Alternative Spelling Skills

1. Say:

“You are going to spell some words. Spelling these words will show what sounds and spelling patterns you know. I will say the word once. Then I will read it in a sentence. Then I will say it one more time. After that, you will write the word on your paper. Write the correct spelling if you know it. If a word is tricky for you, just do your best and write letters for the sounds you hear in the word. If you need me to repeat the word, raise your hand.”

2. Give each student a piece of lined paper or the blank Student Test sheet provided. Make sure students write the words in the correct order and next to the correct number.

3. Read the word separately, and then read the word within the given sentence (see below for sentences). Read the word once more. If a student raises his or her hand to repeat the word, use your discretion to decide how many times you will repeat the word before moving on. Some of these will need a student-friendly explanation of the meaning of the word as well as the sentence. Not every K–2 student will know what “wig” and “jog” or “chat,” “information,” “thread,” and “invasion” mean. Even with solid grapheme-phoneme knowledge, it inevitably becomes somewhat more difficult for students who have no or little sense of the meaning. Be sure to model or explain such words as needed.

4. Complete all words in the list.

5. If the student spells 10 or more of the words correctly, administer the next, harder list. If the student spells fewer than five words correctly, administer the previous, easier list. This list does not need to be administered in the same sitting.

Annotating the student’s spelling provides information that can be used to inform instruction. Using the phonetic spelling underneath each word along with annotation, allows you to look for patterns in errors. For example, consider a student who correctly represents just two out of three phonemes in many of the words in the Partial Alphabetic phase. Looking at the annotation, you may discover errors such as “weg” for “wig” and “sep” for “sip.” These errors suggest that targeted instruction to differentiate the vowels “e” and “i” is needed. Or you may discover errors such as “wg” for “wig” and “sp” for “sip.” This suggests that the student is not yet identifying and recording medial vowel sounds and needs targeted instruction in that area. This type of analysis allows you to home in on the specific lesson cycle that can be used during differentiated small group instruction when you use the Assessment Conversion chart.

Some of the words in the Consolidated list contain underlined parts. This is simply provided as a reference when analyzing the student’s spelling. The underlined parts indicate the types of features in words that distinguish the patterns expected in Consolidated from those expected in the Full Alphabetic phase. Examining a student’s spellings of these features can provide information on which features may need targeted instruction. For example, if the student writes “condishun” for “condition,” instruction in /shun/ spelled “tion” is needed.

Use this table to determine the student’s micro-phase.

Reminder: If the student spells 10 or more of the words correctly, administer the next, harder list. If the student spells fewer than five words correctly, administer the previous, easier list. This list does not need to be administered in the same sitting.

Reminder: If the student spells 10 or more of the words correctly, administer the next, harder list. If the student spells fewer than five words correctly, administer the previous, easier list. This list does not need to be administered in the same sitting.

Reminder: If the student spells 10 or more of the words correctly, administer the next, harder list. If the student spells fewer than five words correctly, administer the previous, easier list. This list does not need to be administered in the same sitting.