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Expose students to oral and written language.

Use of vocabularies in discussion is especially useful for older struggling students (Hiebert and Kamil 29).

In an increasingly digital age, practice handwriting.

Review when different types of vocabulary is appropriate (ex. colloquial vocabulary versus formal).

Have students get in the habit of circling or noting words they don't understand.

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How this applies to our Philosophy of Assessment

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How this applies to our Philosophy of Assessment

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Assessment is an ongoing process - it is not limited to a final, summative task

Assessment requires communication between teachers, students, and other stakeholders

Feedback on Assessment is a critical component

Assessment should directly reflect stated success criteria and learning goals

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Approximately half of English words, sounds, and letter associations "map simply and perfectly," with no need for memorization, while approximately 40% can be learned through "instruction of slightly more complex letter-sound correspondences." The other 10% must be memorized. ("Spelling")

Spelling Tips to Teach

Alphabetic Principal: Knowledge of which individual letters match up to sounds in a left to right sequence.
(Ie. In the word "cup" each sound is represented by a single letter).

Pattern Information: Which groups of letters function as a pattern to represent sounds.
(Ie. CVC - Constant/Vowel/Consent) patter to form short vowels such as "cat" or CVCe/CVVC patters to form long vowels such as same or meat)

Spelling Variations: Based on word origins.
(Ie. 'ch' sounds like /ch/ in Anglo-Saxon words like "check", /sh/ in French words like "niche", and /k/ in Greek words like chaos.)

Meaning Information: Which groups of letters represent meaning (morphological).
(Ie. The prefix "re-" as in "redo", means to do again).
("Spelling")

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The English language is not written phonetically. In order to properly assess and teach spelling, we need to consider all the Threads involved in creating words:

Phonological knowledge

sound–letter
relationships

hearing phonemes within words and knowing the corresponding
graphemes possible for those phonemes is a key skill in spelling

NOTE: An analysis of spelling errors of students in the upper elementary grades demonstrates errors are made primarily through
an overreliance on phonological processing

Morphological knowledge

understanding the parts of words that have meaning

base words, suffixes, and prefixes are all morphemes

many words in the English language are made by adding suffixes or prefixes

example: A child who says "getted" when they meant "got" demonstrates morphological knowledge because they correctly used the suffix "-ed"

this knowledge helps students comprehend unknown words

Orthographic knowledge

understanding plausible letter combinations and that there are conventions telling us this

reduces chance of errors

Etymological knowledge

understanding word origins

English is a polyglot language meaning it is a mix of all different languages: German, French, Latin,  Greek, and pieces from other languages and spelling

words do not only originate from other languages, but sometimes from things like acronyms/abbreviations, and onomatopoeia

Visual knowledge

helps to:

store words ✅

remember components of  words ✅

to spell in more automatic ways ✅

Semantic knowledge

the foundation of all the threads

the best spellers understand the words they  know how to spell

(Adoniou et al 4-8)

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Define word in own language

Draw a picture of the word or what it represents

Students find synonyms and antonyms, then wear name tags of each word and organize themselves into groups

Make definitions into jingles or songs

Make mind maps or semantic maps

Vocabulary Gloves: write the word on back; sentence on palm; synonyms on thumb, pointer and middle fingers; antonym on ring finger; definition on pinky

Act out word meanings

Vocabulary Bingo: words and definitions on Bingo sheet, students find peers who can complete each square

Keep vocabulary pages in the front of textbooks, notebooks, or binders where students can add new words every time they encounter one.
(Sprenger)

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Keep a consistent 'word wall' in the classroom with new and learned vocabulary words.  By using a word wall, students are able look look over and reference the word when speaking or writing. This increases motivation and likelihood to use and understand new words by visually displaying it,
and having it as an easily accessible tool for use in the classroom.

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Not always about learning new words but about deepening our understandings of words we already know by considering the construction, definition, and connections to other words

("Assessing Vocabulary Knowledge" 134)

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Where do students gain spelling and vocabulary knowledge?

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Where do students gain spelling and vocabulary knowledge?

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Outside the English classroom, vocabulary is learned as it is encountered, and then applied when it serves a clear purpose. In fact, “twenty-five to fifty percent of annual vocabulary growth can be attributed to incidental learning from meaningful context while reading” (Nagy et. all and Bintz 46). Therefore, valuable vocabulary and spelling learning can occur across the curriculum, at every level and subject.

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To increase vocabulary learning in schools, teachers should consider “how teams of teachers can teach vocabulary through an interdisciplinary approach,” and “how teams of teachers can develop and implement a coherent school wide or district-wide program for teaching vocabulary across the curriculum” (Bintz 51).

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How can spelling and vocabulary be assessed outside an English classroom?

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How can spelling and vocabulary be assessed outside an English classroom?

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Teachers should make it clear to students what they expect in terms of spelling and vocabulary. For example, high school students will most likely need to write a formal writing piece for every class, whether it be a science lab report or a history essay. Teachers should not focus on marking spelling for these as it is not stated directly in the curriculum, but they should mark the use of terminology as outlined in the various curriculums.

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Vocabulary and spelling are relevant for every single subject, but in different ways.

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Vocabulary and spelling are relevant for every single subject, but in different ways.

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While students may learn and begin to understand vocabulary in social settings outside of the English classroom, in-class instruction helps students develop the tools and practice solidifying their understanding, and “engage with the vocabulary through texts.”

(Rasinski)

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Research demonstrates that the size of a student’s vocabulary when entering school correlates with their readiness for school and ultimately, how successful they will be in school.

(Rowe et al.)

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For students who are weaker readers, it is still important to hear vocabulary through texts. This allows students to actively acquire rich vocabulary orally, that they may not be able to understand visually.
(Nagy 28)

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It is important for students to practice writing new vocabulary words. Contextualizing these words in their own writing will increase student understanding and ability to accurately recognize the word when reading it in other contexts.
(Timothy)

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Vocabulary and Spelling in Relation to Agency

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Vocabulary and Spelling in Relation to Agency

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As revealed in From Research to Practice Writing, Technology and English Teacher Education, “[w]riting pedagogy emphasizes the importance of agency; for instance, writers are often motivated when given choice in terms of the genre, content, and audience. In this assessment task, pre-service teachers were asked to write a creative piece, solicit feedback, and engage in reflection.” Teachers can provide students with a sense of agency by improving students' skills in spelling and vocabulary. If students can spell or form thoughts thoroughly and comprehensively, students have access to almost anything.  A large part of the writing process (creation process, including creating and developing thoughts) is the reading process, which as mentioned above works in conjunction with spelling and vocabulary (Curwood et al. 127.)

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Vocabulary is "the knowledge of meanings of words" (Hiebert and Kamil 2). It can also be thought of as the sum of words used by a language, group, individual, or field of knowledge (Merriam-Webster).

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Vocabulary is made up of words, phonemes and sound patterns and "semantic representation of word meaning" (Ouellette 554). Everyone has a lexicon, an "organized store of (phonological) word forms" that is connected to semantics. Hence, students can draw vocabulary from the lexicon, and also build it throughout their time at school and beyond.

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Productive vocabulary is made up of words people use often when speaking and/or writing (Hiebert and Kamil 2).

Receptive vocabulary is words we recognize through listening or reading (2-3). These words are not used as often, but students may still recognize them and partially understand what they mean.

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Spelling is the sum of phonemes and letters that represent them.

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When students are taught how to use phonemes, they are taught  how to recognize, think about and apply sounds to make up words (Moats and Tolman). Phonic instruction teaches students the relationship between sounds and letters and in effect, how to sound out or decode words (Blevins). When students can decode words, they are able to understand them better and build on their vocabulary. As students practice spelling, they learn more spelling and phonetic patterns. Eventually they learn proper pronunciation of those words and develop a proper vocabulary.

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VKS (Vocabulary Knowledge Scale) asks students to self-report their familiarity and understanding with vocabulary terms, and tests their ability to define and apply the word

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Students' grasp of one word is linked to their knowledge of other words 

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Students' grasp of one word is linked to their knowledge of other words 

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Generalization: The ability to define a word

Application: Selecting an appropriate use of the word

Breadth: Knowledge of multiple meanings of the word

Precision: The ability to apply a term correctly to all situations

Availability: The ability to use the word productively

(Bravo and Dougherty Stahl)

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Math & Science: students need to spell equations correctly or the meaning may change Eg. in Chemistry, Mo and Mn are completely different elements. If students were to misspell this, they would form completely different compounds.

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Music: students learn to read musical notation in order to bring a piece to life. If written or read differently, the beat, tone, and sound of the musical composition would become a new piece. While this can pave the way for artistic freedom, it can sound terrible if one player misreads their part and they are playing with a band.

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French & World Languages: it is easier for students to learn grammar and spelling if they are already confident with the English language as they are already familiar with essential skills of recognizing letters, punctuation, and spelling and grammar patterns. Students will also find greater success at new languages if they are already practiced and comfortable with vocabulary-acquisition strategies. From the Grade 9 French Curriculum, p 67, C1.4: "Developing Vocabulary: use a variety of vocabulary-acquisition strategies before, during, and after reading to determine or confirm the meaning of new, unfamiliar, or recently learned words and expressions (e.g., identify familiar words used in new contexts and explain their meaning; identify slang expressions and jargon, and research their meaning; identify words borrowed from other languages; use words in context to demonstrate their meaning; construct a word web listing the personality traits of a character; use understanding of context and parts of speech to deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words and expressions; use knowledge of roots, prefixes, and suffixes to help them determine the meaning of unfamiliar words; use French–English dictionaries to confirm the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary)"

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History and Social Studies: students should know proper terminology such as names of treaties and political movements

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Science: “students use a different set of skills than they do when reading fiction or general non-fiction. They need to understand vocabulary and terminology that are unique to science, and must be able to interpret symbols, charts, diagrams, and graphs. In addition, as they progress through secondary school, it becomes critically important for them to have the ability to make sense of the organization of science textbooks, scientific journals, and research papers.” ("Science" 39)

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(Classroom Vocabulary Assessment for Content Areas)

Teaching tier 3 vocabulary requires situating the word within a system of ideas to be developed (Stahl & Nagy).