How can classroom spelling programs be structured and organized to fit current approaches to language? Ten major considerations can be identified: (1) spelling is a skill of writing; (2) spelling is best learned as a component of writing, and not as a result of studying isolated skills; (3) not all children will pick up spelling as a result of reading and writing--for most children, study of the meanings, uses, and structure of words is an essential part of the classroom language program; (4) words to be incorporated in a word study program must emerge from other aspects of the classroom program, but the essential feature should be their relevance to pupils' writing; (5) there is a relatively small core of high-frequency words that must be used properly and spelled conventionally, if skills of spelling and written language are to progress; (6) beyond this small common core of words, there is a rich and diverse written language, unique to each individual; (7) there is much less uniformity and regularity in the spelling errors made by a class group, than in the words they use; (8) children need to be given a procedure to help them learn to spell specific words; (9) proofreading is another aspect of spelling that is not just picked up--children can learn to detect errors; and (10) as spelling is a skill of writing, its measurement and evaluation must begin with written language and must utilize test-based information as appropriate. (SR)