E-Book Content
SPELLING.qxd 9/1/06 2:28 PM Page 1 J a n Ro b e r t s Students who spell competently can concentrate on the meaning of their reading and writing, instead of wasting effort on the mechanics of decoding or spelling the words. As an educator, you need to be aware of the causes of spelling problems, and take appropriate action to help poor spellers become proficient. Jan Roberts Guidelines have been provided for teachers, enabling them to analyse errors in spelling with specific and direct teaching methods. It is not only important to identify the skill level of an individual but also to find the method by which the student best processes information and retains it in long-term memory. Spelling Recovery can be used in two ways: • to take specific action after having identified an occasional error made by a particular student, or a common error made by several students in a class; and • to decide upon a priority of learning outcomes and the selection of appropriate actions to help students with pronounced, multiple spelling problems, once an analysis of their spelling has been made. Spelling Recovery Jan Roberts has drawn from her depth of knowledge and understanding of the current learning theories, specifically the development of spelling skills, to produce this invaluable teacher resource which redresses the problem of inaccurate spelling by students, empowering them to become competent spellers. Recommendations for follow-up and program planning are provided, as are photocopy master sheets for error-analysis and analysis-to-action forms. About the Author: Jan Roberts began her career as a classroom primary and secondary teacher and is currently the director of Learning Pathways, a consultancy service that assists students with literacy, numeracy and study skills at all levels. She conducts training and professional development in these areas and, as an accredited instructor, in Edward de Bono’s thinking tools. She is co-author of the Six Thinking Hats for Education training manuals and author of Now I Can Spell and Read Better, Too. Jan resides in Melbourne. ACER Press PRESS The pathway to spelling success SPELLING.qxd 9/1/06 1:05 PM Page i J a n Ro b e r t s PRESS SPELLING.qxd 9/1/06 1:05 PM Page ii First published 2001 by Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd 19 Prospect Hill Road, Camberwell, Melbourne,Victoria, 3124 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Copyright © 2001 Janet Roberts All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers.The material in the photocopy masters may be reproduced by individuals in quantities sufficient for non-commercial application. Edited by Brigid James,Writers Reign Text and cover by Polar Design Pty Ltd Index by JIS Indexing Services Printed by Shannon Books National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data: Roberts, Janet. Spelling recovery. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 0 86431 399 3. 1. English language – Orthography and spelling. I.Title. 421.52 Visit our website: www.acerpress.com.au SPELLING.qxd 9/1/06 1:05 PM Page iii Foreword Many years ago Russell Stauffer wrote a useful and influential book entitled Teaching Reading as a Thinking Process. Now Jan Roberts, in Spelling Recovery, has written an extremely useful book that could easily have been subtitled Teaching Spelling as a Thinking Process. She frequently reminds teachers of the need to d