# data[].attributes.wish_content.attachment_props.question
How comfortable were you teaching spelling as a first year teacher?

# data[].attributes.wish_content.attachment_props.poll_choices[].choice_text
Very Uncomfortable, but at least I tried.

# data[].attributes.body
Teaching spelling is crucial if national standards are going to be met. However, many teachers, especially new teachers, lack the knowledge to teach it effectively.

# data[].attributes.headline
Current Approaches to Spelling Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
Current Approaches to Spelling Instruction

# data[].attributes.body
Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check: This strategy, which you were likely taught when you were in school, requires students to memorize words from a list or common spelling patterns.

Research says that teaching spelling in this format does not promote generalization and transfer to student writing.

# data[].attributes.headline
Current Approaches to Spelling Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
Current Approaches to Spelling Instruction

# data[].attributes.body
Research based spelling instruction

If students are taught code based methods such as awareness of phonemes, syllables, and morphology teachers are providing foundational skills that students can apply to reading, writing, and spelling.

If students have this knowledge, they will be able to approach unknown words to decode and understand their meaning.

Even though this is proven to be effective, many teachers do not include it as their main way of teaching spelling.

# data[].attributes.wish_content.attachment_props.question
What is your main approach to spelling instruction?

# data[].attributes.body
Teacher knowledge about language and how to use their language knowledge to teach spelling is crucial.

Step 1: Train teachers on how language is acquired and the research-based strategies that are most effective for teaching students how to spell, i.e. the Relational Approach to Teaching Spelling.

Step 2: Provide resources for teachers to implement and teach spelling strategies to students.

Step 3: Additional support from administrators/specialists should be provided to teachers who need more assistance on how to apply their language knowledge in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
2_what teachers need to know about language

# data[].attributes.headline
Relational Approach to Teaching Spelling

# data[].attributes.subject
Relational Approach to Teaching Spelling

# data[].attributes.body
This approach to spelling instruction helps students make meaningful connections between the phonemes they know and the morphemes they are learning.

Look inside the word

Find the morphemes

Say the sounds

Write the morphemes of the word

Check the word

"It is essential to know, not just what to teach to improve children's spelling performance, but how to teach it" (Herrington & Macken-Horarik, 2015, p. 63).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

# data[].attributes.body
Key Steps in Implementing a Relational Approach to Spelling Instruction:

1. Identifying the written morphemes in words.

2. Learning the meaning and/or function of the morphemes identified.

3. Teachers make an explicit connection between the morphemes and how they sound (phonemes).

Teachers should be provided with a teaching toolkit that includes information on how to identify morphemes, the different types of morphemes, the meanings and functions of common morphemes, and information on how words represent sounds and meaning.

All morphological terminology (morpheme, phoneme, base, prefix, suffix) should be defined for teachers to confidently and explicitly use while teaching students spelling.

Teachers should simultaneously teach letter sounds and the meaningful parts of words.

Use compare and contrast to help students develop an understanding of how morphemes can change the meaning of a word. For example, the suffixes -est and

-ist can sound the same at the end of words, but these suffixes have different meanings.

Teach the most commonly used morphemes in written words that will help students with spelling and reading comprehension.

# data[].attributes.body
Children's ability to think about words was gathered through spelling approximations, post-hoc interviews, and the qualitative differences between the pre and post Morphological Spelling Test (MST).

Morphological Spelling Test (MST)

MST was delivered before and post intervention (words used in the MST were not used during intervention). The results were analyzed.

Students were asked to spell the following words: richness, statement, madness, brother's, children's, opened, emotion, magician, musician, and bury).

An analysis of the correct spelling on the MST was conducted. Each morpheme spelled correctly in a word was awarded one point. For example, in the word magician there are two morphemes (magic and ian).

As a result of the intervention, researchers expected to see a move from phonologically-based spelling to morphologically-based spelling approximations.

# data[].attributes.body
A child's spelling performance can be improved by teaching the relationship between phonemes and morphemes at the same time.

Teachers indicated a new way of seeing the structure of words and how patterns of spelling are established.

It is important that BOTH students and teachers pay attention to how words are structured.

The smallest parts of words are significant!

Students can spell familiar words and unfamiliar words for meaning.

Students need to learn about morphemes in the early stages of their literacy instruction.

# data[].attributes.body
Click on the Image

# data[].attributes.wish_content.attachment_props.poll_choices[].choice_text
I knew a decent amount of the definitions. 

# data[].attributes.body
Herrington, M.H & Macken-Horarik, M. (2015). Linguistically informed teaching of spelling: Toward a relational approach. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 38(2), 61-71.