Educators' views on spelling have evolved over time – during the Colonial times, 'spelling was the core of the school curriculum...the spelling book was the sole textbook, and it also served as the major resource for all curricular areas' (Kolodziej & Columba, 2005).
In the late 1800s, however, with the advent of pragmatism and developmental psychology, experts realized that rote memorization of spelling words may not be developmentally appropriate for young kids, ushering in the age of invented spelling.
Proponents of invented spelling pointed out that when children are encouraged to invent phonetic spellings for words that haven't yet been introduced to them, they are better encouraged to learn further, and would eventually outgrow the inaccurate spellings.
But assessments of work turned in by students in the higher grades showed dismal spellings for even the simplest of words, and educators are once again in a quandary.
This was spelling made simple, indeed, but the results were disastrous – for certain parts of the country, at least.
One proposed solution for this dilemma is developing a systematic spelling action plan for the classroom, as developed by Rowe (1996).
This 'plan' for teachers includes conducting activities such as writing messages to students, learning concepts about print, and composing stories with groups of students and afterwards writing these stories on large sheets of paper.
In other words, spelling should be made more interesting and used in context to make students comprehend them better.
Technology is also a shoo-in for spelling made simple, especially to students who aren't very receptive to memorizing spelling lists.
Computers also provided a more affordable alternative to hiring tutors. According to Starkweather (1986), 'In the late 1960s, it was possible to place a student in communication with a large-scale computer for about the cost of using an individual tutor.'
But that was nearly half a century ago!
At the time, it was imagined that the costs would further decrease, and they did – purchasing spelling software, for instance, costs less than 1% of what a parent would spend for a year's worth of personal tutoring.
One good example of user-friendly technology for teaching spelling is the ubiquitous Ultimate Spelling software.
Ultimate Spelling still makes use of spelling lists, but the student learns at his own pace and moves on to the next spelling list as he masters a certain set.
The developers of the Ultimate Spelling software came up with these lists after an intensive study of which words are appropriate for Grades One to Ten, with each grade having various levels.
There's no question that kids warm up to gadgets with more enthusiasm than books, so educators should build on that natural eagerness and turn to spelling made simple with user-friendly technology, such as inexpensive computer spelling software.
References:
Kolodziej, N J & Columba, L 2005, 'Invented Spelling: Guidelines for Parents', Reading Improvement, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 212-223.
Rowe, G 1996, Systematic spelling: a classroom action plan, Dellasta, Mt. Waverley, Vic.
Starkweather, J A 1986, 'The computer as a tool for learning', Medical Informatics, vol. 145, pp. 864-868.