Spelling. It matters

In recent decades in education there has been very minimal attention paid to spelling. I have seen it in my teens after pulling them from private school and after teaching college for the past 15 years. It is sad. Texting and autocorrect have damaged us. And then there’s social media. It is shocking how many people post on social media and their post is full of spelling and grammar errors. Sure, we all have typos here and there. But there is a difference.

I firmly believe that we need to bring spelling back into the spotlight. Being able to spell means you can write. It means you have a broad vocabulary. Being able to spell increases your knowledge. And knowledge is power. 

What is spelling?

Spelling is the sequential retrieval of sequentially stored sequential information.

(https://iew.com/info/getting-started-phonetic-zoo)

How spelling works:

It is a sequential activity.
When you rely on spelling workbooks, the information is all visual. The students see a list and have various activities for learning these words. This is not the most effective way to learn how to spell. You are seeing all of the letters and various words all at once, all together, and only visually.

The Phonetic Zoo curriculum is genius. And the definition for spelling given above comes from Andrew Pudewa with the Institute for Excellence in Writing. The beauty of the Phonetic Zoo spelling curriculum is that they us an auditory aspect. The student listens to the words and their spelling and then writes them down. This auditory and sequential imput is the most effective tool for learning how to spell.

Many spelling programs group words together randomly, and then there is nothing to attach the new information to. This makes it hard to remember spelling rules. Phonetic Zoo categorizes the words into phonetic groups. This makes it easier to retrieve later from memory since the words are connected to other things. For example, a few categorical groupings could be: “ee,”  “ir,” “ai,” “ie” words. The words should be grouped together by spelling, not by sound.

(“ir” words: bird, birth, girl, shirt, third…)

If grouped by sounds the student can be easily confused and misled
(for example: “curl” sounds the same as “girl” – but their spelling is not related)

There are many other great spelling curriculums out there, so don’t think this is the only one you can use. But be sure to find one that groups the spelling words together by phonetic categories where the spelling is related. And you can find ways to implement auditory aspects on your own. Sometimes I record spelling lists on my phone for my teens and then text them the recording to study and use for practice tests. And of course I add a few dorky elements of humor to make it fun and help things stick.

Mnemonic Devises

Mnemonic devises are tools that can help spelling words and rules stick.

A mnemonic devise is a memory devices that helps with retaining information such as songs, rhymes, acronyms, etc. Having some kind of sensory experience: humor and fun, games and songs all help lock things into the brain. The funnier and crazier you make learning, the more the brain absorbs the information, storing it for easy retrieval down the road.

Knowing Latin & Greek Roots:

40% of English words have Latin and Greek roots. This is one of many reasons that we study Latin and Greek in classical education. If you study Greek and Latin roots, you have a major advantage for spelling and vocabulary.

For example, when you know the root “chron” – then you can easily spell words such as chronic, achronism, and chronology.

 
The program English From the Roots Up is an example.

Sound City

Make your own spelling lists by making a “Sound City”

You can draw houses and organize words by sounds. In the roof is the type, and then you think of examples to have live inside that house. This is just another fun way to group words, memorize spelling words, and have fun with learning.
https://iew.com/schools/help-support/blog/building-sound-city

ea words

(ē)

eat
meat
seat
beat
treat
leaf
read

ea words

(ā)

break
great
steak

Sample Spelling Lists of commonly misspelled words

If you would like to challenge your student, here are some lists of commonly misspelled words. These lists, unfortunately, are not categorized together phonetically. So, the rule for learning spelling rules does not apply. I’ve gone against my own advice by making these lists. But I also want to make sure my children don’t become like the majority of kids out there who cannot spell these words. The last list, list 7, is my favorite. I know many adults who could use a refresher with this one!

1

absence
license
accommodate
definitely
conscience

aggravate
restaurant
adolescent
adequate
rhythm 

competition
guarantee
maneuver
intrinsic
privilege

repetition
separate
succeed
souvenir
jewelry

2

acknowledgment
acquire
colleague
entrepreneur
amateur
bureau

experience
apparent
crystal
indispensable
necessary

occasion
occurred
publicly
receive
recommend

relevant
successful
grateful
accidentally
calendar

3

argument
believe
column
category
cemetery

changeable
collectible
committed
conscious
discipline

embarrassment
equipment
exceed
existence
fiery 

foreign
gauge
height
hierarchy
ignorance 

4

immediate
independent
judgment
leisure
library 

medieval
millennium
miniature
mischievous
misspell 

neighbor
noticeable
occasionally
occurrence
perseverance 

possession
precede
principal
questionnaire
receipt

5

referred
reference
relevant
rhyme
schedule

sergeant
lieutenant
colonel
until
vacuum 

weird
receive
interesting
referral
interrupt

fluorescent
disappoint
irresistible 
mosquito
disappear

6

difference
basically
interrupt
government
foreign

chauffeur
surprise
religious
happened
completely

forty
twelfth
ninety
eighth
fifth

fifteenth
seventieth
eightieth
ninetieth
hundredth

7 - and this list is my personal favorite:
It is a list I have put together after grading college assignments for 15 years, And also after watching social media posts for years! 🤣

then (relating to time- eat and then brush your teeth)
than (used for comparisons- smaller than)

its (possessive pronoun – the dog ate its bone)
it’s (contraction for it is or it has)

their (possessive, shows ownership – their house)
they’re (contraction- they are)
there (a place – over there)

your (possessive, belongs to you)
you’re (you are)

hear (perceive… with your ears)
here (in this place)

to (in the direction of)
too (also)

angel (like up in heaven…)
angle (acute or obtuse)

loose (free)
lose (misplace)

except (to leave out)
accept (to receive)

past (beyond in place, quantity, or time – he ran past us)
passed (past tense of to pass- he passed the ball)

who’s (who is)
whose (possessive)

affect (to influence)
effect (a result)

peace (calm)
piece (a portion- piece of pizza)

alter (to change or fix something)
altar (where you give an offering or sacrifice)

verses (Bible verses)
versus (in comparison to)

sale (often a noun- The store is having a sale. Fruit is on sale)
sell (verb- to sell a car. Where can I sell this car?)

sore (in pain)
soar (to fly like an eagle)

coarse (rough)
course (a class)

stationary (not moving)
stationery (writing paper)

break (split or crush)
brake (stopping device)

advise (to offer suggestions)
advice (guidance or recommendations) 

breath (noun- can’t catch my breath)
breathe (verb- I can’t breathe)

principal (chief person, like in a school…)
principle (rule) 

capital (city or money)
capitol  (building)