John Is in the Letter-Name Stage of Spelling

Bobbi FaulknerRE 5100Dr. Morris

RE 5100 Final Exam

Question 1: Spelling and Word Study

John is in the letter-name stage of spelling. He has begun to represent vowels in his spellings. In fact, all of his spellings except one (SDP for step) include vowels (BAC, FET, etc). He is representing the long vowel sounds with their corresponding letter names (SID for side). He does choose the nearest long-vowel letter to represent the short vowel sounds, like spelling picking PEKN. E is closest to the short I when pronounced due to tongue placement in the vocal tract. He is also making one-to-one sound-letter matches as he writes, such as SDP for step. When he sounded out the word, the vowel e is included in the letter d that he chooses to represent the te sound. He makes a common error with dress, substituting jr for the blend in JRAS. Instead of just first and last consonants, John attempts to match each sound in the words with appropriate letters. Sue is in the semi-phonetic stage of spelling. She uses no vowels (BK for back, CP for step). She only writes the consonant sounds in one syllable words (C for side, etc). She does attempt a few beginning and ending consonants (JS for dress). In the two-syllable word, she only writes the consonant of the first syllable (P for picking.) Hannah is in the within-word-pattern spelling stage. She has begun to represent short vowels correctly: PIKEN for picking, DRES for dress. She is also marking long vowels, although the long vowel marker is misplaced: SIED for side, FETE for feet. She has the blend dr correct in DRES for dress.

I would place Sue in the low group for spelling instruction. John would be in a middle group, and Hannah would be in a grade level group for spelling instruction. Each group would receive an appropriately differentiated level of spelling instruction. The reason I would group for phonics is that these three students are representative of the range of reading abilities in the classroom. If Sue were being taught phonics (spelling) whole class, she would very quickly get left behind. Assuming that this were a second grade classroom, Hannah would work on long vowel spellings and patterns, which is second grade work, because her initial spellings show a grasp of first grade phonetic concepts. Sue would review beginning consonants first because she missed several of these. Then I would move to short vowel word families because this would then help her attend to ends of sounds and because she is at a first grade level in phonics and would need to master short vowels and blends before moving forward. I would start with the c-v-c pattern in this group and progress from there. John would work on short vowel patterns first because he has most of the beginning and ending consonant sounds. He does leave vowels out of several words, so short vowels would be the next step. although we would probably not have to spend very much time on short vowels because he is at least attempting to represent the vowel sounds in his spelling. His attempt at vowels shows readiness to learn the conventional letter-sound pairings.

Hannah probably has a larger sight vocabulary and is a better reader than John simply because she spells better. She is in the last stage of spelling development, and her spellings show that she has mastered many phonetic concepts. This course argues that phonics is the backbone of reading; therefore, Hannah is going to be the better reader out of the two simply because she has more word knowledge.

Question 2: Phonics Instruction

Phonics instruction is a fundamental part of learning to read for struggling readers especially; therefore it should be taught small group to ensure that all students receive level-appropriate instruction. Because some students will be above grade level in phonics, some will be at grade level, and some will be below, teaching phonics whole class would lose the low students (the ones who need this instruction the most) and would perhaps bore the high students. Therefore, only small group instruction can ensure appropriate differentiation and monitoring.

Children find it more difficult to master vowels than consonants because consonants are much more regular: the letters, with the exception of “c” and “g” sound the same way every time they appear. Also, with vowels the lips don’t move and vowels are actually co-articulated with the surrounding consonants, so they’re hard to hear. There is no single letter/sound match with many vowels.

The short vowel pattern CVC, CCVC is so important in phonics instruction because they occur frequently in written language and are therefore necessary for students to be able to decode in order to be successful readers. Also, these patterns are regular or consistent in terms of pronounceability, and they give a foundation to compare other vowel patterns to.

I agree with the statement, “In a developmental process like learning phonics, teacher judgment is of critical importance.” This statement is true because children are at different levels of development in reading and with phonics. Therefore, a manual that dictates a certain pace and level of phonics for all children is inappropriate. The teacher knows the child and needs to be able to monitor and adjust her phonics instruction for each child (or at least each group of children). For example, with Saxon Phonics, there’s the philosophy of “throwing everything out, hope it sticks,” and moving on to the next concept. A teacher needs to have the autonomy to make her own judgments, slow down the instruction as necessary, and re-teach when the concepts haven’t been internalized.

Question 3: Writing

Revision is the stage in the writing process when content changes are made. Perhaps more support and elaboration is added. Perhaps there is a detail in one paragraph that needs to be moved to another. Details or ideas may be removed. Or maybe the writer is fine-tuning word choice, trying to use more precise active verbs and more specific adjectives. The writer may even decide to scrap the first draft and start anew. Editing is the correction of usage and mechanics errors: grammar and spelling. Revision comes first because it is important to have a well-written (in terms of organization and content) and interesting piece. Revision is more important because it is the heart of writing. I agree with Donald Murray and his argument that writing IS rewriting. It is in the rewriting or revision process that we hone and clarify our ideas.

In mid-first graders’ writing samples, I would handle spelling errors by picking the most important errors to correct, such as words they should already have acquired as sight words, like was, and said, or words they had spelled correctly in one place but incorrectly in another place in the same piece of writing. I would also at this point correct spellings that didn’t have the correct beginning consonant. I would only correct two or three spellings at a time because any more would overwhelm and frustrate the child and defeat the purpose. When correcting the spelling, I would sit down with the child and have them sound out the word. Together, if necessary, we would figure out the correct spelling.

When Judy Brown said, “….contextual reading and writing becomes practice fields that serve to automatize spelling patterns in memory,” she meant that reading and writing in context (for the natural purposes of reading and writing: enjoyment and expressing one’s self) are the processes that make spelling a natural, inherent process for students. The more they read and write, the more they internalize spelling rules and patterns.

Question 4: Influential Issues and Themes

Before this course, I had only heard the whole language movement and the constructivist method of learning/teaching lauded. I agree with some tenants of whole language teaching, especially in writing (although I do feel that grammar instruction needs extra attention in addition to the whole language approach). I had never thought about this approach to the teaching of reading, but I do see why it was not effective, especially for struggling readers who need extra attention. So I do feel the Whole Language Approach to reading is something I would not try, and I now realize the importance of grouping in reading instruction.

Another issue in this course that has really excited me is the idea of using writing in the early grades. Writing is my passion. I do see how writing, using invented spelling, clearly shows one’s development in reading. I also see how writing shows/aids comprehension. I feel that writing is an integral tool in the teaching of reading, and it serves as a great assessment for reading ability in terms of invented spellings.