Beyond the spelling test: How to teach spelling in a way that will actually stick
Spelling can be a source of anxiety for children and parents alike. Although spelling is not related to intelligence, spelling errors are an easy target for others to snigger at – often putting a lot of pressure on learners to get it right.
The good news is that the spelling of words in English is not as random or chaotic as it is often perceived to be; rather, it is a system based on both meaning and a fascinating linguistic history. Good spelling comes from good teaching – so if you’ve been on the hunt for some strategies that actually work, you’re in the right place.
With a quarter of a million words in the English language, spelling is not about learning words by heart. A weekly test is never going to teach all those words, so it is difficult to understand why they remain so prevalent. In fact, research has shown that spelling tests have little to no influence on our spelling abilities outside the testing context.
Meaning helps memory
In order to learn spelling in a way that will stick, it’s vital that children begin to understand the meanings of the words they’re trying to tackle. Words are not simply strings of letters, they are combinations of letter patterns and meaningful parts.
For example, the word bicycle is not simply a string of seven letters. It has two distinctly meaningful parts: ‘bi’ meaning two (consider other bi words like bilingual, bifocal) and ‘cycle’ meaning circle or wheel.
We can see this meaning structure in the more colloquial name for a bicycle: the two-wheeler. Rather than one string of seven letters to learn, we now have two smaller, and meaning laden, parts to spell.
Context over curriculum
School curricula often suggest a continuum of spelling words and rules for children to learn, and while it’s a good idea to see what the school curriculum recommends, don’t feel you need to be restricted by it.
Consider this example of Year 2 (seven-year-olds) participating in a school program on resilience. One of the key words in the program is courageous. Traditional spelling programs wouldn’t consider teaching this word until perhaps Years 5 and 6.
However, the word is being encountered repeatedly and in meaningful ways in the Year 2 curriculum in this school – so it makes sense to look at the word’s meaning through its spelling. Did you know that ‘ous’ means ‘to be full of’! Think of famous, nervous or envious. Often, context beats curriculum when choosing words to focus on with your child.
Finally, remember: English spelling is not merely teachable but it is a pleasure to teach and a joy to learn. It is time to conquer this last frontier and put new spelling strategies on the map.
About the author – Misty Adoniou
Misty Adoniou is an Associate Professor in Language and Literacy and is the author of Spelling It Out, a book that encourages children and adults to nurture a curiosity about words, discover their history and, in so doing, understand the logic behind the way they are spelled.