Enhancing Spelling Skills in Year 5 & 6: Effective Strategies and Tools

1. Madginford Primary School Y5 & 6 Supporting Spelling Wednesday 4th February 2015

2. Expectations for Spelling The new curriculum has seen an increased emphasis on the teaching of spelling. Children are expected to learn a variety of spelling rules and apply this knowledge to their written work. It is also expected that children will be able to proof-read their work. It is expected that children should be able to recognise and correct basic errors in spelling and punctuation.

3. Spelling Rules for Year Five • Learn the rules for words ending in –ciousor –tious • Learn the rules for words ending in –cial or –tial • Learn the rules for words ending in –ant, -ance, -ancy, -ent, -enceor –ency • Learn alternative ways of using ‘ough’ • Learn to spell words with letters which are not sounded • Continue to develop knowledge of homophones / near-homophones • Become familiar with words on the Y5 & 6 • word list

4. Spelling Rules for Year Six • Learn how to spell words ending in –able, -ible, -ably, -ibly • Adding suffixes to words ending in -fer • Using hyphens in compound words to show they are not a list of separate adjectives • Confidently spell words from Y5 & 6 lists • Continue to extend knowledge of near-homophones and homophones. The spelling objectives for Y5 & Y6 are not split in the national curriculum. We are following guidance from K.C.C.

5. Spelling Lists In KS2, there are spelling lists for Y5 & 6. Children are expected to recognise and spell these words in their independent writing. There will be some words children find more difficult – it is important that they keep revisiting these words again and again until they are confident in their use.

6. Spelling is Multi-Sensory • Look at it • Recognise the shape of the word, spot letter patterns, identify similarities with known words • Read it • Read the word – use phonic skills to segment it • Listen to it • Say the word – listen for the sounds at the beginning or end of the word. Identify the sounds in the middle. Break the words into syllables. • Feel it in your mouth • Exaggerate shape of mouth to • reinforce links with phonic knowledge • Write it • Write it again and again and again

7. Keep Going Back One of the key principles of phonics teaching is to ‘over teach’ – children are constantly revisiting the different phonemes. This is a good strategy for supporting spelling as well. Encourage children to break smaller words into phonemes. Flashcards can help children to revise those phonemes they find difficult.

8. Syllables A syllable is a unit of pronunciation. Breaking a word into syllables can help children to break down longer words into smaller chunks. • Window • Projector • Table • School • Snow • Yesterday • Freezing • Phonics Monosyllabic – words of one syllable Polysyllabic – words of three or more syllables What is the longest one syllable word you can think of?

9. Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check Research shows that children need to write words many times before it transfers to the long term memory. Remember to say the word out loud so that children can hear the sounds at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the word.

10. Learning New Words • Look for small words that are easy to spell • yesterday weather together Yesterday = yes + ter + day Weather = we + at + her Together = to + get + her

11. Learning New Words • Rainbow writing • Write each phoneme or syllable in a • different colour • r ainbowrainbow • Use a different colour to write the • part of the word causing problems • museum • Write the word out and trace over it • again and again using different colours

12. Making Links Encourage children to make links with words that they already know how to spell. Identify prefixes and suffixes. Think about word families… care - careful, carefully, uncaring fair - ?

13. Dictation • Children need to hear the words they are learning to spell. • Simple dictated sentences help them to use a multi-sensory approach. • Listening • Saying (encourage children to say word silently to themselves – exaggerate the • mouth movements if necessary) • Writing • Checking

14. Memory Aids Mnemonics are a good way to remember spellings Because – Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants Our –Orange Underwear – Really! Necessary – one collar, two socks Practice with a ‘c’ a noun can only be. Practise with an ‘s’ is just a verb, I guess. What about ways of remembering queue, minimum, accommodation?

15. Dictionaries • All children need to know how to use a dictionary. • They need to: • Know the order of the letters of the alphabet • Be able to recognise the first phoneme or • syllable of the word • Know how dictionaries are organised

16. Proof-Reading Ask children to read their writing out loud when they have finished. Encourage them to look for simple words that are wrongly spelt. Word mats or lists can help. Common mistakes … whent thay haf whith wos

17. Resources • Alphabet • Dictionaries • Flashcards with key vocabulary • Whiteboards/notebooks • There are some great games online – • Woodlands Junior School has lots of • games and activities.

18. And Finally… What do you say to an upset English teacher? Their, there, they’re