Read, Write, Inc. Spelling

Who wrote the scheme? Ruth Miskin is one of the UK’s leading authorities on teaching children to read. An experienced former head teacher and trainer, she has over 25 years’ teaching experience.

Why are we changing? Children weren’t consistently able to spell the same words they had been learning in their daily writing. Learning to spell is a vital skill and something which needs practice. Small groups of children were not practising the words at home and not successfully learning the spelling patterns.

What is different? Read Write Inc. Spelling is a spelling programme based on proven strategies of teacher modelling followed by partner work, to embed learning.  The programme covers all the word structures and spelling requirements for Years 2–6. It is: Built around a series of short, progressive activities Uses partner work to help children learn effectively and recall what they have learnt Schools which have been using this system have showed a significant improvement in their pupils’ spelling ability. Completing the programme successfully will move the child to be a good level 5 speller

What does it look like? It is a spelling programme which is run in daily sessions. There is a ‘Get Spelling!’ book which has a range of teacher-led activities, paired work and independent activities. Alongside this there is a Spelling Log where children can record the words they find difficult to spell.

What will the children experience in their lessons? For each unit, there is: An information check Dot, dash, count Write the root Spelling Log Word fill Each unit lasts for 2 weeks Information check – introduces the words the children will learn to spell, including common words with uncommon spellings and homophones. Dot, dash, count – taught the alternate spelling for the same sound in single- and multi-syllabic words Write the root – learn the impact of suffixes and prefixes in key root words Word Fill –Children choose the correct spelling of homophones so that a sentence makes sense Circle the right one – develops children’s recognition of the right spellings Four in a row games – a game in which they practise their spellings with a partner and assess their knowledge of the week’s words Dictation –partners practise recall of spelling Spelling Log –during the programme the children work through 3 books –constantly reviewing what they have learnt Dictation Four in a row game Circle the right one

Unit 1 –’ay’ The purpose is to introduce the children to the words they will learn over the week. Red Words – tips to help the children learn these are given –eg mnemonics, words, within words,’ naughty letter’ and spelling raps. The words are taught and practised during the week, then kept on display until all the children can always spell them correctly in their own writing. Homophones are introduced as well as other tricky words.

The purpose is to help the children match the speech sounds to the graphemes. The grid lists words with different spellings for the key speech sound. Dots are used for graphemes written with one letter, dashes for those with 2 or 3 letters. A link is used to indicate a split grapheme. Spelling tips are given which explain rules.

Purpose - to help children spell the root of the word with the following suffixes – ed,ing,s,es,y,ly,er,est,iest. The root gives the most meaning to a word. The suffix is a word ending that is added to a root word to give more information about the root word. Spelling tips explain how a particular suffix changes the spelling of the root word. The suffix shows how a word will be used within a sentence and what part of speech the word belongs to – noun, verb, adjective, adverb. In later books more complex spelling changes are worked on, with root words changing their spelling eg describe + tion = description, enabling the children to have a more thorough knowledge of spelling rules and patterns as well as exceptions.

Purpose – to help children select the correct spelling or homophone so a sentence makes sense. Understanding of the vocabulary is important here. Partners work together and check their work. Teachers check any misconceptions.

Purpose – to help the children select the correct spelling from 2 other incorrect spellings. Dictionary work is included here to check the accuracy of their work.

To help children recall spellings of the words they have practised. Partners try to challenge their partner with tricky words.

To help the children recall the spellings within a sentence.

To help children identify words with difficult parts To help children identify words with difficult parts. Tips are given to help the children remember these tricky words. These tricky words will be written in the homework diary for the children to take home and practise. Please date and sign when the word has been spelt correctly (p30)