Organic

The Spell-Write Way

At the heart of the Spell-Write Way is writing. We learn to spell to write, to communicate with clarity. It is in a student’s writing that you see their spelling in action, what really is going on.

It is this writing that should inform what you teach. The writing that tells you the words that will go into each student’s ‘Words to Learn’ List and the skills that you will teach.

This process gives your Spelling Programme meaning. Learning predetermined list of words or skills and drills, in isolation, lacks purpose and will be forgotten. To aid recall we must give the student context. If the words and skills that are posing difficulty when students write are the words and skills a student learns each week then they are learning on a ‘need to know basis’. Meaning and purpose increases recall.

Teacher Knowledge:

This process requires teacher knowledge. Knowledge of:

• The Essential Lists: If any of these words give difficulty to the student as they write they are the first ones to go into their ‘Words to Learn’ list.
• Spelling Skills: If any of these skills give difficulty to the student as they write they are the first ones to go into their ‘Group List’ modelling the skill to learn and for you to teach.
• The Writing Stages: Having a clear understanding of the stages of writing enables the teacher to support the student in a way that is appropriate to them. This knowledge gives the teacher the big picture view and allows for flexibility of instruction, not delivering a predetermined programme that has no meaning for the learner.