Have you guys ever heard of the practice of “Word Study” as a way to teach spelling? I came across this article that was pretty cool, and I thought I would share it with you guys!

“Word study” is an alternative to traditional spelling instruction.  It is based on learning word patterns rather than memorizing unconnected words.

Most teachers teach spelling by giving a student a list, then drill them with this list of word for a week, then move on to the next list of words.  This way of teaching is seen to be boring and tedious for students.  Word study provides students with opportunities to investigate and understand the patterns is words.  Knowledge of these patterns means that students needn’t learn to spell one word at a time.  For example, the difference between “hard c” (as in can) and a “soft c” (as in cell).  After learning many words containing the letter “c”, students learn that “c” is usually hard when followed by consonants (as in climb and crumble) and the vowel “a”, “o”, and “u” (as in cat and cut).  The “c” is usually soft when followed by “i”, “e”, and “y” ( as in circus and cycle).

Seems like a cool new way to learn spelling to me!!! Maybe I will teach this to my spelling monster friends in Spelltopia!! Come and play with us anytime!!!

For more full article on”Word Study”:

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/80/

I was doing some studying and came across a cool article that had a cool scoring chart that helps you analyze each developmental level of spelling.  There are 5 key steps to becoming a good speller.

1.  Precommunicative Spelling- the “babbling” stage of spelling.  The letters on precommunicative spelling does not correspond to sounds.  Examples: opsps=eagle rtat= eighty

2. Semiphonetic Spellers- when you learn that letters represent sounds. Spellings are often abbreviated representing initial and/ or final sound.  Examples: E= eagle; A= eighty

3. Phonetic Spellers- when you learn to spell words like they sound. The speller perceives and represents all of the phonemes in a word, though spellings may be unconventional.  Examples: EGL= eagle; ATE= eighty

4.  Transitional Spelling- when you begin to think about how words appear visually; a visual memory of spelling patterns is apparent.  Examples: EGIL= eagle;  EIGHTEE= eighty

5.Conventional Spelling- developed over years of word study and writing. Correct spelling can be categorized by instruction levels.  For example, correct spelling for a corpus… words that can be spelled by the average fourth grader would be fourth grade  level correct spelling.  Place the word in this category in this category if it is listed correctly.

Learning to spell is the coolest thing since, free library cards!!!!!! I love learning and spelling, so I’m so excited about this information. Which level are you guys on?  Well, no matter which level you are on, come and join us spelling monsters, as we help you one level at a time, with one game at a time!!!!!  This is Brainy, signing out with the latest edition of….. The Spelling Buzz!!!

For full article: www.gse.uci.edu/docs/DEVELOPMENTALSPELLING.pdf

This week I have been looking around for the coolest T.V. shows that will help us with learning how to spell.  I have come up with my top 5 shows that I think we all could learn spelling from.  These shows will help with learning your ABC’s, as well as how to spell words, and also what the words definitions are.  Ok……these are my top 5 shows that are sure to start your spelling engines!!!

1. Super Why (PBS kids)

Join the Super Readers, Alpha Pig with letter power, Wonder Red with word power, Princess Presto with spelling power, Super Why with the power to read, and of course Super You with the power to help, as the go on adventures in Storybook Land to solve everyday problems.  This show is an excellent way to learn spelling while also watching a cool show.

2. Between the Lions (PBS Kids)

Between the Lions is about a family of lions who run a library filled with magical books.  The series has puppetry, animation, and music to keep kids aged four to seven engaged. The books come alive, letters sing and dance, and words play on this wonderful education show.

3. WordWorld (PBS Kids)

The animated series WordWorld is a show about the WordFriends- Sheep, Frog, Duck, Pig, Ant, And Dog.  WordWorld incorporates letters into the characters and animation to help kids understand that letters make sounds and, when put together, spell words.  This is a great show to teach the fundamentals of spelling and reading.

4.  Wilbur (DIscovery Kids)

WIlbur is about an 8-year-old calf that helps his friends- Ray the rooster, Dasha the duck, and Libby the lamb- solve their problems through reading a book and relating them to their own problems. Wilbur and his friends show kids that it is fun to spell and read, and also how to use lessons in the stories they read and apply them to real life situations.

5.  Sesame Street (PBS Kids)

I sure this show needs no introduction…. especially since it has been on the air since 1969!!!

Sesame Street is a classic educational show that uses puppets along with kids to teach, not only letters, words, and spelling, but also numbers, colors, and shapes.  Sesame Street is an all around great show for any kid to watch!!!!

Well there you have it!!! My top 5 TV shows that teach spelling.  I hope you all get to enjoy them, but not so much that you forget to join me, and my spelling monster friends in Spelltopia, as we continue our journey to learn all things spelling!!!

I just wanted to zip through and give a big spelling shout-out to super spelling champion Arvind Mahankali.  Arvind was the 2013 Scripts National Spelling Bee winner. He is a 13-year old four time competitor and also the first boy to win the competition in 5 years.  Isn’t he awesome?  He never gave up, even after not winning three times. He knew he could do it, and he did it!!

In the past Arvind finished third in both 2011 and 2012, having struggled with words of German origin. Not this year! He won with the German word “Knaidel”, which is a type of dumpling.  Sounds like a lot of practice and studying to me!!!!

We monsters of Spelltopia want all of you out there to believe in yourselves the same way Arvind believed in himself.  Come along with me and all of the spelling monsters as we get you started on the road to becoming the future Spelling Bee champions!!!

I have been doing some research on how spelling helps with reading, and came up with some pretty cool facts.  Spelling is a very important part of reading.  You could would not be able to read words properly, without knowing how the words are spelled first.  Very interesting!!!

Research has shown that learning to spell and learning to read relies on the same underlying knowledge, such as, the relationships between letters and sounds. Spelling instruction can be designed to help children better understand to help children better understand that key knowledge, resulting in better reading.  When teaching spelling, you have to first, make sense of the english spelling system. The spelling of almost any word can be explained if one or more of the following five principles of English spelling is taken into account.

• Words’ language of origin and history of use can explain their spelling.

• Words’ meaning and part of speech can determine their spelling.

• Speech sounds are spelled with single letters and/ or combinations of up to four letters.

• The spelling of a given sound can vary according to its position within a word.

• The spellings of some sounds are governed by established conventions of letter sequences and patterns.

Who knew spelling was such an important part of learning to read?  I love learning new things through spelling!!!  There is a whole world of knowledge that can be explored with proper spelling and vocabulary!   So kids, remember to join me  Brainy, and all the other spelling monster of Spelltopia on this journey to ultimate spelling knowledge.

I’m ready, are you?

For more information about how spelling helps with reading, read full article at

www.Idoline.org/article/8845/

I had to come and tell you about the bravest most awesome speller I have come across in a long time.  His name is Nathaniel Dancy Jr., and you won’t believe the great and heroic thing he did for his dad using his spelling knowledge.  Nathaniel was riding home one day with his dad Nathaniel Sr., when his dad became very sick behind the wheel.  He was suffering from a stroke and an aneurysm.  Nathaniel Sr. was able to pull over without harming himself or his son, but was not able to call for help.  This is where Nathaniel Jr. bravely stepped in.  He called his grandmother for help, but did not know his exact location.  This is where his spelling skills were put to the test.  He had to figure out how to lead his grandmother and also his mother to him and his father in order to save his dads life.

Nathaniel Jr. looked around for signs that could reveal his location.  He was able to spell F-U-R-N-I-T-U-R-E, which was the store that was the closest to his location.  When his mom couldn’t quite understand him, he told her to use her  “active listening skills” to understand what he was saying.  Sounds like a pretty smart 5 year-old right?  He then told them that they were near a tunnel.  When his mom realized what furniture store he was referring to, she was able to locate them in time to save his father and get him to the hospital safely.

Thanks to Nathaniel Jr.’s awesome spelling skills, he became a hero to his whole family.

Isn’t that cool?  This is why it is so important to keep your spelling skills sharp, you never know when you may be in a situation where knowing how to spell could save you from a very dangerous situation.  So let’s cheer for Nathaniel Jr. and make sure we are learning to spell to the best of our abilities.  Join us spelling monsters, as we practice our spelling with cool, fun games.

This is Beatz signing out, catch you next time with the latest news on all things spelling with….. The Spelling Buzz!!!!!

For full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/16/nathaniel-dancy-5-year-old-saves-dads-life_n_3267573.html

While super skimming the internet to sharpen my spelling skills, I came across some information cool and interesting enough to slow me down (only for a minute).  I learned that children learn to read because their minds read the word as a whole instead of letter by letter. For example:

Can you raed this?

Even though the word is misspelled you can clearly understand what it says.  This is because your brain does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole.  That is Fastastic! Or as you would say Fantastic!!!

This ability raises the question, “Is spelling important?”  Well kids, of courses it is!  All great things begin with spelling!  You would never be able to tap into this cool talent without first being an excellent speller.  You have to know how to spell the word in order to use this cool way of reading.  So let’s keep sharpening our spelling skills with me, Zainy, and all of the other spelling monsters of Spelltopia.  With Spelling Monster the spelling adventure never ends!!!!!

For the full article:

http://www.learningbooks.net/wholeword.html

While I was searching the web, trying to soak in as much spelling knowledge as I can, I came across a very interesting article about how children learn to spell.  Did you know that all children learn to spell in 7 stages?  Isn’t that awesome?  I love learning about my human friends! Lets see what cool ways each stage taught you how to spell. 

Stage 1

Visual and Spelling memory-  Visual Memory also know as orthographic is vital to learning to spell, but it must be partnered with Spelling Memory. Spelling memory or, memory for letter sequence, is enhanced by the child’s awareness of speech sounds.

Stage 2

Precommunicative Writing-  Children begin guessing at whole words based on their visual features. (Erhi,1994)

Stage 3

Semihonetic Spelling-  Children begin to realize that letters represent speech sounds(Bissex,1980; Gentry 1981; Henderson, 1990) and selectively and predictably use abbreviated spellings.

Stage 4

Phonetic Spelling-  Children “spell” by matching sounds to letters and consistently representing all of a word’s sounds. They rely on how words feel in their mouths.

Stage 5

Transitional Spelling-  Children begin to understand that most sounds are represented by letter combinations.

Stage 6

Intergration Spelling-  Children should begin to consistently spell meaningful parts such as roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

Stage 7

Middle Grade Spelling-  Children continue to develop their concepts of orthography and their ability to associate spelling patterns with speech patterns.

Did you ever think spelling could be so interesting?  With this many stages of spelling, I know you could be a Spelling champ in no time!!  KIds, this just is another reason that spelling is so important to healthy growth and development.  Let’s continue on our journey to know all things spelling with me, Brainy and all of the other monsters of Spelltopia. Keep watching for the next edition of “The Spelling Buzz”.

For the full article : www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/how-children-learn-spell   

Hi Kids and parents,

This is Beats here, bringing you the latest buzz in the Spelling World!
There are some new changes coming soon to the “Scripps National Spelling Bee”.
In past competitions, contestants were allowed to ask for the definitions of words they were given to spell, well guys those days are over. The new Spelling Bee rules requires the contestant to both spell and define the words. How cool is that!!!!

This year a speller will also be evaluated on their vocabulary knowledge. “This is a significant change in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but also a natural one,” said Paige Kimble, director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. “It represents a deepening of the Bee’s commitment to its purpose: to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage. For the first time in 86 years the scripps spelling bee spellers will have to know the the meanings, not just the spellings, of words. Computerized multiple choice vocabulary tests will be given in the semifinals and champion finals that will account for 50% of the spellers overall score .”Spelling and vocabulary are, in essence, two sides of the same coin,” said Kimble. “As a child studies the spelling of a word and its etymology, he will discover its meaning. As a child learns the meaning of a word, it becomes easier to spell. And all of this enhances the child’s knowledge of the English language.”

So kids, join me, Beats, and all of my monster friends in Spelltopia to continue our quest for the knowledge of all things spelling, by making sure we are not only spelling champs but also vocabulary champs. The Spell Monsters are up for the challenge! How about you?

The Scripps National Spelling Bee to begin on May 28–30 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md.

http://www.spellingbee.com/ruleschanges for the full article.