Effects of explicit word study instruction and the effects on students spelling

Abstract

Spelling instruction has been an area of literacy that has always interested me. Some students can be great readers while also struggling in their knowledge of how the spelling system works. Being a teacher in the upper elementary grades I see this a lot. I have always believed that teaching students “why” words are spelt the way they are, can support them in their spelling ability. The purpose of the following study that I conducted with my class of fourth grade students was to see how daily fifteen-minute word study instruction can affect their spelling abilities. I wanted to see if teaching upper elementary students spelling patterns would help them improve in their spelling ability. The activities that were involved in this study were introducing a phonics pattern that was going to be focused on all week. During the week students would study the spelling pattern through explicit instruction that explains how the spelling pattern works. The students would also work with the same spelling pattern in word sorts, word lists, and decodable texts. Students would learn the spelling pattern and then be able to apply it other ways while reading and writing. This study was measuring how explicit instruction with the spelling patterns using multiple activities each day throughout five days would impact the spelling of the students. Key takeaways from the study conducted showed that providing upper elementary students with consistent daily word study instruction can improve their ability to spell words correctly. When teaching upper elementary students phonics patterns can support them in their understanding in how the spelling system works which in return will increase their spelling ability.