Stages of Spelling Development

Stages of Spelling Development
Stage 5: Strategies for Teaching
Phonics and Word Identification
Continue to teach the students
Teach root words / derivational
affixes.
Teach students to identify words in
English, Latin, and Greek spellings.
Have the students sort words according to
roots or language of origin using word
cards.
Have students check etymologies of
words in dictionary
Stage 4: Strategies for Teaching
Phonics and Word Identification
Teach how to divide words into syllables / rules fir
inflectional endings. Also teach schwa sound / spelling
patterns.
Teach homophones, contractions,
compound words, possessives
Work with the students to make
words using letter cards.
Teach, model, and instill different
proofreading skills.
Stage 3: Strategies for Teaching
Phonics and Word Identification
Expose children to word families, spelling patterns,
word structure. Continue to model to students using
paper how to write.
Teach students how to study a word.
Develop awareness of correct
spelling, emphasizing visual features
of words.
Continue to read to the child daily at
home and in school.
Stage 2: Strategies for Teaching
Phonics and Word Identification
Read books to children daily. Model for them how to
write words representing sounds in the order they
hear them.
Do LEA, and allow the child to ask
for help with spelling.
Brain storm words (and the spellings of
words) to create word banks for the child to
use.
Display words frequently used in writing, and
encourage the children to look at what other
classmates are writing.
Stage 1: Strategies for Teaching
Phonics and Word Identification
Start introducing the child to different types of
print to develop and plan the seeds of interest.
Use LEA and teacher / student modeling.
Hold up and introduce different
letter names and forms.
Discuss and model directional and spelling
using books, paper, and white boards with
markers.
Stage 5: Derivational Relational
Spelling
Students at this stage are typically
between the ages of 11 to 14.
They explore the differences
between consonant and vowel
alternations.
They also start to learn about the Latin and
Greek root words and derivational affixes.
They also start to learn and acquire
the concept of Etymologies.
Stage 4: Syllables and Affixes of
Spelling
Children in this age of spelling development
are between the ages of 9 to 11 years of
age.
In this stage, students apply what they learned about
one-syllable words to spell longer words, and how to
break words down into syllables.
They also learn how to add
inflectional endings to words.
Students at this age also start to learn about
and even acquire Syllabication and
Homophones.
Stage 3: Within-Word Pattern Spelling
Students at this stage are usually
between the ages of 7 to 9 years of
age.
Students at this stage start to experiment
with long vowel patterns and r-controlled
vowels.
Stage 2: Letter Name-Alphabetic
Spelling
Children in this stage are most often
between the ages of 5 to 7.
Children in this stage start to develop an
understanding of the alphabetic principal, and start to
link the sounds between words and letters.
They also start to develop an understanding
of sounds, such as Consonant and Short
Vowel.
By the end of this stage, they start to use
consonant blends, digraphs. and short vowels to
spell words.
Stage 1: Emergent Spelling
This stage is typical of children
between the ages of 3 to 5.
At this stage, children learn to
distinguish between drawings and
writings.
At this stage, children also first learn how to
make letters and what direction a page goes
in.
Towards the end of this stage, children
start to discover some letter sound
matches.
In this stage, children learn more
complex consonant patterns.
They also start to learn about and acquire
Diphthongs and other less common vowel patterns.
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