Spelling Inquiry
Spelling inquiry
These words come from individual student writing. They could be words that they have miselt or words they are interested in learning more about. Independence is built to record spelling misconceptions, tracked in the Spelling Journal, leading to a deep inquiry.
Students use inquiry skills to determine a word’s:
o Meaning
o Sound and related words for example ate, kate and bait
o Synonyms
o Antonyms
o Origin/History
o Etymology
o Syllables
o Root
o Prefix
o Suffix
o Pronunciation
o Spelling pattern
o Meaning in context (such as in texts)
REFLECTION IS ESSENTIAL!!!
Reflection Questions valuable to Spelling Inquiry / Writing transfer:
- What other words does this inquiry connect me to?
- How will today’s inquiry help me self-regulate in my future writing?
Etymology of words- the history of words
The Etymology of a word is the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.
This can then create a deeper inquiry into words and they investigate a words generalisations through the inquiry of etymology. This then provides learners with the natural progression of wonder through
'what other words with a similar pattern does this connect me to?'
For example below is a spelling inquiry into the word 'tangle' came from the Sweden and Germany with the word 'entangle'. This lead to a learner looking at a world map and seeing where these countries are, and how they may have been adpated with time.
Prep
To begin their own Spelling Inquiry, we encourage our Preps to conduct their own 'sound inquiry' as they discover what letters make the different sounds. For example 'ck', 'c' and 'k' can all make the /k/ sound. By conducting these sound inquiries they are able to identify patterns and genralisations which will support them in learning how to spell words. We encourage them to use find these words in context for example in books.
Year 1 - 6 Spelling Inquiry
As learners progress through the years they begin to attain a deeper understanding of words, how they are spelt, the patterns and generalisations of words and how to use them in the best possible way.
Please remember to ask your child
What words does this connect you to?