The implementation of effective instructional materials, such as a core reading program, by a qualified teacher is an important part of improving students' reading achievement. But selecting those instructional materials can be time-consuming. Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast created this rubric for evaluating reading/language arts…

Suggestions are made for incorporating finger-spelling with sound blending in spelling instruction for handicapped and nonhandicapped children. Teaching materials are described, and five steps in teaching how to spell a three letter word are listed. (CL)

Traditional methods of teaching spelling emphasized that pupils might write each new spelling word correctly and repeatedly from a weekly list in the spelling textbook. Some weaknesses in this approach are that rote learning is being stressed without emphasizing application of what has been learned, and that there is nothing which relates the…

This article introduces Making and Writing Words Using Letter Patterns (MWW-LP), a variation of the popular Making Words word study and spelling instructional activity. Research indicates that proficient readers use knowledge of letter patterns such as onsets, rimes, and affixes to decode unknown words. The MWW-LP activity uses such letter…

This concise book shares several sensible, logical, and meaningful approaches that guide young children to use the written coding system to read, spell, and make meaning of the English language coding system. The book demonstrates that phonics, spelling, and word study are essential parts of literacy learning. After an introduction, chapters are:…

Patterns of misspelling common to children's writing are examined to help teachers recognize the strategies used by developing spellers so that they can provide more focused and individualized spelling instruction. (HTH)

Noting that the word "phonics" has become so politically charged that it is probably the most widely misunderstood and misrepresented aspect of language education today, this book takes a fresh look at the debate about the use of phonics in reading instruction. After defining phonics, the book addresses the science, teaching, and…

This book uses phonics to teach reading in a complete manual for beginning and remedial readers of all ages. The book builds sounds and spelling patterns slowly and systematically into syllables, phrases, and sentences of gradually increasing complexity, presenting only one sound per lesson--each new sound builds upon previously learned skills for…

Boom! Br-r-ring! Cluck! Moo!--exciting sounds are everywhere. Whether visiting online sites that play sounds or taking a "sound hike," ask your students to notice the sounds they hear, then write their own book, using sound words, based on Dr. Seuss's "Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You?" During the three 45-minute sessions, grade K-2…

Presents two activities for building elementary school students' vocabulary skills and increasing their knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns. The primary activity involves word mapping. The intermediate activity helps students pronounce and understand unfamiliar, multisyllabic words. A reproducible page on vocabulary strategies is included.…

In a new compact and easy-to-use edition, this book presents a program that provides students with a developmentally appropriate framework in which students become proficient spellers and at the same time develop as readers and writers. The book includes the original spelling instruction program; spelling dictation lists for grades 1 to 3; an…

Clarifying the place of phonics and spelling in a whole language program, this book presents classroom-tested strategies, models, and activities to help students make graphophonic connections, giving them the tools they need to become confident, lifelong readers and writers. Chapters in the book are: (1) Phonics and Spelling in Perspective; (2)…

This book presents a practical approach for assessing children's spelling and word knowledge abilities and offering effective, appropriate instruction. Included in the book is the Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA), a dictated word inventory that enables teachers to evaluate students' stages of spelling development and their knowledge of…

Developed for use in small groups, this unit of study is aimed at helping children in England who have reached Level 3 in English at Key Stage 2 but who may be making errors in spelling, particularly in the area of vowel choices. In this unit, pupils read realistic texts and investigate the spellings of words they find there. While spelling is the…

This paper discusses six instructional components that meet the literacy needs of all students and address all of the components of a balanced and comprehensive approach to reading instruction: (1) phonemic awareness (the understanding that spoken words and syllables are made up of sequences of elementary speech sounds); (2) letter names and…