Spelling

consonant digraph

A group of consonants that stand for one sound that is different from either of the letters. . (e.g. shot, the).

Consonant blends

A group of two or three consonants is a consonant blend. Each sound is heard in a consonant blend. L-Blends: (bl,cl,fl,gl,pl,sl) R-Blends (br,cr,dr,fr,gr,pr,tr) S-Blends (sc,sn,sk,sm,st,sp,sw,str)

Correct stage

At this stage, spellers know common letter-sound relationships and generalizations (rules) for spelling, as well as how to use morphemic information in spelling. The student understands how to spell many common prefixes and suffixes, silent consonants, alternative spellings, and irregular spellings. A large number of learned words are accumulated, and the speller recognizes incorrect forms. The child's generalizations about spelling and knowledge of exceptions are usually correct.

Phonetic stage

Children use a letter or group of letters to represent every speech sound that they hear in a word. Although some of their choices do not conform to conventional English spelling, their attempts to spell words are systematic and easily understood (e.g., the letters tak for take and en for in).

Alphabetic principle:

Knowledge of which individual letters match up to sounds, in a left to right sequence (In the word cup each sound is represented by a single letter).

Silent letter graphemes Letters that appear in a word but do not represent themselves with a spoken sound are called silent letter graphemes. Examples are the letter e in the word time or the letter k in the word knee.

Letters that appear in a word but do not represent themselves with a spoken sound. Examples are the letter e in the word time or the letter k in the word knee.

Semiphonetic stage

The child begins to understand letter-sound correspondence — that sounds are assigned to letters. At this stage, the child often employs rudimentary logic, using single letters, for example, to represent words, sounds, and syllables (e.g., U for you).

Precommunicative stage

The child uses letters from the alphabet but shows no knowledge of letter-sound correspondences. The child may also lack knowledge of the entire alphabet, the distinction between upper- and lower-case letters, and the left-to-right direction of English orthography (e.g., the letter M used for the word Jessica).

Transitional stage

The speller begins to assimilate the conventional alternative for representing sounds, moving from a dependence on phonology (sound) for representing words, to evidencing a greater understanding of common letter patterns in words and the structure of words. Some examples are EGUL for eagle and HIGHEKED for hiked.

Long vowel

To spell a long vowel sound you must add a second vowel. The second vowel sound may be next to the first in the VVC pattern (boat, maid) or it may be separated from the first one, making a CVCe pattern (made, ride, etc.).

Pattern information:

Which groups of letters function as a pattern to represent sounds. Examples of patterns would include: CVC (Consonant/Vowel/Consonant) pattern to form short vowels (e.g. like the word cat) or CVCe/CVVC patterns to form long vowels (e.g. like the words same or meat).

Meaning (morphological or morphemic) information:

Which groups of letters represent meaning (The prefix re- as in redo, means to do again). Instruction should include Greek combining forms and Latin roots.

Spelling intervention should: a. employ scaffolding techniques that support all students b. encourage students to memorize rules and principles c. encourage students to rely on assistive technologies d. all of the above

a. employ scaffolding techniques that support all students

A child who writes the letter L for the word hippopotamus is in which of Gentry's stages of spelling development? a. precommunicative stage b. early stage c. phonetic stage d. none of the above

a. precommunicative stage

Spelling variations for the same sound should be: a. taught incrementally b. taught all at once c. memorized d. none of the above

a. taught incrementally

According to Gentry, which child is in the phonetic stage of spelling development? a. Abby, who spells cake correctly b. Jonathan, who spells his as hiz c. Molly, who spells her name with a T d. Michael, who places random marks on a page

b. Jonathan, who spells his as hiz

Early spelling skills are best taught when teachers build a bridge between what two skills? a. context clues and letter patterns b. phonological/phonemic awareness and letter patterns c. context clues and affixes d. none of the above

b. phonological/phonemic awareness and letter patterns

Second through third graders should

be introduced to plurals and past tense, and patterns or rules including: q followed by a u (the sound /kw/), drop e, adding suffixes ch-tch, c, k, and ck, hard and soft c and g, plural endings, prefixes, consonant doubling; instruction should also include activities for common homophones (sea/see), contractions (cannot; can't) and compounds (two words that when combined have a different meaning than when they are separate, e.g. cup and cake become cupcake).

Spellers: a. only memorize correct letter sequences b. are born with the ability to memorize letter-sound sequences c. advance through stages in their spelling development d. none of the above

c. advance through stages in their spelling development

One way to ascertain students' progress in the area of spelling development is by ________: a. giving random spelling tests b. having the class read aloud c. analyzing students' writing d. none of the above

c. analyzing students' writing

Invented spelling: a. is a sound-letter approach to spelling b. allows for a child to apply their knowledge about phonemes and letters c. is a part of a child's development as a speller d. all of the above

d. all of the above

Spelling instruction should include information on ___________. a. letter-sound associations b. spelling patterns c. word meanings d. all of the above

d. all of the above

Spelling instruction should include: a. instruction on letter-sound correspondence and sequence (e.g., in the word mat each sound represents one letter) b. instruction on pattern in words (e.g., the CVC pattern represents short vowel sounds, like in the word bat) c. instruction on groups of letters that aid in the meaning of the word d. all of the above

d. all of the above

Spelling variations based on word origins

e.g., 'ch' sounds like /ch/ in Anglo-Saxon words like check, /sh/ in French words like niche, and /k/ in Greek words like chaos.

In kindergarten, children can

typically write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes). They can spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships. By the end of kindergarten, children usually can spell at least some three-phoneme, short vowel (CVC) words correctly, such as man, hop, or fun.

In first grade, most children can

use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words; spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions; correctly spell many other short-vowel words with consonant clusters, such as thump, stick, flat, and pond; spell some common irregular words, such as the, what, was, and were. They are beginning to learn to spell other common patterns in one-syllable words, such as words with silent e (take, like, ride) and words with common vowel team patterns (book, tree).