Effective Spelling Instruction

Abstract

The Elementary School Journal Volume 83, Number 5 ? 1983 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0013-5984/83/8305-0002$01.00 Even though most elementary schools devote considerable time to spelling instruction, the public, as well as many professionals, are concerned that schools are not doing an adequate job of teaching spelling (Graham & Miller 1979). Although there are many possible reasons some students have difficulty learning to spell words correctly, unsatisfactory spelling progress may be attributed in part to at least three instructional factors. First, spelling instruction is strongly influenced by commercial materials that form the foundation of most spelling programs. Several investigators, however, have questioned the adequacy of current spelling texts. In a study designed to examine the efficacy of textbook exercises, Cohen (1969) found that spelling books often contained numerous activities that were irrelevant and inappropriate. For example, exercises that called attention to silent letters and inflectional endings were ineffective, while some activities involving phonetic respelling and homophones actually deterred learning. According to an investigation conducted by Graves (1976), many spelling texts contain a large proportion of the exercises that were shown to be of debatable value in the Cohen study. In addition, research by Cronnell and Humes (1980) revealed that spelling books generally offer a minimal amount of instructional practice and rarely require students to generate spelling words in response to their own needs. Spelling skills are also impeded because contemporary classroom instruction usually does not account for the wide range of spelling abilities and achievement appar-