Inventive Spelling

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Home : 2002 : November : 10

Inventive Spelling
By Judy

Getting children to not rely on the teacher to spell every word for them is sometimes a difficult task. I tell them to say the word slowly and write what they hear. They have seen me model this in Shared and Interactive
Writing, so they understand what I mean. If they ask me if a word is spelled correctly, I respond that they have it written how it sounds. Some children will ask if a word needs a c or a k. Then I will either tell them or we will write it both ways on a white board and see which one looks the way it is written in books. I also use the Word Wall in my classroom and the children are held

responsible for spelling those words accurately in all of their writing. I don't tell them that a particular word is spelled wrong, but ask them to check to make sure the Word Wall words are spelled correctly. They practice this weekly on the dictation sentences part of their spelling test. If the children get too concerned about the spelling, it will really slow down their writing. I hope this is helpful.