Some salient characteristics of words that facilitate or inhibit their recall and eventual use in a foreign language, including phonological shape, grammatical category, and functional aspects such as meaning and affective value, are examined and their pedagogical implications are discussed. (MSE)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an instructional spelling approach, Word Study, on adult learners' spelling. The author sought to learn more about participants' stage of spelling development, to gain information from the adults on their interpretations of this approach, and to determine if a short-term intervention would…

Highlights the advantages of word processors and spelling checkers in improving student writing skills. Explains how spelling checkers work and describes the types of available checkers. Also provides lists of Apple, IBM, and Commodore word processors and checkers. (ML)

Describes how one teacher helped students in her third grade class, who had below average spelling and reading skills, improve their reading achievement by using a structured, graded, multifaceted approach to spelling instruction. (ARH)

Explores the concept of spelling instruction in the elementary grades through the analysis of error-types. (Author/HOD)

By using the Developmental Spelling Analysis, based on the spelling inventories developed at the University of Virginia, teachers can screen students for their present stages of word knowledge in an easy-to-administer format. The planning of developmentally appropriate activities for spelling instruction depends upon informed teachers who come to…

One model of interactive processing useful in describing word identification processes in discourse context is of a weakly interactive type. This type assumes that the time to identify a word in context is an activation function, whereas the time to activate a word in memory beyond some criterial identification threshold is a multiplicative…

Examines a unified spelling and vocabulary instruction program for upper-elementary and middle-school students based on research investigating tacit and explicit knowledge of derivational morphology patterns and the orthographic expression of these patterns in semantically related words. Presents implications for and describes a systematic,…

Designed to improve reading comprehension and other complex verbal functions, fertile instruction in word skill focuses on improving accuracy of word knowledge, increasing fluency of access to meanings in memory, and enriching semantic network connections among related concepts. It is particularly appropriate for teaching the high frequency words…

Describes an informal spelling assessment that teachers can use to understand students' level of orthographic knowledge at the beginning of the school year. Reports that the results of this informal testing allow teachers to group students for word study and directed literacy instruction. (MG)

Describes the nature of the developmental spelling continuum. Considers the common instructional concerns of word selection, yearly and weekly routines, and organizing to meet the needs of poor spellers against the developmental backdrop. (MG)

Information is provided concerning the reading performance of North Dakota students and is reported as the percentage of correct responses for each objective. Students in grades 4, 8, and 11 in North Dakota's public and private schools were assessed. Information about basic reading objectives was collected in order to evaluate their relationship…

The second British Columbia (B.C.) Reading Assessment was conducted in the spring of 1980 to evaluate the reading skills of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. The four areas of reading achievement measured were word attack, word meaning, passage comprehension, and applied reading/study skills. A panel of evaluators included educators and…

"Sort Stories: Leveled Reading Supplement to Words Their Way: Word Sorts for Letter Name-Alphabet Spellers" effectiveness was tested using five English language learner (ELL) students in the fifth and sixth grade. "Sort Stories" uses the word lists and accompanying clip-art from "Words Their Way" in developmental, grade-level specific, short read…

This report is designed to provide the Norwalk (Connecticut) Board of Education and the entire school community with the status of the school system testing program for the spring of 1987. From May 6 through May 15, the system administered the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBSs) and the Test of Cognitive Skills (TCS) to 5,113 students in…