English Language Arts - A Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level (2002)

Using Student's Writing to Plan Spelling Instruction

Stage (Gentry, 1987)	What Student Knows	What Student is Ready to Study
Pre-conventional/Pre-phonetic (pre-school, ages 2-5 years) e.g., bst	knows about stories and what writing is but lacks concepts of words or relationships between sounds and letters makes letter-like shapes or actual letters and numbers combines drawing with writing may write name	Play "writing", scribbling, painting, drawing, colouring, cutting, constructing; dictating stories about their pictures; practising writing their names; extensive exposure to print.
Emergent (kindergarten to beginning of first grade, ages 5-6 years) e.g., mi = my or m = my	knows letter names and uses some sound-symbol correlations knows words are made of letters, but letter-to-sound consonant correspondences are lacking or incomplete uses words of one to three letters uses initial consonants in some words may omit vowels but very few vowels are used shows some sense of left to right uses letter names as sound cues	Studying alphabet if needed and beginning consonant sounds; making class chart stories; discussing key vocabulary; playing with language rhymes; working with word wall and learning simple sight vocabulary; reading environmental labels and pictures; creating big books and picture dictionaries; dictating stories and experience charts.
Early (grades 1-2) e.g., Mi cat caem hom today.	uses vowels in each syllable uses sight vocabulary short vowels are used but are generally inaccurate some blends and digraphs are in place knows correct spelling of many high frequency words and uses familiar spelling patterns intersperses conventional spelling with temporary spelling uses conventional spacing between words	Categorizing words by common patterns; developing word banks and beginning a personal dictionary. Studying one word family at a time and then comparing word families with the same vowel; discussing spelling patterns and sounds heard in words; using cloze procedure with familiar words; using word banks. Writing regularly; comparing word families with mixed vowels including words with blends and digraphs.
Conventional/Fluent (grades 2-4, ages 7-9 years) e.g., My cat came home today.	spells most words needed correctly has mastered root words, past tense, and short vowels still struggles with consonant doubling, letter position (e.g., silent e, controlled vowels, and word affixes) has growing knowledge of word meanings and complicated vowel patterns	Explicit instruction in classifying visual patterns; using word meanings and derivations (e.g., nature, natural, naturalist); using memory strategies for difficult words and developing strategies for learning new words; developing personal word lists; proofreading own writing. Writing and reading a variety of texts, doing word study (foreign prefixes, roots, suffixes), using syllabication, extending proofreading strategies, developing memory strategies for difficult words (e.g., look, cover, write, and check), playing word games (e.g., crosswords, word searches, and riddles).
Morphemic and Syntactic (grades 5-8, ages 10-13 years)	spells multisyllabic words and uses morphological and syntactical knowledge recognizes derivational relationships is better at doubling consonants, spelling alternative forms of words, and word endings	Building a personal spelling vocabulary; revising their writing; building a repertoire of spelling strategies. Writing, reading, word study, word games; using content-area words; identifying own problem words; proofreading own and others’ writing; using a variety of resources to assist in spelling; studying unusual spellings.

Developmental Spelling Inventory Directions: Read the following 10 words. Use each in a sentence. Ask the student to write down each word. 1. monster 2. united 3. dress 4. bottom 5. hiked 6. human 7. eagle 8. closed 9. bumped 10. typed Key: Analyze the child's spelling. 1. Find the error type in the scoring chart below that best matches the student's spelling. This does not have to be exact. 2. Write an abbreviation of the developmental level beside each word. 3. Look for the abbreviation that occurs most frequently to determine the child's developmental level. Scoring Chart
Pre-communicative	Emergent/ Semi-phonetic	Early Phonetic	Early Transitional	Conventional
1. random 2. random 3. random 4. random 5. random 6. random 7. random 8. random 9. random 10. random	Mtr U Jrs Bt H Um El Kd B Tp	monstr untid jras bodm hikt humm egl klosd bopt tip	monstur younighted dres bottum hicked humun egul closed bumped tipe	monster united dress bottom hiked human eagle closed bumped typed
(Gentry, 1985, p. 50)

This write, think, and check routine might be repeated five to seven more times for words that students are learning for the first time.

The teacher develops lists of words of varying levels of difficulty from which students select words to study. These lists are drawn from words students need in their writing projects, high-frequency words, graded word lists, and words used in units of study. Students spend approximately five to ten minutes studying the words on their study lists each day during the week. Students often test each other and the teacher gives a test at the end of the week to see that the words have been learned.

Teachers also need to help students develop their understanding of appropriate punctuation and capitalization. Punctuation can best be taught in conjunction with syntax and spelling, and through mini-lessons and self-editing and peer-editing groups. Punctuation and capitalization conventions should be explained based on their functions and meanings (rather than as rote rules). Students should come to understand and learn to use the following concepts (Hall & Robinson, 1996; Applebee, Langer, & Mullis, 1987):

Use capitals, periods, question marks, and exclamation points to mark sentence boundaries.
Use capitalization of proper names and places.
Use commas to separate words in a series, between a date and year, between a city and province, and after the greeting and closing in a friendly letter.
Use apostrophes to show possession and in contractions.
Use periods in abbreviations.
Use quotation marks for speech.

Teachers can mask punctuation or use inappropriate capitalization in revising activities. Students then discuss the punctuation and capitalization in context.

Teachers need to help students develop their understanding of clear printing and handwriting. Very young students should be provided with a variety of manipulative experiences such as stringing beads, working puzzles, cutting paper, and working with small interlocking blocks. These activities all extend previously acquired abilities in buttoning and zippering clothes, and securing footwear. The students should also be given frequent opportunities to use pencils, crayons, paints, and large sheets of paper as means to engaging in free expression. Later, the teacher can suggest making different uses of straight lines and circles, and introduce simple designs.

The most satisfying of all the young student's designs will be the student's own name. Name tags and labels on students' drawings are functional uses of print which naturally extend to the creation of stories, one word at a time, until the student eventually creates a sentence, and then multiple sentences. Through meaningful activities, the student recreates experience with paper and pencil, and gains insight into the purpose for letters of the alphabet.

Typically, handwriting is taught beginning with manuscript (i.e., printing) in the first grade and shifting to cursive (i.e., connected letters) in the third grade. Teachers model handwriting when they write on the board, take dictation on language experience charts, make posters, etc. Teachers also model letter formations for the whole class and provide handwriting charts for students. "Enough direct instruction should be given to enable children to write freely, as they develop fluency and legibility" (Cox, 1999, p. 413). Cox goes on to recommend that teachers demonstrate comfortable and relaxed writing positions and how to hold a pencil.

Mini-lessons should be provided to demonstrate the formation of a single letter or family of letters. Teachers should model letter formation for students and verbalize the "steps" and visual cues: "How many strokes are used in making the letter? Which stroke comes first? Where do you begin the stroke? In which direction do you go? What size will the letter be?" Beginning students, in particular, can be encouraged to verbalize and "direct" their own letter formation efforts and practise printing the letters on large charts, at the chalkboard, in sand, and then on lined paper. Sometimes writing tools such as chalk, markers, and crayons are easier than pencils for beginning writers.

Teachers should:

Model clear handwriting when printing or writing on the board or students' papers.
Follow one method consistently so students learn how to form letters with minimum confusion. Research has not shown one handwriting model to be superior to another. (See sample guides to letter formation on pp. 276-277.)
Display handwriting models (both upper and lower case) in a prominent place where students can refer to them (e.g., on the board or wall and on strips taped to their desks).
Keep direct instruction periods short (e.g., 10-15 minutes).
Give practice throughout the day in real writing tasks (e.g., letters, captions, recipes, game rules, poems) that are interesting to the students.
Provide support for both left-handed and right-handed students (e.g., show them how to turn their writing paper and how to hold their pencils or pens).
For young children, lines can be drawn on the board or paper, and students can practise forming letters with large movements.

In addition to posting large cards in the classroom, give students a desk alphabet in upper and lower case and a number card as personal references. Students appreciate daily quick writing sessions (five minutes to practise and develop fluency by writing personal thoughts) and "mad minute for writing" (uninterrupted sustained writing for one minute to increase proficiency). Gradually, teachers can acquaint students with the terminology and components of handwriting including shape, size, proportion, slant, and spacing.

Left-handed students require some consideration and adjustments (Howell, 1978). Help left-handed writers comfortably form letters without having to twist their wrists or hold the pencil in an awkward position.

Cox (1999) recommends the following sequence for printing and handwriting mini-lessons.

Manuscript: Students need to become fluent with manuscript letter formation. Generally, the less lifting of the pencil from the page, the better for students. It is helpful to group the letters that require similar strokes.

Simple Letters

Straight line and line with another stroke (t, I, k, u).
Circle and circle with another stroke (a, d, b, p, g, q).

Letters with Similar Patterns

Open circle and open circle with another stroke (e, f).
Lines and humps (n, m, h, r).
Angles (x, y, v, w, z).
Unique letter(s).

Uppercase
1. Like lowercase (COSTKPUVWXZ).
2. Unlike lowercase (ABDEFGHIJLMNQRY).

Transition from Manuscript to Cursive: Students should be comfortable and fluent with manuscript letter formation before they face the challenge of cursive writing. If strokes, circles, and shapes of manuscript letter formation are problematic for students, premature transition to the slopes, loops, and connected letters in cursive writing may result in undue frustration. Few students are developmentally prepared for the transition to cursive writing before seven or eight years of age. When students show an obvious curiosity about cursive form and are eager to copy letters from display charts, they are ready to begin simple cursive letter formations (e.g., latter half of grade 2).

Teachers should show some words in both styles (manuscript and cursive), how they are connected, and the change in slant. Teachers need to show students how to read cursive writing but should not expect every student readily to master or prefer it. Legible manuscript is better than illegible cursive.

Cursive Writing: Only six letters are really formed differently in cursive writing compared to manuscript letter formation: b, e, f, r, s, z. Again, it is helpful to group the letters that have similar strokes.

Letters with an under curve (b, e, f, h, i, k, l, r, s, t, u, w).
Over curve or hump letters (m, n, v, x, y, z).
Downward curve (a, c, d, g, o).
Lower loop (j, y, g).

Assessment and Evaluation: The best assessments of handwriting incorporate a student's self-appraisal and awareness of increasing proficiency. Kindergarten and first grade children are well able to self-assess their manuscript writing if their teacher has informally talked with them daily about formation, spacing, and so forth. Pride in manuscript letter formation can grow easily.

Older students and their teacher can compile portfolios of dated writing samples and collaboratively develop criteria for evaluation. Such criteria can be included in a self-assessment form such as this one for cursive writing:

Sample Self-assessment Questions

__ Are my letters slanting in the same direction?
__ Do my letters sit on the line?
__ Are my lower and upper case letters appropriate in size?
__ Did I leave enough space between letters and words?
__ Is my writing legible? Can others read it?

Sample Guide To Manuscript Letter Formation
(Continuous Method and d'Nealian Alternatives)

The Continuous Method is distinguished from others by few lifts of the pencil. Parts of a letter are traced to encourage a continuous, fluid movement. The method is particularly useful for students with learning difficulties who frequently become confused mid-way through the making of letter formations. Contrary to the old ball-stick method, letters b and d have different and individual formations.

Teachers are encouraged to verbalize their hand movements.

Sample Guide to Cursive Letter Formation

Note: Teachers are encouraged to verbalize their hand movements.