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Students' Spelling Strategies
Researchers found five strategies used by students when trying to figure out how to spell a word. They are usually used in
combination with each other through all spelling stages.
1. Visualizing
Remembering words from books—picturing it from print experiences
Picturing words—seeing the word mentally
Trying alternatives—visualizing different spellings
2. Making Connections
Using word families and analogies—moving from known to unknown such as "would" to "could"
Starting with known patterns—working with letters or groups of letters that are known
Building words—using root words and affixes
3. Focusing on Sounds
Sounding it out—matching letters to sounds
Chunking—matching sounds to groups of letters
4. Reflecting
Verifying the spelling—checking back to see if spelling is correct
Correcting errors—finding omitted letters, substitutions, reversals, etc.
Checking with resources—using a dictionary, spell checker, word list, person, etc.
5. Combining Information
Working with multiple strategies—putting together the other four strategies as needed
Using a strategy routine—having a fixed routine to spell difficult words
Teaching these strategies can give students skills to become better spellers (Dahl, K., Barto, A., Bonfils, A., Carasello,
M., Christopher, J., Davis, R., et al, 2003).
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