The learning activities in this book demonstrate engaging ways to explicitly teach five core spelling strategies:
Sound – focusing on sound
Visual – focusing on how words look
Meaning – thinking about word meaning
Connecting – making connections with other words
Checking – using live, print or electronic resources
One of the most effective ways to develop students' thinking about spelling is through the teacher's use of questions or prompts.
Learning activities throughout the book include prompts for the teacher, demonstrating how to encourage students to become more aware of the spelling strategies they use when writing or learning new words. For an example activity, see the Sample Pages.
"In order to improve spelling outcomes we need to spend productive time helping students to think about patterns in our language and to bring them to conscious awareness of the spelling strategies they use. Spelling is a complex cognitive process, not a simple act of memorisation."
– From the Introduction of Guiding Thinking for Effective Spelling
