Teaching Spelling With Understanding
In the book, a complete concept delivery schedule lays out spelling concepts for each grade level. Every spelling word listed for each concept is color-coded according to grade level as well. You can purchase and download a PDF file that lists every concept for each grade (36 lessons per grade) in your choice of American, British or Canadian English, including word lists, spelling patterns, exceptions and easily confused words for that concept. Spelling patterns are provided sparingly in the early grades with simplified language, and reiterated in more detail as students progress toward middle school. In due course, these lesson concepts will be developed into full workbooks with a unique teaching pedagogy designed to spark interest and inquiry in students’ minds and deepen their understanding of the English language.
Spelling With Understanding lessons begin in grade 2 with the assumption that students will already have a basic understanding of the alphabet and the most common sound each letter makes (phonics). Most first grade curriculum will have taught students CVC words (consonant vowel consonant) with short vowels sounds which are the easiest words to learn. At this stage, it will be helpful to begin Spelling With Understanding so that spelling words will be delivered according to pattern concepts with reliable patterns.
Grade 2
- Short and long vowel sounds with most basic spellings
- Consonant sounds with the most basic spellings
- Exceptions to spelling patterns
- Introduction to the concept of syllables
- Silent E: to make the preceding vowel long
- Double consonants: to make the preceding vowel short
- Introduction to compound words
- Introduction to silent letters
Grade 3
- Short and long vowel sounds
- Consonant sounds
- Exceptions to spelling patterns
- Introduction to suffixes & prefixes
- Suffix -S and -ES for regular plurals and verb tense
- Prefixes: UN-, RE-
- Suffixes: -ING, -ED, -Y, -ER, -EST
- Compound words
- Silent letters
Grade 4
- Syllables and stress
- Short and long vowel sounds
- EI vs. IE
- Consonant sounds
- Silent letters
- Irregular plurals
- Prefixes
- Suffixes
- Capitalization
- Punctuation
- Compound words
Grade 5
- Syllables and stress
- Fifth grade vocabulary words reinforcing short and long vowel sounds
- Consonant sounds
- Silent letters
- Root morphemes
- Prefix morphemes
- Suffix morphemes
- Punctuation
- Compound words
Grade 6
- Sixth grade vocabulary words reinforcing phoneme spelling patterns
- Root morphemes
- Prefixes & suffixes
- Words adopted from other languages
- Silent letters
- Greek plurals
- Compound words
Grade 7
- Seventh grade vocabulary words reinforcing phoneme spelling patterns
- A review of doubling consonants, using silent E and changing Y to I when adding suffixes
- In depth study of roots, prefixes and affixes
- Complex morpheme division
- Words adopted from other languages and the accent marks involved
- Useful old-fashioned words
- Silent letters
After grade 7, students can expand their knowledge of spelling, morphology, etymology and vocabulary by studying directly from Spelling With Understanding: The Key to Not Hating English.