Spelling and Writing By: Andrea De Los Santos

Introduction There are many ways to teach spelling; however, there are only a few methods that work on some students. Spelling is an important subject for students to learn so they will become better writers. Now that I am doing my student teaching in a third grade setting, my students seem to be really concerned about spelling when I have them write; that is why I felt that my action research should deal with my students’ spelling capabilities.

Purpose To see if spelling has any effects on writing, within my third grade classroom. Use different combinations of traditional and innovative methods to teach my students spelling, while attempting to improve their writing as well. To distinguish which methods would be more effective.

Research Question Which teaching method would be most effective, the old method (includes: worksheets) or the new methods (including: games, defining words, and word writing/typing)?

Literature Review The studies and articles that I have come across have supported the idea that teaching spelling is very important in developing effective writing skills Reviewed literature gave multiple examples of the new approaches to teaching spelling, such as spelling games, word-finds, and incorporating spelling words into everyday writing exercises. All of the sources promised that these innovative methods would be effective.

Methodology This action research was conducted in my third grade classroom, which contained 16 students. However, I only used 6 students (2 high, 2 medium, and 2 low) between the ages of 8 and 9 years of age.

Pre Unit Survey I conducted a pre-unit survey, which allowed me to use Likert Scaling to score the test. Students told their level of their spelling skills (1-10). The survey also asked the students to list their strengths and weakness in writing.

Implementing the Treatment The treatment phase included: –traditional spelling practices (worksheets) –different activities during the week. games (e.g. Spelling Word Hangman and Spelling Tic- Tac-Toe) writing words three times each during computer lab. Again, I orally administered spelling tests at the end of the week during the treatment phase.

Post Unit Survey A post unit survey helped determine the effectiveness of the unit as a whole, as well as the methods used in the treatment phase.

Most Effective Spelling Methods

Least Effective Spelling Method

Pre Unit Student Perception Question Would having spelling lessons help your writing?

Student Perceived Strengths

Student Perceived Weakness

Review The purpose of this study was to see if spelling had any effects on writing, within my third grade classroom. Using a combination of traditional and innovative methods to teach spelling, I have attempted to improve the quality of writing for these students.

Conclusion Proved my theories of the importance and effectiveness of teaching spelling, using different methods, in a third grade classroom. Allowed an opportunity to see what skills or methods I would like to emphasize Had me realize the value of using spelling as a tool of writing.