12/6/16
Four(orfive)StepstoBe4er
SpellingInstruc;on
BillKeeney,PhD,CALP
DelawareValleyFriendsSchool
EnglishDeptChair
Dir.OfPedagogy&FacultyDevelopment
[email protected]
Handoutsandresourcesavailableat
h4p://goo.gl/EuuKsf
BillKeeneyasnorelevantfinancialornonfinancialrela;onshipstodisclose.
StructuredLiteracyInstruc0on
•  Explicit
•  Systema0c
•  Rule-based
•  WhataretherulesoftheEnglish
orthographicsystem?
•  Wehavetoknowwhattheyareifweareto
teachthem.
Mostpeople--includingReading
Specialists--getspellingwrong
•  Whenweread,wegofrom
PrintèSoundèMeaning(automa0cally)
•  Whenwespell,wegofrom
MeaningèSoundèPrint
(Handoutp2)
1
12/6/16
MORPHO-PHONEMICLanguage
Englishspellingisahighlyregular,orthographic
systembasedinamorphophonemicspelling
systemthat“takesprecedenceoverleNersoundsimplicity”(Venetzky1999,9).
MorphologicalAwarenessmakesaunique
contribu0ontoreadingandwri0ng—KenApel
Doesthissoundfamiliar?
“Sounditout”
I’m|ˈbɛdɪŋ|itdoes.(AmericanHeritageDic;onary)
|ˈfæm(ə)li| =*<famly>or<fambly>
|ˈaɪ(ə)rn|or/ɔrn/=*<iorn>
|deɪ| =*<daey>
WeSayThingsEveryWhichWay,
•  allophonicvaria0on
•  --AND,weocendon’tsaythingsthewaywe
thinkwedo.
•  Ticksinfrenssay,“Ahdintharya,butIkinfar
ya.”
2
12/6/16
NOTGoingtowanderintowildold
words
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
PhonologyandtheIPA
Phones,phonemes
Allophones,accentsanddialects
TheGreatVowelShic
VowelDiphthongs&Glides:
–  /eɪ//aɪ//doʊ//ju/
•  TheSchwaƏ
oral:meadow::spelling:garden
ortho=correct,regular
graphy=wri0ng
Instruc0onthat
•  Emphasizesandexposestheregulari0es
•  RuleBased
•  Structuralregulari0es
TreimanT6
3
12/6/16
NOTaRule
•  “<i>before<e>…”
– “excepta-er<c>,
– “orwhenitsoundslike/eɪ/(akaā)
asinneighborandweigh”
•  Thirty-threeviola0onsofthis“rule,”
including<either>and<height>.
Now,thatisoneweird“rule,”andonethat
wemightnotwanttoseizeholdof.
SPELLINGisREGULAR;
PRONUNCIATIONVARIES
Xsightwords
Xredwords
Xirregularwords
Xmisbehavingwords
Howdowordsbehave?
TeachREGULARITIES:
StructuralMatrix
• say pay lay
• says pays lays
• said paid laid – (whydon’twesay“sayed”) 4
12/6/16
Howdoyouspell_____?
1.  Whatdoesitmean?
2.  Howisitbuilt?
3.  Whatareitsrela0ves?
4.  Howisitpronounced
Handoutp1
WordAnalysis:Reading(syllable)
VS.Spelling(morpheme)
strucŸturedlitŸerŸaŸcyinŸstrucŸ0on
struct+urɇ+edliter+acyin+struct+ion
Handoutpage2
FivePrinciples
1.  Elements(morphemes)arestable
--theynevercrossmorphemicboundaries(joints)and
neverchangetheirspelling...
2.Wordfamiliessharecommonspellings
3.Threechangesatthesuffixjoints
--highlyregularandrule-driven.
4.  StablegraphemesinpredictablepaNerns
5.  Wordswithsimilarmeaningwillhavesimilar
spelling
5
12/6/16
FivePrac0ces
1.  Teachmorphemes(base,affix,connec0ves)
usingwordssums
2.TeachWordFamiliesusingmatrices.
3.  Teachthe“joints”usingtheflowchart.
4.  Teachgraphemesandpredictable
graphotac0cs.
5.  Teachstructuralsimilari0es,regardlessof
pronuncia0on.
MORPHEME
•  Aunitofmeaning(andofspelling)
•  Thatcannotbefurtherdivided
•  I.e.,itNEVERCHANGES
6
12/6/16
MORPHEMES:
base,affix,connec0vevowel(p3)
THEWORDSUM
prefix+BASE+suffix
WordsarebuiltfromtheBASEoutwards
WordswithacommonBASE
areinthesameFAMILY
Prac0ce1:TeachWordSums
prefix+BASE+suffix=>spelling(handoutp4)
“getsre-wriNenas”
AnnounceSpellingbyLETTERNAME,Why?
PauseatJointsbetweenmorphemes, Why?
“GetsRe-wriNenas…” Why?
in+struct+ion=>instruc0on THEWORDSUM
•  foot +ball =>football
•  note+book =>notebook
•  house+ boat=>
•  boat+house=>
•  Whatdotheymean?
•  Whyisthe<th>notpronounced/ð/or/θ/
7
12/6/16
THEWORDSUM
<lead>O.E.freebase“todirectorbeinchargeof”
lead+s=>
lead+ing=>
lead+er=>
mis+lead=>
leader+ship=>
stemvs.base
Bases
free bound twin
<lead> <struct><vert/verse>
<cheer> <ject> <duct/duce>
Howdoyouspell…
•  |ɪnˈstrəkʃ(ə)n|
•  |ˈstrək(t)ʃər|
•  Are<0on>and<ture>suffixes?
•  pressurevs.assure
8
12/6/16
ACTIVITIES:BeaWordNerdor
Scien0st,aSpellingDetec0ve,
aLinguist
•  PROVEIT!
–  Linguis0csisascience
–  Orthographyisthefield
–  ThebodyofevidenceisthewriNenrecord
–  Dic0onariesareourmainsecondaryresource
•  Note:Theycanbewrong!(see<–0on>above)
PROVEIT!
Onegreatresource:Etymonline:AnOnline
EtymologyDic0onary
ByDouglasHarper
h4p://www.etymonline.com/
Minimalpairs:
•  hatched,hatchet,hatcheck
•  moth,mother(thanksJulieWolterW5)
•  villa,village,villain(no–geor–insuffixes)
EtymologyandMorphology
Hypothesis:<villa>+<-in>,+<-ge>
Morphologicalproof:No<-ge>suffix
Hypothesis:<vill>or<ville>+-a,-ain,-age?
Etymologicalproof:Etymon(Rootvs.Base)
L.villa/O.F.villain&village
villas/villains,villainous/villager
silly/salute
h4p://www.etymonline.com/
9
12/6/16
SpellingErrorAnalysis
•  “visible”as“visble”--PA(syllable
segmenta0on)deficit;
•  “visible”as“vesible”--PA(sound
discrimina0on)deficit.
•  “visible”as“visibl”--orthographicknowledge
deficit,
•  “visible”as“visable”--deficitinstorageand
retrievaloftheorthographicwordimage
(MOI)inlong-termmemory.
Howdoyouspell…?
•  <classified>as<calasified>
•  Yes,aPA,but…
•  HowdoyouSOLVEit?
•  <class>+-ify+-ed
Ac0vi0es:Inventwords
(againJulieWolter)
micro(“small”) nom(“name”) ion(“ac0on”)
eu(“good) free(“letloose”) ify(“processof”)
un(“not”)dict(“say”) ia(“condi0on”)
•  micro+dict+ion=>sayingsomethingsocly
•  un+free+ify=>makingsomeonelessfree
•  eu+nom+ia=>thecondi0onofhavinga
goodname
•  Anoteon“Isthataword?”
10
12/6/16
LearnbyAnalogy
(againLLEAD)
•  reverse=“turnback” research=?
•  piglet(small) owlet(small)
•  so,whatwouldbeatoilet?
–  Etymonline:(asmallclothesbag)
•  bucket?omelet?(commonroot:laminate)
•  poet?asset?
–  (aquickwordonfalseetymologies…)
WordStudy,Vocabulary,and
Etymologies
•  Spellingisforwordsyoualreadyknow
•  Nooneneedstospellawordtheydon’t
knowthemeaningof.
•  Etymologyandwordstudycanhelpdevelop
–  interestinwords
–  vocabulary
Howdoesthisinformandimprove
ourInstruc0on?
•  RegularityandPredictability
•  Prac0cebuildingwords—inbothdirec0ons
–  Givesumandaskforspelling
–  Givespellingandaskforsum
•  LessonsandUnitsthathavestablespelling
paNerns
•  MorphemesmaNer—evenindecoding
11
12/6/16
MorphemesMaNer
—evenindecoding
Decodeandpronounce:
•  reac☐
•  reachvs.react
reŸact
•  rea ch
Teachthemtospellwordsthey
alreadyknow
NOTAdhoc
•  NewGSLh4p://www.newgeneralservicelist.org/
–  3000words,92%ofwriNenwords
•  NewAWL
h4p://www.newgeneralservicelist.org/nawl-new-academic-word-list/
•  83%ofcorpusof243Mwords
•  Arrangebystructure:morphemesand
graphemes
Prac0ce2:Teachwordfamilies
usingamatrix
prefix base suffix h4p://www.neilramsden.co.uk/spelling/matrix/temp/index.htmlHandoutp5&6answersp7
12
12/6/16
<lead>and<ject>
•  <lead>O.E.freebase“todirect,bein chargeof”
–  (p.s.,youhavetoknowwhatitmeansto
pronounceitcorrectly.)
•  <ject>L.boundbase“tothrow”
FindtheCommonBase
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
lead plead mislead
leader
Challenge:leaden
discover
discount
coverage
counter
discus/discuss
GreatResource:
TeachingHowtheWriNenWordWorks
byPeterBowers
TwoGreatTools
•  TheWordSearcher(seeHandoutp.16)
h4p://www.neilramsden.co.uk/spelling/searcher/index.html
•  TheMini-MatrixMaker
h4p://www.neilramsden.co.uk/spelling/matrix/temp/
index.html
13
12/6/16
Howcanthisinformtheirprac0ce?
•  |ˌkɑmpəˈtɪʃ(ə)n|=*<compu0shun>
•  compe00on=thestemiscompete
•  Rela0veiscompe0tor
HowCanthisInformourInstruc0on?
•  Giveaspellingtestwithjustonebase
•  Givethemamatrixandaskthemtospellas
manywordsastheycan
•  Givethemawordlistandhavethemcreatea
matrix
•  Whatelsecouldyoudowiththis?
14
12/6/16
Principle3:ThreeRegularSuffixRules
1.  Dropfinal–e
2.  Final<y>changesto<i>
3.  Finalconsonantdoubles
TeachasSuffixingRules
1.Dropsingle,final,non-syllabic<e>beforeavowel
suffix.
Ex.shamɇ+-ingàshaming
butshame+-fulàshameful
2.Change<y>to<i>a-eraCwhenaddinganysuffix
--excepti-suffixes Ex.buryi+-alàburial
butbury+-ingàburying
3.DoublefinalconsonantinstressedV-Cbase
whenaddingavowelsuffix(1-1-1rule)
Ex.defer(r)+-edàdeferred
butdefer+-mentàdeferment
orSuffixCheckerFlowChart(p8&9)
15
12/6/16
VowelSuffixvs.ConsonantSuffix
•  move+s =>moves
•  movɇ+ing=>moves
–  announce“no<e>”
•  movɇ+ed =>moved
•  move+ment=>movement
HowtoAnnouncetheChanges
•  happyi+ness=>happiness
–  announceas“ychangetoI”
•  hop(p)+ing=>hopping
–  “doublep”
•  hopɇ+ing
–  “noe”
=>hopefully?
HAPPINESSisawell-spelledword!
• <happy> <unhappy> • <happiness><happily>
• <happen> <happened>
Whatisthe“root”ofhappiness?
<hap>“event,occurrence”
16
12/6/16
Howdoesthisimproveinstruc0on?
•  Breaksitdownintosimplesteps
•  RevealspaNerns
•  Introduceoneortwoconceptsata0me
•  Prac0cebuildsconfidence
SeeHandoutp10&11forsampleexercises
Principle4:Spellingsarecreatedfrom
Graphemes,MORESOthanLeNers
(alone)
SOUND oral reading decoding phone phoneme word(or“pronounced”) SYMBOL
visual
wri0ng
encoding
leNer
grapheme
spelling
Wordsthatmeansimilarthings
willbespelledsimilarly
REGARDLESSofPRONUNCIATION
•  height
•  weight
SPELLEDthesame,MEANthesame,
PRONOUNCEDdifferently
17
12/6/16
Wordsthatmeansimilarthings
willbespelledsimilarly
•  he
•  she
•  they
•  them
SPELLEDthesame,Meanthe
same,PRONOUNCEDdifferently
Notonlyamorphemelevel,but
alsoatgraphemelevel
Evengraphemescanhavefamilies
•  tw:two,twin,twice,between
•  wr:wrist,wring,wriggle,wrestle
PRACTICE4:TeachSTRUCTURAL Similari0es
•  here
•  there
•  where
•  ere
“There’sahereinthereandeverywhere.”
SPELLEDthesame,MEANthesame,
PRONOUNCEDdifferently
18
12/6/16
TeachREGULARITIESofSTRUCTURE
•  be •  being
•  been
•  ----- do doing
done
does
go
going
gone
goes
Whynot<bene>?
Prac0ce5:Teachgraphemes,not
leNers(alone)(handoutp12)
•  Agraphemeisa1-,2-,or3-leNerstringthat
representsaphoneme
•  AlmostallofthephonemesinEnglishhave
mul0plegraphemes—andwehavemore
digraphsthanleNers!
•  TeachGraphotac0cs:frequenciesand
paNerns
•  Teachposi0on:ini0al,medial,final
<b>
<b> i,m,f /b/ bread,table,rib
<bb> i,m,f /b/ rubber
m,f // doubt
<mb> f// lamb,bomb
or/b/bombardment
19
12/6/16
<ea>
•  Whenyouareteaching/ē/,
“Thedigraph<ea>some0mesispronounced(or
represents)/ē/.”
•  Whenteaching/ĕ/,
“Thedigraph<ea>some0mesispronounced(or
represents)/ē/.”
•  Whenteaching/ā/,“occasionally,thedigraph
<ea>ispronounced(orrepresents)/ā/.”(9)
TEACHDigraphsandTrigraphs
asonestring(seeFarrellT4)
•  ch sh th qu
•  ai ea oa
•  ck tch ugh
GRAPHEMESpellingTest
<igh>
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
s_________t
n_________t
f_________t
m_________t
s_________ r_________t t_________t
l_________t
br_________t
h_________
20
12/6/16
GRAPHEMICandPHONEMIC
Awarenessmatching
LeNers,Phonemes,Graphemes(handoutp.13)
•  cat
•  catch
•  mate
•  might
TeachSpellingGraphemeMatrixes
asyouteachPhonemes
/k/spelled<ck>
infinalposi0on,insinglevowelbase
inmedialposi0on,inaccentedsyllable
ba_____ bu____et
ta_____ ta____le
bla____ ne____
si_____
blo____
du____
GiveONECONCEPTSpellingTests
thatEVERYONECANACE
Findfirstvowel,hastobeoneleNerbetween.
•  ba☐k“back”/bæk/
•  be☐k“beak”/bik/
•  ba☐k“bank”/baŋk/
Differen0atedspellingtests
•  (Samefor<ch>/<tch>and<ge>/<dge>)
21
12/6/16
Struct+urɇ+ed
Liter+acy
In+struct+ion
StructuralRegulari0es
•  ComplexbutNOTcrazy(crazɇ+-y)
•  Spellinghighlightsstructuralsimilari0es
betweensimilarwordswhetherwe
pronouncethemthesameornot.
•  Builtfromelementsthatneverchange
–  Exceptunderstrict,rule-boundcondi0ons
Acknowledgements
•  RealSpelling
h4p://www.realspelling.fr/Welcome_to_Real_Spelling/Choose-New.html
•  GinaCookattheLEX(Linguist-EducatorsExchange)
• 
h4p://linguisteducatorexchange.com
•  PeteBowersofTheWordWorksLiteracyCentre
•  h4p://www.wordworkskingston.com/WordWorks/Home.html
•  DouglasHarperofEtymonline
• 
h4p://www.etymonline.com/
•  NealRamsdenWordsearchandMini-MatrixMaker
• 
h4p://www.neilramsden.co.uk/spelling/index.html
Acknowledgements
•  MarciaHenry
UnlockingLiteracy:Effec;veDecoding&Spelling
Instruc;on
•  JanWasowiczSpell-LinksandSpelltalkListServ
h4p://www.learningbydesign.com/dr.-jan-wasowicz.html
22
12/6/16
Handoutsandresourcesavailableat
•  h4p://goo.gl/EuuKsf
•  [email protected]
Four(orfive)StepstoBe4er
SpellingInstruc;on
BillKeeney,PhD,CALP
DelawareValleyFriendsSchool
EnglishDeptChair
Dir.OfPedagogy&FacultyDevelopment
[email protected]
Handoutsandresourcesavailableat
h4p://goo.gl/EuuKsf
BillKeeneyasnorelevantfinancialornonfinancialrela;onshipstodisclose.
23