Spelling for Writers

Funding Options Title I Title IIA Title III Title VI-B Title VII Special Ed Supplemental Services Private Funding Comprehensive School Reform

pelling for Writers is a research-based, easy-to-teach program that uses differentiated instruction and the developmental aspects of literacy learning to build students’ spelling and writing skills.

Research

Spelling plays an important role in every part of literacy development. It is a demonstration of a student’s word knowledge, thinking process, and ability to turn a cognitive process into tangible evidence. Specific characteristics of developmental stages are predictable and natural as children acquire knowledge through experiences and instruction. Attempts students make at conventional spelling are not random. Rather, they follow a predictable logic.

The developmental research has established a specific sequence of spelling features that students should learn. These features (such as short vowels, e-markers, and silent letter patterns) are commonly used by spelling series. However, in Spelling for Writers, students are involved in examining and understanding the spelling patterns in the English language, rather than memorizing words containing the feature. This moves their learning from procedural performance to conceptual understanding. The sequence of features selected for study in Spelling for Writers mirrors the sequence of word knowledge students develop.

Great Source Research and Effectiveness Reports Available

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Evaluation and Assessment

Spelling for Writers includes weekly pretests and posttests and three formal benchmark assessments to formally measure growth.

Professional Development

A dynamic Spelling for Writers workshop created by authors Mary Jo Fresch and Aileen Wheaton teaches participants how to help students make generalizations about how words are constructed, how to teach students to transfer their understanding of spelling to their reading and writing, and how to establish a child-centered word study program.

Parental Involvement

Spelling for Writers includes letters to families, at-home spelling lists, and activities for parents to do with their child at home. These pieces ensure that parents are informed about the kind of instruction students receive during school hours and help parents extend learning into the home.

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