spelling (Cooke, Slee, & Young, 2008; Foorman et
al., 2006)
 Spelling development stagnates in grades 8 thru 12 (Forman & Petscher, 2010)

No real link between reading & writing NOR between reading &
spelling
 good readers ≠ good writers ≠ good spellers
SPELLING
~2% have no difficulty reading, but have a major handicap in spelling
 Maybe neuroanatomical – TBIs can result in people who can read but not spell & vice-versa

Reading skills do not transfer to spelling

 Children can read words they cannot spell (& vice-versa)
 But spelling skills can support reading skills

Spelling requires more advanced linguistic knowledge

 Phonology
 Morphology
SPELLING
Reading involves more passive receptive skills
Spelling involves active production
 Awareness of linguistic structure - phonology
 Good visual memory

Reading – you can select a few cues in the text, recognize some letters, & guess the
rest
 Cannot do this with writing & spelling – have to reproduce all the letters

Spelling complicated by more graphemic alternatives for a phoneme than phonemic

alternatives for a grapheme
 need only has one pronunciation in SAE /ni:d/
 but /ni:d/ can be spelled need, knead, kneed
SPELLING
Spelling requires two main skills:
 Phonological awareness
 Visual memory

Issues with either leads to spelling issues

In addition, there are irregularities in English spelling
 Though if you look at etymology, phonology, & morphology, they have patterns
 See the Bowers & Bowers reading

How “irregular” is English?

 About 25% of words are irregular
 However the most frequent words of English are among these
WHY IS ENGLISH SPELLING “IRREGULAR?”
Old English had about 40 phonemes
 Modern English (SAE) has 44 phonemes

The Old English alphabet had 24 graphemes

 20 graphemes from Latin
 a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, s, t, u, w, x, y
 2 modified Latin graphemes
 æ, ð (Đ)
 2 runic graphemes
 þ (Þ), ƿ (Ƿ)
WHY IS ENGLISH SPELLING IRREGULAR?
Norman conquest introduced new spelling conventions (& phonemes)
 <qu> for <cw> as in queen
 <gh> for <h> as in night
 <c> instead of <s> before <e> or <i> as in circle

The sound /ʒ/ was introduced into Middle English at this time
IRREGULAR SPELLING
Printing made things worse
 Many early printers were non-native English speakers with their own spelling conventions
 Froze spelling while the spoken language underwent changes

Word final <e> was lost

 E.g. tale was pronounced [tɑlu] in OE, [tɑlɑ] in ME, & [tejl] in Modern English

Great vowel shift

IRREGULAR SPELLING
Sound changes that occurred after the 15th century are not reflected in modern
spelling
 After the 15th century, speakers stopped pronouncing:
 [g] <g> in gnash
 [k] <k> in knot
 [b] <b> in dumb
 [t] <t> in castle, listen
 [x] <gh> in cough
 So that the now silent consonants are preserved in the spelling
SILENT LETTER TANGENT
The silent <l> in could was added in the 15th century
 This <l> was added to could to align with would & should
 <l> was pronounced in would & should, but could came from the past tense/subjunctive tense of cunnan (can) & was cuðe
 Would – OE wolde, past tense/subjunctive of willan (will)
 Should – OE sceolde, past tense/subjunctive of sceal (shall)
IRREGULAR SPELLING
16th century – fashion to make spelling resemble origin (Latin or Greek)
 <g> added to reign to resemble Latin regnol
 <b> added to debt cf. debitum (we have debit still)

Loans from other languages brought their spelling with them

 Italian <zz> piazza
 French <que> grotesque

Other borrowings came with sounds not found in English, so spelling choice was
inconsistent
 Yogurt, yoghourt, yoghurt
SPELLING REFORMATIONS
People have tried to level irregular spellings
1876 – Spelling Reform Association
1906 – Simplified Spelling Board
Advantages of reform:
 Easier to learn to spell & read for learners both L1 & L2
 Fewer letters are more efficient

Disadvantages
 Break in continuity
 Inertia & conservatism would make a difficult transition
 Reprinting
 Lack of agreement as to the actual reform
https://xkcd.com/1069/
TEACHING SPELLING
Why teach spelling?
A component of teaching reading relies on spelling knowledge
 Grapho-phonemic (spelling-sound) relationships
 Orthography
 Morphological breakdown of words
Teaching spelling has a strong effect on reading fluency & word
reading skills (Graham & Hebert, 2010)
See Pan et al. (2021) reading
SPELLING ERRORS
There are strong social repercussions for poor spelling
Common reason for cover letters/resumes to be rejected
 43% of recruiters list it as a reason to reject a job ap (Adecco, 2013)
Spelling errors on commercial websites negatively impact sales
(Stiff, 2012)
Author’s writing abilities are rated as lower with spelling errors
(Kreiner et al. 2002)
Spelling errors in social media posts cause readers to question the
author’s credibility (Jeong et al., 2017)
TEACHING SPELLING
Reading & spelling should be taught together
 Gives students more opportunities for practice of both reading & spelling
 The final step of spelling requires reading back the word
Redundant exposure to the spelling-sound relationships is needed
to develop automatic decoding & spelling
 Decoding = reading
 Encoding = spelling/writing
TEACHING SPELLING
Weiser & Mathes (2011) found
 Instruction among developing readers in the lower elementary grades that integrated
decoding & encoding instruction led to significant gains in phonemic awareness, alphabetic
decoding, word reading, spelling, fluency, & comprehension

Spelling instruction fosters closer attention to the details of words’

orthographic representations
RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN
DECODING &
ENCODING
WORDS
SPELLING DEVELOPMENT
Spelling errors are not random
There are identifiable stages of orthographic awareness that children pass through
as they become proficient
Children proceeds through stages at varying rates
Children do not fluctuate radically between stages
 Once a stage is master, children do not typically revert to earlier stage characteristics
HOW DOES SPELLING DEVELOP
Random symbols to represent words
Some sounds in words represented
All sounds in words represented
Awareness of orthographic patterns
Application of syllable rules
Application of derivational/meaning knowledge
Generally accurate spelling
GENERAL STAGES
Pre-Phonemic Stage
Semiphonemic/Early Letter Name
Letter Name Stage
Within-Word Pattern Stage
Syllable Juncture Stage
Derivational constancy stage
GENERAL STAGES
Pre-Phonemic & Semiphonemic stages
Pre-Phonemic Stage
are sometimes grouped together as a
Semiphonemic/Early Letter Name single stage - Emergent
Letter Name Stage
Within-Word Pattern Stage
Syllable Juncture Stage
Derivational constancy stage
PRE-PHONEMIC STAGE
Age: 1-7 (pre-K to mid 1st grade)
Corresponds to emergent reading & writing development
Covers period from scribbling to writing of random letters
Children explore 2D space & the correspondence among what they say, think, & write
Full of intention, but usually not linked to sound
 A blend of pictures, squiggles, & known letters

Have not connected letters with the pronunciation of words & sounds within
PRE-PHONEMIC STAGE
PRE-PHONEMIC STAGE
Signs of Development:
 Listen to stories
 Look through books
 Play with pens/crayons/pencils
 Scribble & draw
 Mock linear writing
SEMIPHONEMIC/EARLY LETTER NAME STAGE
Age: 4-7 (kindergarten to mid 2nd grade)
Early beginning of reading & writing development
First excursion into sound:symbol correspondences
The name of the letter is used to represent a beginning sound (&
maybe last sound)
 Single letter stands for the whole word
 E.g. student will spell the word when as Y
 The letter name & the word both start with /w/
SEMIPHONEMIC/EARLY LETTER NAME STAGE
Students use the alphabetic principle – use particular
letters to represent individual sounds moving left to right
Children focus on consonants & omit vowels
Assume the vowel is incorporate with the consonant
May include some sight words & their own name
 Sight Words: common words that kids recognize instantly without sounding them out
 The, &, but, in, I, here
 Name is the first thing most teachers teach children
SEMIPHONEMIC/EARLY LETTER NAME STAGE
Writing at this stage is brief & difficult to read due to lack of
representation of all sounds
 Students make trade offs with speed & accuracy
 Too fast = missing many letters & hard to reread
 Too slow = lose track of what they want to say
SEMIPHONEMIC/EARLY LETTER NAME STAGE
Examples:
 B or BK for book
 T or TP for top
 J, JV, JF, JRV, or JRF for drive
 JR more accurately represent the pronunciation of the initial <dr>
 The letter name for <J> is [ʤ]
 Substituting <f> for <v> due to articulatory similarity & <f> is more familiar

Signs of development
 Writing includes initial consonants & final consonants
SEMIPHONEMIC STAGE/EARLY LETTER NAME
Appears to be using some letters
 Though hard to discern what is written as most
sounds are omitted

Left to right placement of letters to

represent some sounds (alphabetic
principle)
SEMIPHONEMIC/EARY LETTER
NAME
Using first & last letter
 <p> & <n> for pigeon

Left to right placement of letters

EXAMPLE 1: SEMIPHONEMIC/EARLY LETTER NAME
Directions: Features
Look at the two samples in Example 1 on the Name of the letter is used to represent a
worksheet beginning sound
Identify some (at least 2) features of the Use of the alphabetic principle
Semiphonemic /Early Letter Name stage in  particular letters to represent individual sounds
this writing  moving left to right

Focus on consonants & omit vowels

May include some sight words & their own
name
Lack of representation of all sounds
FOR FRIDAY
Read Bowers & Bowers (2017) & Devonshire et al. (2013)
FRIDAY
 NOTES & REMINDERS
Keep working on infographic
 Draft 2 due Monday, Nov. 25

Visit Dan or Meridith for graphic design help

Visit me for content help

https://xkcd.com/1562
TODAY
More spelling!
 Review previous stages
 Go Over Features & Learn to Identify them for:
 Letter Name Stage
 Within Word Stage
REVIEW
With a partner, answer the following:
1. What is a grapheme?
2. List one thing that contributed to the irregularity of English spelling
3. True or False – Spelling errors are random for children
4. Why should we teach spelling?
5. What is one sign of development of the pre-phonemic stage of spelling?
REVIEW
1. What is a grapheme?
 Smallest units in a writing system capable of causing contrast in meaning

2. List one thing that contributed to the irregularity of English spelling

 More phonemes than graphemes (44:26)
 Norman spelling conventions
 Printing
 Pronunciation changes (<kn, gn>, loss of word final <e>, great vowel shift)
 Movement to make word resemble origin word
 Loans from other languages
 Borrowings with sounds not found in English
REVIEW
3. True or False – Spelling errors are random for children
 False: There are identifiable stages of orthographic awareness that children pass through as they become proficient and make
predictable errors in each stage
4. Why should we teach spelling?
 component of teaching reading relies on spelling knowledge
 has a strong effect on reading fluency & word reading skills
 strong social repercussions for poor spelling
 instruction fosters closer attention to the details of words’ orthographic representations
REVIEW
5. Signs of Development:
 Listen to stories
 Look through books
 Play with pens/crayons/pencils
 Scribble & draw
 Mock linear writing
GENERAL SPELLING DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
Pre-Phonemic Stage
Semiphonemic/Early Letter Name
Letter Name Stage
Within-Word Pattern Stage
Syllable Juncture Stage
Derivational constancy stage
REVIEW OF FIRST TWO STAGES
PrePhonemic Stage:
 Age: 1-7 (pre-K to mid 1st grade)
 Corresponds to emergent reading & writing development
 Covers period from scribbling to writing of random letters
 Have not connected letters with the pronunciation of words & sounds within

Semiphonemic/Early Letter Name Stage

 Age: 4-7 (kindergarten to mid 2nd grade)
 Early beginning of reading & writing development
 First excursion into sound:symbol correspondences
 The name of the letter is used to represent a beginning sound (& maybe last sound)
 Single letter stands for the whole word
LETTER NAME STAGE
Age: 5-9 (early 1st to early 3rd grade)
Corresponds to middle & late beginning reading & writing development
Children extend & elaborate on the alphabetic principle & use of sound &
articulation to spell
Each letter represents one sound
Use letter names to spell sounds
Begin to include vowels
 ‘Bed’ first spelled BD then as BAD

Understanding of long & short vowels begins to develop

LETTER NAME STAGE
Modern English does not really have long or short vowels, they are different
vowels all together – a tense/lax distinction (except /ɑ/)
“Short” vowels “Long” vowels
 <a> = /æ/ mat  <a> = [ej] mate
 <e> = /ɛ/ met  <e> = [i] meet
 <i> = /ɪ/ mitt  <i> = [aj] might
 <o> = /ɑ/ Mott  <o> = [ow] mote
 <u> = /ʌ/ mutt  <u> = [u] moot
ISSUES WITH LONG/SHORT VOWELS
There are 14-15 English vowels & only 10 long/short vowels
 Missing:
 /ə/ suppose
 /aw/ plow
 /ɔj/ boy
 /ɔ/ normal
 /ʊ/ book

Often teachers are not taught true IPA (not sure what it is)
 Handout on English Language Spelling Pattern Generalizations
LETTER NAME STAGE
All vowel letter names are long vowels
 <a> = [e]
 <e> = [i]
 <i> = [aj]
 <o> = [o]
 <u> = [ju]

At this stage, ‘rain’ may be written as RAN

LETTER NAME STAGE
In the letter name stage this is interesting for words with short
vowels
 There is no letter whose name matches the vowel
 Children chose the closest available equivalent
 For short <i>, children chose the letter name E
 ‘Sit’ becomes SET

Children begin to develop a sight vocabulary of known words with

single syllable short vowel patterns
LETTER NAME STAGE
They begin to include more consonant blends & digraphs in spelling
 Earlier omitted nasals before final consonants, now include them

Once they learn short vowels that move towards long vowels
 Once they learn bet & spell it as such, they know that beat can’t be spelled that way too

Use <r> to represent r controlled vowels

 E.g. will write just <r> instead of the <r> and the vowel: TIGR ‘tiger’
LETTER NAME STAGE
Signs of Development Examples
Use a single vowel in each major NAT for ‘net’
syllable
SAD, SAN, SED for ‘send’
Spell vowels by how they feel & sound
SEK for ‘sick’
Learn short vowel families
BAK for ‘back’
Spell most CVC words correctly
LOP, LUP, LOMP for ‘lump’
Include more blends & digraphs
TIRD ‘tired’
Spell words with pre-consonantal nasals
Uses <r> for r controlled vowels
LETTER NAME STAGE
Uses letter names to spell sounds
 <e> in ‘booby’
 <a> in ‘sprayed’
Most phonemes represented
Consistent consonant representation
Letter name for long vowdls
 A in SPRAD for ‘sprayed ‘
-ed spelled by sound
 TREPT for ‘trapped’
r controlled vowels – uses <r> to represent
the vowel
 TRND ‘trend’
EXAMPLE 2: LETTER NAME STAGE
Directions Features
Look at the two samples in Each letter represents one sound

Example 2 on the worksheet Use letter names to spell sounds

Begin to include vowels
Identify some (2-3) features of the
Letter Name stage in this writing Short vowels written with predictable substitutions
Long vowels represented by closet letter name
-ed endings spelled by sound
Generally consistent consonant sounds
Almost all phonemes represented
Use <r> to represent r controlled vowels
 Use <r> instead of <or> in color
WITHIN WORD PATTERN STAGE
Age: 6-12 (1st to middle 4th grade)
Corresponds to transitional reading stage
 Modest fluency in easy chapter books
 Write several paragraphs & begin multifaceted pieces

Begin to analyze single syllable words more abstractly

 Moved away from 1 sound:symbol expectation & now manipulate more complex letter patterns

Begin to experiment:
 On how to spell long vowel patterns
 With complex vowel digraph patterns - ou, aw
WITHIN WORD PATTERN STAGE
Signs of Development Examples
Spell long vowel patterns – CVCe, CVVC, SEET or SETE for seat LAFE for laugh
CVV
NALE for nail TOPE for troop
Distinguish long & short vowel patterns ROAP for rope BAKE for back
Spell complex single syllable words (CVck, CRIE for cry
CVght) & diphthongs (noise, gown, shout)
FOWND for found
R controlled vowels begin be represented
BOTE for bought
CRALL or CRAUL for
crawl
WITHIN WORD PATTERN
Correctly spells most single syllable,
short vowel words
Inflectional endings spelled correctly
 Makes

Long vowels represented, though not

always correct
 Tow for too

Use of silent e
 like
EXAMPLE 3: WITHIN WORD PATTERN STAGE
Directions Features
Look at the two samples in Example 3 on the V-C-e pattern used
worksheet
Highly frequent patterns correct (eg. ‘ight’)
Identify some (2-3) features of the Within Word
Pattern stage in this writing Inflectional endings correct
Short vowel sounds correctly represented
Pre-consonant nasals represented
Vowel in every syllable
R-controlled vowel patterns represented (not always
accurately)
Long vowels represented (not always accurately)
UP NEXT
Week 13: Thanksgiving
 No classes Wednesday – Friday
 Infographic Draft 2 due Monday, Nov. 25
Week 14: Spelling
 Wednesday
 Read Treiman (2004)
 Friday
 Case Study 2
 (2007) & Fresch (2001)
WEDNESDAY
THIS WEEK
Wednesday – finish spelling
Friday – Case Study #2
REVIEW
What are the five stages of spelling?
Give one example of development from the first three stages
SYLLABLE JUNCTURE SPELLING STAGE
Age: 8-12 (third through eighth grade)
Corresponds to intermediate reading & writing development
 Repertoire building – learn to adjust reading & writing strategies
 Adding to vocabulary for reading
 Reading rates are at 120-250 word per minute

Students begin to explore what spelling goes on when syllable comes together
Foundational work begins in 2nd or 3rd grade when children begin to examine
inflectional suffixes
SYLLABLE JUNCTURE SPELLING STAGE
Inflections can trigger consonant doubling
 hopping vs. hoping
Once they grasp when to double & when not to they can apply this
to a wide range of words
 Doubling marks a short vowel
 EX: tummy has two consonant because of the short vowel, total has one because of the long vowel
SYLLABLE JUNCTURE SPELLING STAGE
 The syllable length is due to closed versus open syllables
 Open Syllables = long (tense) vowels
 Closed Syllables = short (lax) vowels

During this stage, students work with stems/roots + affixes

 Increase awareness of spelling & meaning connections
SYLLABLE JUNCTURE SPELLING STAGE
Patterns emerge after single syllable spelling is understood
 Doubling when they shouldn’t – CONFUSSHUN
 Not doubling when they should – ATEND
 Spelling stressed syllables according to different within word patterns
 PLES in pleasure
 RAID in parade
 Misspelling unstressed syllables or secondary stress syllable
 Y instead of ey in hockey
 AR instead of er in barber
 Spelling sounds at syllable junctures as they would in a single syllable word
 CHUR instead of ture in capture
SYLLABLE JUNCTURE SPELLING STAGE
Signs of Development Examples
Spell most two-& three- syllable HOPING for hopping
words correctly CONFUSSHUN for confusion
 including words with common prefixes
PLESURE for pleasure
& suffixes (-ed, -ing)
CAPCHUR for capture
Learn how syllables combine
HOCKY for hockey
Spell lower frequency vowel BARBAR for barber
patterns
 oy, oi /ɔj/ DISPOSUL for disposal
 or, ar, er /ər/
SYLLABLE JUNCTURE STAGE
One syllable short & long vowels words
spelled correctly
 WENT, WEST, DROVE, LAST

Most errors in 2 syllable words & at

junctures
 MOUNTINS, LITTEL

Has used, but confused, conventions to

preserve vowels sounds with affixes
 STOPED, HIKEING

Doubling at syllable juncture

 RELLY
EXAMPLE 4: SYLLABLE JUNCTURE STAGE
Directions Features
Look at the sample in Example 4 on the Single syllables in words spelled correctly
worksheet
Long vowel patterns applied to multi-syllabic
Identify some (2-3) features of the Syllable words
Juncture stage in this writing
R-controlled patterns applied to multi-
syllabic words
Evidence of doubling rules when adding
suffixes
Evidence of ‘dropping e’ rules when adding
suffixes
DERIVATIONAL CONSTANCY STAGE
Age: 10+ (5th to 12th grade)
Corresponds to advanced/mature reading
This stage reflects that words which are derived from a common root retain the
spelling
At this stage most students are writing all of the words correctly in spontaneous
writing
 Certain errors occur
 Schwa sounds are misspelled – OPPISITION, BENAFIT
 Some consonants omitted – SOLEM
 Misspelled suffixes -ence/-ance – APPEARENCE
DERIVATIONAL CONSTANCY STAGE
Students at this stage have an appreciation of the
meaning/spelling connection
 Words of related meanings (etymology) share spellings
 Meaning can override sound in spelling
 Sign/Signify/Significant
 Solemn/Solemnity
 This helps them build vocabulary
 Misspellings are chances to introduce new words
 Leave off n in solemn – teach the word solemnity
 Misspell OPPISITION – teach its relation to oppose
DERIVATIONAL CONSTANCY STAGE
Signs of Development Examples
Spells most words correctly SOLEM for solemn
Make the meaning connections OPPISITION for opposition
among words that share stems & CRITACIZE for criticize
roots
BENAFIT for benefit
Word choice in writing is more varied
AMMUSEMENT for amusement
Showing greater shading in meaning
through vocabulary choices APPEARENCE for appearance
DERIVATIONAL CONSTANCY STAGE
Mastery of 2 & 3 syllable words
 Hardest
 Recipes

Spell most words correctly

Errors reflect a lack of knowledge about
derivations
 Faverite does not show relationship to root
favor, but may be a relationship to fave
EXAMPLE 5: DERIVATIONAL CONSTANCY
Directions Features
Look at the sample in Example 5 on the Schwa sounds are misspelled
worksheet
Some consonants omitted
Identify some (2-3) features of the
derivational constancy stage in this Misspelled suffixes -ence/-ance
writing Mastery of 2 & 3 syllable words
Assimilated prefixes with double
consonants
Root words represented in terms of
meaning
INSTRUCTION: LEVELS & GROUPING
Students should be grouped appropriately for spelling & word study, especially in
early grades
Not all students will be at the same stage
 Examine correct & invented spellings in both informal assessment & writing
 Placement serves a starting point for planning instruction

Ongoing assessment of student writing & performance on word study & spelling
activities is necessary
INSTRUCTION: MORE THAN SPELLING
Devonshire et al. (2013) found that explicitly teaching children about morphology
etymology, phonology & form rules improves their reading & spelling scores
Teaching students about affixes & roots help them preserve root spelling
• E.g. playful, play, playfully
INSTRUCTION: WORD STUDY
At the semiphonemic, letter name, & within word pattern stages use
known words
 Analyzing unknown words is difficult & counterproductive
Add novel words at the syllable juncture & derivation stages
INSTRUCTION: WORD STUDY
Where do we get words for word study?
 Student’s readings (content readings)
 Be careful – students can read words like ocean or plankton but spelling ability of these words
occurs later
 Online resources that have them grouped by developmental stages
At the syllable juncture & derivational constancy stage, meaning &
spelling should be explored
 Should include new words that are derived from known words
INSTRUCTION: RULES
Students should be guided to look for patterns &
generalizations
 Avoid the word “rules”
 Rules are inflexible
 Then you have to have lots of excepts, e.g. “i before e except …”

Its best to discuss patterns after students have

discovered them
INSTRUCTION: WORD SORTS
Students compare & contrast words, thinking & talking about how words are alike or
different
Allows students to show each other patterns they see
These patterns can be applied to reading & spelling of unknown words
Two formats:
 Closed: Teacher define categories students will sort words into
 Open: Students determine the categories to sort words into
INSTRUCTION: WORD SORTS
Allows teachers to see what students know about the patterns
 E.g. students sort words into two categories
 One with initial single consonant (can, cop, cap)
 One with consonant digraphs (chop, chat, chin)
 Shows that student understands the visual & auditory differences between these two categories
INSTRUCTION: WORD SORTS
Always ask why they sorted them the way they did
Pay attention to fluency:
 How quickly did they look at each word, compare it to key words for the category & place it in the
column

Whenever you start a new sort, expect slow sorting & hesitancy
Increase in fluency, indicates these types of words will begin to be spelled correctly in
writing
After doing a sort, you can do a writing sort
 Set up categories
 Call out words
 Students listen & decide which category & then write the word under that category
INSTRUCTION: WORD HUNTS
After studying a pattern, students return to readings to find words that fit the
patterns
Examples:
 Students learn about “Long e” in the middle of one syllable words
 Spellings such as ee, ea
 Then look through readings to find words with this pattern
 Write the words in their wordy study notebooks
INSTRUCTION: WORD STUDY NOTEBOOKS
Students collect words to record in their notebook
They can record words from:
 Word hunts
 Word sorts
 Word games
 Readings
INSTRUCTION: WORD GAMES
Almost any card game or board game be adapted for word study
Examples:
 Lower Levels:
 Go Fish
 Bingo
 Black-out
 Upper Levels
 Rummy
 Uno
 Jeopardy
PRE-PHONEMIC ACTIVITIES
Talking with & reading to children
Concept sorts with objects & pictures
Rhyming sound sorts with pictures
Learn the letter names of the alphabet
Share alphabet books
Develop individual & class alphabet books
Sort letters by upper & lower case
Being to sort pictures by initial consonant sound
SEMIPHONEMIC ACTIVITIES
Compare & contrast initial & final consonants through picture & word sorts
Develop word banks
Hunt for words that begin or end with the same letter
Sort pictures to contrast initial consonants & consonant blends & digraphs
 one sound written with two graphemes - /ʃ/ <sh>
LETTER NAME ACTIVITIES
Compare & contrast short vowel word families through picture & word sorts
Continue to develop word banks
Focus on the sound & spelling of one short vowel, then compare across short vowel
patterns
Examine CVC pattern
Play word study concentration, board games & card games such as Go Fish with short
vowel word cards
WITHIN WORD ACTIVITIES
Sort pictures to contrast long & short vowels
Use teacher-made word sorts to examine long vowel patterns
Collect words in word study notebooks
Sort words by syntactic (noun, verbs, etc.) & semantic features (animal, vegetable,
etc.)
Have word hunts for specific long & complex vowel patterns
Play board games to contrast r- influenced vowels (far, share, fear)
Play card games such as Homophone Rummy (hair/hare, sell/cell, know/no,
way/weigh)
SYLLABLE JUNCTURE ACTIVITIES
Study consonant doubling, common suffixes, & past tense endings in sorts & word
hunts
Examine open syllables that end in long vowels & closed syllables
Compare accent (stress) in words
Compare words that end in /əl/, /ər/, & cher sounds
Study common prefixes
Interrelate spelling & meaning in word study groups
Study words from readings by patterns in spelling & meaning
Continue word study notebooks
DERIVATIONAL CONSTANCY ACTIVITIES
Explore meaning/spelling relations
Spelling & word study activities
Make the meaning connection
Study derived forms in bases & roots
Word study in small groups & with partners to examine etymologies in content areas
Greek & Latin forms & foreign borrowings
Root books & dictionaries should be available
WHAT DO TEACHERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
WRITING?
The history of writing & spelling
 General
 Of English

The (lack of a) connection between reading & spelling

Acquisition & teaching of spelling
How writing & speech are related
Acquisition of writing
The effect of dialect on writing
NEXT
Case Study 2
 Read Young (2007) & Fresch (2001)

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