Helping Students Spell Conventionally
The Vowel Spelling Patterns Charts & an introductory Lesson Plan can be downloaded at the end of this post.
It’s the end of the day. You’ve grabbed one last cup of coffee and sat down to look at the writing your students did today. For the past two weeks, your phonics lessons have focused on long vowel teams. You feel both excitement and frustration when you notice some of the spellings your young writers came up with. The excitement comes from students applying their knowledge of the long vowel teams - rane for rain, beeds for beads, and mite for might. Your frustration stems from not knowing how to help them learn the conventional spelling of words. Don’t fret! There is a tool that works for my students and I’m sure it’ll work for yours.
Since there are different ways to spell long vowel sounds, the /er/ sound, and some of the diphthongs, the only way we know which pattern to use is to create a map of the word in our brain. It’s like our brain has a picture of the word so when we spell it, we can tell if it looks right or not. How does this happen? Well, our brains need lots of practice reading the word and spelling the word.
How To Introduce the Vowel Spelling Patterns Chart to Your Students
#1
Teach students how the brain learns the conventional spelling of words.
#2
Distribute a copy of the Vowel Spelling Patterns chart to each student. Guide them to examine how it’s organized.
You may provide your students with a coloured copy of the chart. However, I recommend giving them a black and white version so they can colour each column a different colour and highlight the vowel spelling patterns in each word listed on the chart. Having students do their own colouring ensures that they focus on the relevant skills represented on the chart.
#3
Refer to the word lists included in the lesson plan to guide students’ use of the chart to spell words.
Build in 10-minute practices 2 or 3 times per week for a few weeks, until your students can confidently use the chart as a spelling tool.
How to Guide Students to Use the Chart for Spelling Unknown Words
1st
Say the target word. Use the word in an oral sentence. Repeat the word.
example:
Stale. We forgot to close the bag and the bread was stale. Stale.
#2
Students say the word out loud. Then they orally segment the word, making a dot for each sound on their dry-erase board or paper.
example: Stale. /s/ , /t/, /ā/, /l/
⬤ ⬤ ⬤ ⬤
#3
Confirm with the students that the word has 4 sounds. Ask them which vowel sound the word has. Locate the relevant column on the chart. Review the different spelling patterns for that vowel sound. Ask students to choose one pattern and spell the word on their board. Once they’ve tried one pattern, have them choose a different pattern and spell the word under the first spelling. Have them compare the two to see if they can determine which spelling “looks right.”
example: stail
stale
Some students will readily identify the conventional spelling of the word while others won’t have any idea.
When this happens, remind students that they needed to have seen the word many, many times before it was mapped in their brains.
Also point out that if the way they spelled the word can be sounded out correctly, that’s better than not including a long vowel spelling pattern at all.
example:
Spelling the word “stale” as “stail” is better than spelling it as “stal” because readers can still sound it out correctly.
A Special Note:
If you have one or more students with a learning disability related to writing, spelling words conventionally is not a skill their brains will master. For these students, the chart is an essential tool so they can at least spell words phonetically for their readers.
Reinforcing Use of This Spelling Tool
As with any tool, if we only introduce it to our students once, we can’t expect them to utilize it on their own. Build in 10-minute practices two or three times a week for several weeks, until students are confident with using the chart to help them spell unknown words.
Download your copy of the Vowel Spelling Patterns Charts and Introductory Lesson Plan.
Do you want to save planning time? Check out My Shop for a Google Slide Deck you can use to introduce the Vowel Spelling Patterns chart and reinforce its use.
