Children want to write and it is only in writing that spelling is important.

The better the child’s spelling, the freer he is to write what he really wants to say.

OVERALL AIMS

Children will:­

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the alphabet in using word books and simple dictionaries.

2. Spell common and familiar words in a recognisable way or phonetically plausible, and this will be evident in the context of their writing.

3. Children will check the accuracy of their spelling by reference to the classroom resources.

4. Children will be able to spell more complex words correctly.

STRATEGIES

ALPHABET SPELLING BOOK

(a) This is very useful because a child can build up a ‘bank’ or list of words. The important point is that these are ‘asked’ for’ words and a child’s own list is likely to be the best vocabulary of all. In having this book the child is also learning dictionary skills, and can refer to it again and again.

INTEREST IN WORDS

(b) Encourage children to look at words with interest, at how they are made up and what other words they look like.

HIDDEN WORDS

(c) When a word is written down, play a game of looking for smaller words in the bigger word.

heard mother every
ear moth very
hear other ever
he the eve
he
her