An effective spelling program teaches spelling through the use of phonemic, whole-word, and morphemic instruction that use both direct instruction and other research-based supplemental materials.

Rule-Based Spelling Stategy

• The beginning spelling student will soon recognize, however, that there are often several possible spellings for the same sound—the sound of /j/ can be spelled j, g or dge, for example—and that's when knowing some rules will come in handy! There are many reliable rules and generalizations in English spelling that will help students make the correct choices in their own writing. For example, knowing the rules regarding the use of c and k and knowing that the sound of /ch/ is usually spelled tchafter a short vowel helps us write the word kitchen. And knowing generalizations can help us correctly spell words like acceptable and automatic.

Phonetic Spelling Strategies

• The first strategy that should be taught to beginning spellers is to listen for each sound in a word and to represent each sound with a letter or combination of letters. If you teach the phonograms—that the sound of /ă/ is spelled with the letter a and the sound of /n/ is spelled with the letter n, for example—the student will be able to accurately represent the individual sounds he hears in a word. Segmenting words is a great way for students to practice this strategy.   

  Take the word brush, for example. If the student can identify the individual sounds and knows the phonograms b, r, u, and sh, he will be able to spell the word easily. Hundreds of words can be written correctly simply by applying this phonetic spelling strategy. 

Visual Spelling Strategies

• Does the word look right? Good spellers often try spelling a word several ways to see which way looks correct. This is where the word banks in the All About Spelling program come in. Each word bank focuses on one concept, such as the sound of /j/ spelled dge, and helps build the student’s visual memory of words related to that particular concept. Visual memory is important when it comes to correctly using homophones, too, like pray and prey or tale and tail. Extensive reading and word games will also help your student build visual memory. 

Morphemic Spelling Strategies

• Morphemic strategies are based on the knowledge of how the meaning of a word influences its spelling.All About Spelling teaches words with Greek and Latin roots and words based on other derivatives, how to add prefixes and suffixes to base words, and how to form compound words and abbreviations. Morphemic strategies enable good spellers to spell words such as neurologist, multitude, andchiropractic.

  As spellers become more competent, they will usually use a combination of all four strategies in their writing. Most people don’t even realize that they are using these approaches to spelling—with practice, the strategies become automatic and are employed on a subconscious level.