[eal-bilingual] Teaching spelling

I'd say the best books and resources to help them with their spelling are the ones they are reading in class and writing in themselves.

I don't just mean this in a flippant 'spelling is caught not taught' way (though I happen to think that's largely true.

The texts they are reading probably contain all the technical words they need to know how to spell correctly, so one obvious thing to do is to draw up a glossary of these terms so that they have a list of them for reference.

As to learning spellings, well, I'm an advocate of the pattern recognition approach. English spelling is wonderfully helpful in some ways. Despite the different pronunciation of words such as photograph, photographer and photosynthesis the spelling of phot remains constant. So one strategy is to get them to focus on the meaning of words as a predictor of their spelling.

Developing proof-reading skills is also useful. My favourite technique for checking spelling is to start at the end and work backwards. That way you are less likely to gloss over a mis-spelt word because you are caught up in the flow of normal reading.

If the problem is non-technical vocabulary (e.g. mistaking their/there) then it might me helpful to use some tricks, such as remembering that there is about place as is here or that their is about belonging and so is heir.

You'll find hundreds of books about spelling on Amazon (and if there are hundreds it's clear that not one of them works isn't it?) and even more worksheets on the webb (just try Google) that promote lots of techniques in (e.g. write, cover up, write again, check' but are Y11 students really going to spend their time on them? I doubt it. What seems more likely to me is getting them to take spelling seriously in the context of their own work. To read through it and underline any words they think they might have got wrong, for example, check them in a dictionary and make a note of them. Do any patterns emerge with particular words or patterns (e.g. words with double consonants). Their teachers can also be encouraged to do the occasional marking for spelling exercise and try to identify any patterns too.

Good luck with your NQT year! Have you joined NALDIC yet www.nalidc.org? You'll find it a mine of information and support.

Frank

-----Original Message-----
From:	eal-bilingual-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk on behalf of antoinette malone
Sent:	Sun 9/9/2007 3:37 PM
To:	For practitioners involved in teaching pupils from ethnic and linguisticminorities
Cc:	
Subject:	[eal-bilingual] Teaching spelling

Hello all,

I've not posted to this list before but I am embarking on my NQT year teaching MFL and EAL in South London - I've not had any specific training (I'm trained in MFL) although I did teach English overseas for many years in the 90s.

Some of my EAL students have specifically requested help with spelling.  They are year 11 girls going into their GCSEs this year.

Can anyone recommend any good books/resources to help them with their spelling?  I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Many thanks
T Malone

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