Download Possible Spelling Mini Lessons Word-Solving Strategies • Using the

Possible Spelling Mini Lessons
(Compiled by Giacobbe, Pinnell, and Fountas)
Word-Solving Strategies
• Using the strategies that good spellers use.
• Listening for syllables in words.
• Saying words slowly.
• Saying words slowly, listening for sounds, recording letters.
• If you’ve crossed out part of a word while you are figuring out the whole
word, go back and write the whole word so you can get a good look at the
new spelling.
• Writing high-frequency words correctly and quickly.
• Noticing and using particular letters or letter clusters (sh, ch, wh, th, ar,
oa).
• Knowing what the vowels and consonants are.
• Writing words that begin the same (letter, or cluster of letters).
• Writing words that end the same (letter, cluster of letters, or same pattern).
• Writing words that sound the same but look different (homophones).
• Writing words in a category (contractions, question words, compound
words).
• Writing words with different middles (ball, bell).
• Writing words with the same sounds but different spellings (play, wait,
eight).
• Writing words that have the same letter that makes two different sounds
(car, circus; go, ginger).
• Writing plurals for words by adding s.
• Writing plurals for words by adding es (boxes, churches).
• Writing plurals for words by changing their spelling (man, men).
• Writing plurals for words that end in y by adding es.
• Writing plurals for words that end in an f by changing to a v and adding es.
• Writing possessives by adding apostrophe s.
• Writing words with prefixes.
• Writing words with silent letter (gh, kn, wr).
• Writing contractions and observing the role of the apostrophe.
• Doubling consonants when adding ing or ed (if preceded by a short vowel).
• When adding er or est to a word ending in y, change the y to i then add er
or est.
• Writing words where the /c/ and /k/ and /ck/ all represent the same sound;
never use /ck/ at the beginning of a word.
• Including at least one vowel in every syllable.
• Usually forming the past tense with ed (even though you might hear t).
• Usually representing or following a long a, e, or i, sound at the end of a
word with a y (may, monkey, sky).
• Writing words with common patterns (ake, ack, tion, ite).
• Positioning of letters f and ph (beginning); ff, ph, gh (ending).
• Exploring base words (jump, jumped, jumping, jumps, jump rope).
• Talking about what will help you remember how to spell words.
• Using what you know about words to write new words.
• Breaking words into syllables.
• Writing base words and adding endings.
Using References and Resources
• Using word references and resources in classroom.
• Using a dictionary for finding words.
• Using the spelling checker or thesaurus on the computer.
Procedures for Buddy Study System
• Writing words on a spelling card.
• Adding words to your Words to Learn list.
• Choosing appropriate words for your weekly word study list.
• Marking a buddy’s spelling test or buddy check.
• Giving a buddy test.
• Proofreading written work for spelling errors.
• Using the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check sheet.
• Mixing and fixing words with magnetic or other types of letters.
• Caring for and using word study system materials.
• Highlighting tricky parts of words.
• Writing strings of words that connect.
©1998 by G. S. Pinnell and I. C. Fountas from Word Matters: Teaching Phonics and Spelling in
the Reading/Writing Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann