Teaching Spelling 6-11: designing effective learning in English and across the curriculum

Teaching children to spell accurately makes such a difference to their writing. When able to communicate ideas with ease, their confidence as writers flourishes. Becoming increasingly proficient in spelling encourages pupils to make adventurous word choices and create progressively extended texts. The study of words and how they are formed is an exciting business, encouraging curiosity and pattern-spotting. It offers many opportunities for creative and collaborative thinking, and for pupils to explore metacognitive strategies as they discover how to memorise tricky parts of words. This Minibook draws on theory and research to give a valuable guide to effective classroom provision for the learning and teaching of spelling. It offers the classroom teacher clear principles for designing the spelling curriculum and describes practical activities for use in the classroom. It will also be helpful for English subject leads who wish to create effective policy and practice in this aspect of the curriculum. There is guidance on what knowledge pupils need to develop in order to build a secure understanding of how words are put together, and on ways to support the transfer of learning from spelling lessons to independent writing.