Download Lakenham Primary School: Spelling Policy

Spelling
Policy
April
2013
Lakenham Primary School: Spelling Policy
Entitlement and curriculum provision
Spelling at Lakenham Primary School is taught as part of a planned programme. In addition,
handwriting lessons and shared and guided reading and writing sessions afford many opportunities
for talking about spelling, revisiting and practicing strategies. The teaching of spelling of subject
specific vocabulary occurs in all subjects and opportunities are made in these lessons to reinforce
spelling work undertaken in literacy lessons.
Aims:
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•
•
•
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To guide each child towards becoming an effective speller
To encourage children to see learning to spell as an integral part of the developmental
process of learning to write.
To understand the principles underpinning word construction (phonemic, morphemic and
etymological)
To encourage children to explore words and vocabulary.
To be able to apply spelling strategies
To encourage independence and self-evaluation as part of their spelling development.
Teaching and Learning
Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1
High quality phonic work will be taught systematically initially from Foundation to Year 2. Letters and
Sounds will used together with Jolly Phonics resources.
A discrete period of 30 mins will take place
daily within Key stage 1 and Foundation.
Children will be taught :
the grapheme/phoneme correspondence in a clearly defined sequence
the skill of segmenting words into their constituent phonemes to spell.
that blending and segmenting are reversible processes.
Overview of Phases 1-6
Phase One:
supports the development of sound discrimination, rhythm and rhyme.
Phase Two:
marks the start of systematic phonic work. Grapheme/phoneme correspondence is
introduced. The process of segmenting whole words and selecting letters to represent
those phonemes is taught either writing the letters or using letter cards/magnetic
letters to encode words.
Phase Three: completes the teaching of the alphabet and then moves on to sounds represented by
more than one letter, learning one representation for each of the 42 phonemes. Just
one spelling for each phoneme is given at this stage.
Phase Four:
children start to read and spell words containing adjacent consonants. No new
phonemes in this phase.
Phase Five:
looks at the alternative spellings for some phonemes.
Phase Six:
overlaps with the material within Support for Spelling. Word specific spellings e.g.
see/sea. Spelling of words with prefixes and suffixes, doubling and dropping letters
where necessary.
The accurate spelling of words containing unusual GPCs e.g. laughs,
two.
High Frequency Words:
Throughout each phase the tricky high frequency words will be taught. Children will
use the Look Cover Write Check system for learning a new spelling. Each teacher uses
a variety of methods to ensure the correct spelling of the high frequency words
appropriate to each phase plus topic specific vocabulary. Teachers should recognise
worthy attempts made by children to spell words but should also correct them
selectively and sensitively.
Developing Skills from Year 1 to Year 3
Children will have followed a programme of discrete phonics teaching in Foundation
and in Year 1. By the end of Year 1, the expectation is that most children will be secure
at phase 5, though further work will be required to ensure they have the knowledge
and understanding of alternative spellings for each phoneme. Some children will be
ready to move to the Support for Spelling materials in Year 2, others will continue to
work towards being secure at phase 5. For some children it will be necessary to
continue with regular phonics sessions whilst in KS2.
Key Stage 2
An investigative approach is taken to the teaching of spelling, which is supported by Support for
Spelling. Where necessary, some pupils will consolidate the phonic knowledge and skills from Key
Stage 1. All children in KS2 have spelling journals which they use on a weekly basis to practice and
develop their spelling vocabulary.
Objectives for Years 2 to 6
Children will develop different strategies for memorising high-frequency or topic words. The children
may continue to use the system taught in Key Stage 1.
Look Cover Write Check.
Memory strategies
Syllables: To learn my word I can listen to how many syllables there are so I can break it into
smaller bits to remember (e.g. Sep-tem-ber, ba-by)
Base words: To learn my word I can find its base word (e.g. Smiling – base smile +ing, e.g.
women = wo + men)
Analogy: To learn my word I can use words that I already know to help me (e.g. could: would,
should)
Mnemonics: To learn my word I can make up a sentence to help me remember it (e.g.could –
O U Lucky Duck; people – people eat orange peel like elephants)
(See Appendix 1)
Spelling Environment
The spelling environment should support and challenge children to take an active role in learning to
spell accurately, develop a wide vocabulary of known words and take risks when spelling a word for
the first time, using a variety of strategies.
Alphabet friezes with lower case and capital letters in R-6 to support all children when using a
dictionary
Subject specific vocabulary, technical terms and mathematical language
Question words – what, which, where, when, who, how and why
Spelling strategies to prompt children before asking an adult
Common high frequency words arranged according to the needs of the children alphabetical, word families etc.
Weekly ‘Challenge Words’ to try and include in writing
Easy access to age appropriate dictionaries, spell checkers and word books
Marking and Homework:
Children’s work will be sensitively marked to enable all aspects of their creative writing to be
assessed, particularly the use of interesting vocabulary. Attention will be drawn to the
misspelling of high frequency words or those most recently studied. Correction of yet to be
taught spelling rules is best avoided.
Up to 3 misspelled words will be highlighted for children to correct and learn using a LCWC
method.
Children will be required to complete weekly spelling activities, investigations or dictionary
work for homework. Helping children to spell, particularly by giving strategies such as
breaking a word into syllables, is strongly encouraged. Different methods to learn spellings
will be discussed with children and information provided for parents
Assessment:
Using Assertive Mentoring Assessments children are assessed on their phonic knowledge and
awareness as part of an ongoing programme of assessment which enables individual targets
for improvement to be identified.
At the end of Year 1 the children will be assessed on their skills in phonics, those who do not
meet the required standard will receive additional support in Year 2 and will have their
progress closely monitored.
Spelling assessments may be used throughout KS2 taking a range of forms including dictation,
diagnostic tests and application of skills. Marking provides the opportunity to see how well
individual children understand and apply what has been taught and should always relate to
the specific focus for teaching.
Teachers will:
Analyse children’s errors.
Provide feedback and time to respond.
Links with Handwriting
Developing a fluent joined style is an important part of learning to spell and the teaching of
spelling and handwriting should be closely linked.
Handwriting sessions
As children are taught the basic joins they can practise joining digraphs as one joined unit. This can
develop into practising letter strings and complete words linked to the specific focus for teaching in
the spelling unit. High-frequency words can be demonstrated and practised as joined units (e.g. the,
was, said).
Appendix 1
Techniques for Learning Spellings:
Fundamental issues
In order to spell properly children need to be able to speak properly. Parents and teachers should
sensitively correct poor articulation and mispronunciations. They should also assist pupils to
recognise words that are slang (for example, gobsmacked).
Joined handwriting helps spelling accuracy. As a general rule, children with neat, joined
handwriting tend to be more competent at spelling than those who print, or those with poor
handwriting
Rainbow writing
The link between the brain and the writing hand is the key, therefore when learning spellings
pupils should write them out
They should say the word before writing it
They should write in a joined script
As they write each letter they should say its name
At the end of the word they should repeat the word
This process should be repeated twice more using a different colour each time and tracing over
the letters
In this way a striking visual image (‘rainbow writing’) is created. This enhances the visual impact
of the word on the child’s memory – a stronger imprint.
Segmenting:
Teach children to segment words rather than looking at individual letters
diff-er-ent rather than d-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t; dis-gust-ing rather than d-i-s-g-u-s-t-i-n-g
Teach them to ‘get a feeling for the word in their mouth’. Speak the word out loud
Repeating words out loud is very important
Single letters rarely indicate and represent a sound in isolation. Letters work in combination with
other letters – ensure that children know this.
Encourage children to segment the target word
Ask: do you recognise any of the segments?
Ask: do you know how to write any of these segments?
Encourage children to write down the segments they know how to write in order
Leave a blank for those segments they don’t know and then work with a partner or adult to work
out missing segments
Visualisation:
The secret to good spelling is being able to store words in a visual way
The best way to remember a spelling is to visualise it, a little up and to your left in your mind’s
eye, and store that picture
When you see that word again it will “look right” or of it was spelt incorrectly it will “look
wrong”
Encourage children to think of something that feels comfortable
Next ask them to look at the word they wish to remember
Encourage them to see the word in their favourite colour, or in a place they really like
Ask them to look away from the word, up and to their left and picture the word as best they
can spelling it in their mind
Encourage them to look back at the word and notice any letters they have missed until they
can picture the whole word
Encourage the childre to take a break and then test themselves again
For longer words encourage children to chunk words into syllables.
Appendix 2
Common Spellings and Patterns:
Correct spelling
I
So
they
went
which
until
some
does
before
meant
always
could
should
would
like
might
people
believe
really
didn’t
listen
thought
actually
enough
anyone
happened
different
friend
something
everyone
decide
many
very
slowly
heard
someone
quickly
special
tomorrow
Common error
i (grammatical error)
Sow
thay
wet
wich
untill
sum (homophone issue)
dose
befor
ment
allways
cud
shud
wud
lik
mite
peple
belive
realy
did’nt
lisen
thort
acshully
enuf
enyone
happend
diffrent
frend
somthing
evryone
dicide
meny
verry
slowley
herd (homophone issue)
somone
quickley
speshall
tommorow
comfortable
rough
first
calm
eventually
usually
surprsie
separate
asked
once
tried
get
conftable
ruff
frist
carm
aventually
ushually
suprise
seperate
aksed
wonce
tryed
git
The 100 words most commonly mis-spelled by children (in order of error frequency)
1) their
2) too
3) there
4) they
5) then
6) until
7) our
8) asked
9) off
10) through
11) you’re
12) clothes
13) looked
14) people
15) pretty
16) running
17) believe
18) little
19) things
20) him
21) because
22) thought
23) and
24) beautiful
25) it’s
26) went
27) where
28) stopped
29) very
30) morning
31) something
32) named
33) came
34) name
35) tried
36) here
37) many
38) knew
39) with
40) together
41) swimming
42) first
43) were
44) than
45) two
46) know
47) decided
48) friends
49) when
50) let’s
51) mother
52) another
53) threw
54) some
55) its
56) bought
57) getting
58) going
59) course
60) women
61) animals
62) started
63) that’s
64) would
65) again
66) heard
67) received
68) coming
69) to
70) said
71) wanted
72) hear
73) from
74) frightened
75) for
Common words that are frequently confused
where and were
than and then
two, too and to
76) interesting
77) once
78) like
79) they’re
80) cousin
81) all right
82) happened
83) didn’t
84) always
85) surprise
86) before
87) caught
88) every
89) different
90) interesting
91) sometimes
92) friends
93) children
94) an
95) school
96) jumped
97) around
98) dropped
99) babies
100) money
there, their and they’re
will and well
quite and quiet
accept and except
Two words that children hear as one word
a lot
all right
in case
in trouble
Hearing issues
could’ve ------ could have
Pupils write could of
should’ve ------ should have
Pupils write should of
Hearing the s in the third person singular: He needs, she wants, he thinks
want, he think
The difference between of (ov) and off
The difference between are and our (ower)
- He need, she
Some spelling rules:
Rules should never be taught in isolation. They must be backed up by practical activities. Most
spelling rules have exceptions. It helps if the children are taught the exceptions.
Every English word must contain at least one vowel
No words in English end in i – we use y instead
The letter q is always followed by the letter u (queen; quite, quintissential)
The letter j is never used at the end of a word – we use ge instead
No complete words ends in v – we use ve instead
The doubling rule: words ending in f, l, s or z double the final consonant (stiff, bell, Miss,
fuzzy)
The lazy ‘e’ rule: Drop the ‘e’ before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel:
like – liked
hate – hating
shake – shaking
The ‘e’ that isn’t being lazy: Keep the ‘e’ before adding a suffix beginning with a consonant
hope-hopeful, hopeless
The lazy ‘e’ meets ‘a’: Keep the ‘e’ in words ending in ‘ce’ or ‘ge’
orange-orangeade
manage-manageable
shun endings: There are four different ways of spelling shun – but none are spelt as they
sound:
- ssion profession, progression, discussion
- tion
prevention, protection, station
- cian
musician, electrician
- sion
decision, confusion, revision
Fifteen common word families in English:
all
ing
ack
ay
at
op
ad
ill
in
ump
ent
old
ook
ell
et
ball call fall
hall
stall tall wall
king ring sing wing
back lack pack rack sack
bay day hay
lay
may pay ray say way
bat cat fat
hat
mat pat rat sat
hop mop pop top
bad dad had lad
mad pad sad
bill
fill gill
hill
kill
mill pill will
bin
din fin
pin
tin
sin win
bump dump hump jump lump pump
bent dent lent rent lent sent tent went
bold cold fold hold sold told
book cook hook look took
bell cell fell hell sell tell well
bet
get jet
let
met pet set wet
Eleven more common endings:
ain
augh(t)
ful
ight
ite
ous
ough
ow
sion
tion
ture
contain, complain, brain, drain, main, pain, rain, stain, train
caught, daughter, naughty, slaughter, taught, laugh, laughing
careful, thoughtful, painful, wonderful, resntful
bright, fight, fright, light, night, right, sight, slight, tight,
bite, kite, polite, satellite
famous, cautious, ambitious, delicious
although, cough, enough, rough, tough, thorough, though
blow, follow, grow, low, slow, show, snow, yellow
comprehension, confusion, decision, revision
action, attraction, collection, direction, investigation, reaction,
station
capture, creature, fixture, furniture, future, mixture, nature,
picture
Silent letters
Silent letter
b
c
g
h
Common examples
bomb, comb, crumb, doubt, thumb
descent, discipline, science
design, neighbour, sign
honest, honour, hour
i
k
l
n
t
w
business, marriage, parliament
knee, knife, knight, knock, know, know, knot
chalk, walk
autumn, column
castle, listen, whistle
wrong, wrap, wriggle, write, wrist, wreck, whole
Homophones:
Homophones
to, too, two
there, their,
they’re
here, hear
are, our
one, won
by, buy, bye
sea, see
meet, meat
no, know
wait, weight
Examples of use
We have two cars.
He is too tired.
Are you coming too?
I go to school.
Their dog is fierce
They’re coming over
There is a willow grows askance a
brook.
I can’t hear you.
I’m over here.
We are going on a trip.
Our class is going to Richmond.
I have one sister
They won a prize.
I go by car
I must have a new pen
He waved goodbye
I can swim in the sea.
Did you see the boy?
I will meet you in London.
We had to eat the meat.
No you don’t
Oooh I know . . !
I will wait here.
Guess the weight of the cake?
Teaching tips
Use two when you mean the number 2
Too: means ‘more than enough’, or ‘as
well’
In all other cases use ‘to’
Remember if there can be a ‘my’ spell their
with an i. You can say ‘my house is big’, you
can say ‘their house is big’.
You hear with your ear.
This is a ‘false homophone’. Correct speech
distinguishes between the pronunciation of the
two words.
If you can win it then it has a w.
Remember: we eat meat.
No belongs with yes
Mnemonics:
Mnemonic – A device or system for improving memory
Irregular words cause most trouble to children
Word
are
beautiful
beacuse
believe
build
busy
business
could
Mnemonic
Are rhinos elegant
Boys eat apples under trees in France until lunch
Big elephants can always upset smaller elephants
Never believe a lie
u and i will build a house
This bus is busy
Do your business in the bus
Oh u lucky dear or could old uncle lie down?
Same rule for should/would
does
friend
great
intelligent
island
mother
piece
present
special
sure
Wednesday
Does Oliver eat sausages?
i to the end will be your friend
It is great to eat
Tell the gent to come in
An island is land
Mother ate a moth
The other lady was his mother
Eat a piece of pie
She sent a present
A special agent is someone in the CIA
Save up red elephants
Nes was wed on Wednesday
Creating spellings, rather than remembering them
An alternative to asking pupils to learn a set list of words is to ask them to generate as many
words as they can – this creates more ownership of the learning experience.
Think of all the words you can that contain a particular pattern. For example:
ight
Bright, fight, fighting, height, light, lightening, might, mighty, night,
nightly, right, rightly, sight, sighting, tight, tightly.
Take a prefix: How many words can you create using the following prefix
pre
Pretend, pretending, present, presently, presentation, preview, prepare, prepared,
preparation, predict, prediction, preposterous, preachg, preacher, precise, precisely,
preoccupation, prescribe, prescription.
Take a suffix: How many words can you create ending in the suffix:
ly
carefully thoughtfully, cowardly, terribly, seriously slowly, quickly, fortunately, unfortunately,
casually, meaningfully, normally, dramatically, aggressively, amazingly,
Take a common phoneme. For example:
ir
Bird, third, thirteen, thirty, thirst, thirsty, thirsty, first, shirt, skirt, dirt, dirty, birth, birthday,
girl, firm, firmly, stir, stirred
Take a vowel digraph. For example:
ai
chain, train, rain, rainy, brain, Spain, again, main, remain, pain, painful, explain, paint,
painted, painter, painting, rail, railway, sail, sailing, sailor, wait, waiting
Use a base word to generate as many words as you can. For example
sign
design
signature
signal
Resign
consign
significant
designer
designing
redesign
signed
signatory
signalling
Resignation consignment signify
Resigning
Resigned
Segment a word and create other words by using the letter strings
Unknowingly
un
underneath
understand
unhappy
unhelpful
unkink
unknown
unusual
know
known
knowing
knowingly
knowledge
ing
cooking
fighting
hating
sitting
singing
watching
throwing
ly
badly
carefully
quickly
slowly
terribly
seriously
extremely