Quality Writing Instruction

The 3 Things Upper Primary Students Need to Know to Spell Big Words.

Kellie — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 08:32:03 +0000

The 3 Things Upper Primary Students Need to Know to Spell Big Words

By KELLIE

Upper primary students often struggle to spell long, multisyllabic words: the ‘big words’. Many rely on guessing or trying to rely on visual memory. Another ineffective strategy is to avoid even trying to use ‘big words’ when they are writing. There are some simple things teachers can do to teach them the skills to make big words more predictable and manageable.

There are universal or common errors teachers see in Year 5 and 6 students attempts at spelling: omitted internal phonemes, confused vowel sounds (especially in unstressed syllables), incorrect grapheme selections, or the production of the parts of the words they know and recognise. These errors may be occurring because many students are relying on visual memory rather than the linguistic skills required for accurate spelling.

To be successful spellers of multisyllabic words, students must coordinate phonology (sounds), orthography (grapheme patterns), and morphology (meaning) (Moats, 2010; Kilpatrick, 2015; Ehri, 2014; Carlisle, 2010).

Understandably, when these underlying skills are weak, big words seem unpredictable and overwhelming. But, when these skills are taught explicitly, misconceptions addressed quickly, and consistent word study or word investigation routines are established, multisyllabic word spelling becomes logical and manageable (and even worth the risk!).

Why spelling multisyllabic words matters.

Being able to spell more complex words is important because without this ability, students are limited to what they can ‘say’ when writing. This is another common thing teachers see in upper primary classrooms, avoidance. If students are not confident enough to try to spell longer, more difficult words, many will choose simpler vocabulary or avoid writing altogether.

This is not about carelessness, or lack of effort. The act of spelling a word draws on working memory. Labouring over how the letters might work together increases cognitive load. For some students the cognitive demands of spelling the more difficult word over one they already know are too much.

It is interesting that even fluent reading may not prevent this. Research has revealed that reading and spelling share underlying mechanisms. The key difference is that generating an accurate spelling requires more precise access to phoneme–grapheme and morpheme information than recognising a familiar printed word. This is why many strong readers remain inconsistent spellers through the upper primary years.

So, in simple terms, big words are hard because key skills are missing. It is not because English spelling is inherently unpredictable. That’s good news for teachers too. You just need to know what 3 skills to teach.

“Reading and spelling share underlying mechanisms. The key difference is that generating an accurate spelling requires more precise access to phoneme–grapheme and morpheme information than recognising a familiar printed word.”

Skill one: Phonemic awareness

Phonology is the entire sound system of a language. Phonemic awareness is a subset and refers to one significant part of that sound system: the ability to consciously notice, think about, and manipulate individual phonemes in spoken words. Phonemic awareness remains a critical foundation skill even in upper primary. Spelling requires students to perceive and sequence every phoneme (speech sound) before selecting graphemes (letters). This is usually harder in longer words, where reduced vowels, unstressed syllables, assimilations and consonant clusters can obscure the sound structure.

Without the ability to hear and isolate each phoneme (speech sound), spelling becomes guesswork rather than a code-based process. Many multisyllabic spelling errors occur because students overlook or mis-hear reduced or unstressed vowels, omit internal consonants, or fail to maintain the full sound string before writing.

In practice, commonly misspelt words that appear as difrent, libry, and intresting. These occur mainly because students don’t detect one or more internal phonemes, or are mispronouncing the words. They write what they think they hear, not the full phonological sequence.

This is consistent with research showing that accurate spelling depends on fully specified phoneme sequences, especially when words contain schwa or complex clusters. Students benefit from being taught and supported to slow down the spoken form of long words and isolate the sounds. Deliberately rehearsing the phonemes improves accuracy because it gives them the complete sound structure before they attempt to map letters. Before they try to write the letters.

Because of this, phonemic awareness instruction continues to benefit older students. Research suggests that the benefits of this go well beyond their schooling years.

Contemporary views on spelling instruction define fine-grained phonemic awareness as necessary for linking sounds to letters during orthographic mapping, which is the basis of accurate spelling.

Skill two: morphological awareness

Morphological awareness is knowing that words can be broken into smaller units of meaning. Knowing this helps students break big words into meaningful parts. English spelling is morphophonemic, meaning many spellings are anchored in meaning rather than sound alone. Research consistently shows that morphological knowledge supports spelling, vocabulary, and reading comprehension, especially in upper primary when encountered words become increasingly more complex.

Students who lack morphological awareness tend to spell long words as one continuous string of letters. It may also be obvious that as they spell these words they are relying on restrictive ‘sounding out’. Some examples of misspellings I have recently encountered include distrukshun (destruction) and rasponsabul (responsible). The misspellings are most likely occurring because the student has no internal framework for the units of meaning in these words: con + struct + ion or re + sponse + ible. When students learn to identify prefixes, base words, and suffixes, spelling becomes more about assembling predictable chunks than memorising long strings. Understanding morphology reduces cognitive load and gives students stable spelling anchors that can be applied to many different words.

Morphological awareness is crucial in upper primary. When students understand how prefixes, base words, and suffixes work, big words become manageable. When students recognise the meaning connections between words, they have something to rely on for spelling instead of memorisation. If you only going to make one change to how you teach spelling, make it about teaching morphology. It’s a big call, I know, but I stand by it.

Skill three: orthographical knowledge

Orthographic knowledge is understanding the predictable spelling patterns, generalisations, and constraints of English. This includes grapheme–phoneme correspondences, typical letter sequences, suffix behaviour, long vowel patterns, and how morphemes retain consistent spellings across related words. English spelling usually appears irregular to students when they have not been explicitly taught these patterns.

Common orthographic patterns relevant to multisyllabic word spelling include the behaviour of suffix families. The suffixes –ion, –able, –ible, –ive, –ure generally feature in the upper primary curriculum. When we are learning to apply these suffixes to base words it helps to know that there are some reliable conventions, or generalisations about how base words behave when these affixes are added. For example, almost every word that ends in a silent letter [e], requires us to drop the [e] when adding a suffix that starts with a vowel sound (a,e,i,o,u or y). Celebration. Creative. Valuable. For the most part this is pretty reliable generalisation to know. For the most part. There are exceptions, but these are usually far less common than the generalisation.

When these patterns are identified, and taught systematically, many spellings that seem irregular become understandable. Orthographic knowledge allows students to make informed spelling choices and self-correct when something does not look right based on pattern familiarity.

Orthographic knowledge is essential because English spelling follows patterns that students must learn in order to spell long words accurately. These patterns include common grapheme–phoneme correspondences, typical vowel spellings in unstressed syllables, and the predictable behaviour of suffixes. When students know these conventions, they can choose plausible spellings and check their work against what they know about how English words are usually written.

These three skills work together.

Spelling big words requires all three skills to operate at once.

Phonemic awareness provides the complete sound sequence.
Morphological awareness provides the meaning structure.
Orthographic knowledge provides the conventional spelling patterns.

Modern models of word learning explain that accurate spelling is built by linking phonology, orthography, and meaning. If any strand is weak, spelling ‘success’ becomes inconsistent. If all three are strong, students can analyse and encode long words reliably.

This integrated view aligns with the science of reading and writing: orthographic mapping relies on the connection of sounds, letters, and meaning. Morphophonemic structure explains why English spelling is far more predictable than students (and some teachers) initially believe. Working memory limitations explain why students struggle when they cannot chunk words meaningfully. All three perspectives converge on the need for explicit, structured instruction.

What upper primary teachers can do next.

Instruction that improves multisyllabic spelling in upper primary focuses on:

isolating the phonemes in multisyllabic words
routine morphological analysis of more complex words including common prefix and suffix families
explicit teaching of spelling patterns and generalisations
opportunities to encode (not just decode) big words in context.

Research-informed guidance emphasises that older students benefit from regular, almost daily explicit instruction in these skills because multisyllabic spelling will not develop through exposure alone. A structured approach gives them a repeatable process they can transfer to new words.

It might feel overwhelming when faced with the idea of how to teach all three strands of spelling without a structure. Especially when for most of us, we were taught to teach spelling through word lists and memorisation. That is why we created the Spelling and Word Study Program. It has been designed to integrate phonology, morphology, and orthography into one clear teaching sequence. Every lesson builds the skills the science of reading identifies as essential for accurate spelling. If you want your students to spell big words reliably, this gives you the path to get them there.

The Year 6 Spelling and Word Study Program is a full semester of carefully planned, sequential and aligned spelling instruction.

Let’s learn from each other! Join us in The Lounge to share how one small shift you’ve made in your spelling instruction has made a big difference. We’d love to hear if you found this article useful! Join us in The Lounge.

“The Lounge” is Quality Writing Instruction’s Facebook group, where you can share ideas and get support from a fabulous group of like-minded teachers. It is currently under renovation but we’d love you to drop by!

The post The 3 Things Upper Primary Students Need to Know to Spell Big Words. appeared first on Quality Writing Instruction.

How To Teach Spelling: Unlocking the Power of Sounds, Meaning & Letters

Kellie — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 02:54:00 +0000

How To Teach Spelling: Unlocking the Power of Sounds, Meaning & Letters

By KELLIE

Research in the Science of Reading shows that spelling instruction is most effective when it explicitly connects sounds, letters, and meaning. When teachers understand these connections, spelling instruction transforms from memory exercises to a pathway to deeper reading and writing success. Understanding how this connection works begins with exploring the three essential types of word knowledge that help explain how English spelling works.

How we teach spelling is currently a hot topic and undergoing rapid transformation. We are re-examining the ‘tried and true’ methods of spelling instruction through the lens of the Science of Reading research bank.

At the heart of this change is a clearer understanding of ‘how words work’ and how students learn to spell them. Research is showing that successful spelling depends on students being able to coordinate three kinds of word knowledge at the same time. Those three knowledges are:

how a word sounds (phonology),
how it is written (orthography), and
what it means (morphology).

“At the heart of this change is a clearer understanding of how words work and how students learn to spell them.”

Understanding 'Triple Word Form Theory' (TWFT) to teach spelling.

Current research shows that skilled spellers draw on these three interrelated types of word knowledges which develop together as we learn to spell. Because these forms of knowledge work in tandem, effective spelling instruction requires teaching them together rather than in isolation (State of New South Wales – Department of Education, 2023).

This evidence-based instruction is explained through the Triple Word Form Theory (Garcia et al., 2010; Daffern, 2017). This model describes how spellers coordinate sounds, letter patterns and meanings as they learn to spell accurately.

When students understand how sounds, spelling patterns and meanings connect, ‘spelling’ makes sense. This ultimately helps them to spell, write and read. It also provides teachers a reliable framework for how to best teach spelling that is grounded in research.

Unfamiliar terms like phonology, orthography and morphology are used regularly when talking about spelling. Understanding what each of these means helps teachers explain to students how English spelling works. Importantly too, this understanding enables us to use a shared metalanguage to talk about spelling, and how it connects to reading and writing, in a clear and consistent way with our students.

Phonological features of words: hearing the sounds in words

The first layer of spelling knowledge is phonological. Phonology refers to the way a word sounds when spoken. It is a word’s sequence of speech sounds (phonemes).

Some basic phonological skills are foundational to learning to spell. The ability to blend, segment, substitute and delete phonemes, as well as developing knowledge of letter-sound correspondences is essential.

Students need to hear the individual sounds in spoken words and blend or segment them accurately. In the word help, they must detect four sounds (/h/, /e/, /l/ and /p/) before they can represent them with letters.

Strong phonological knowledge lets students hold a word in working memory and match each sound to letters. While explicit teaching of phonemic awareness and phonics leads to more accurate reading and spelling, sound awareness alone cannot explain all words. Think about words like rain and reign or sign and signature. To understand why some words look different but sound the same, or how other words are related by meaning, students need more than sound cues.

It can be difficult for some students to ‘hold’ onto all the individual sounds in longer, more complex words in their short term memory.

When we teach spelling, we can use a reliable process like this to support them. Help students manage representing the phonemes (sounds) in words by breaking the word into syllables. Use vowel sounds, rather than vowels, to identify where each word will ‘split’. This is especially helpful if the word has a ‘schwa’ sound.

This four-step process embeds multiple opportunities for students to hear and say the word.

Orthographic features of words: recognising letter patterns

The orthographic layer deals with how letters are organised in English. It involves knowledge of which letters represent the sounds. It also requires understanding the letter patterns and sequences in words and being aware of spelling generalisations. English spelling follows agreed conventions that we can usually rely on.

For instance, for students to write the word ‘have’, they identify the final sound /v/ and recall that English words rarely end with v alone. Their orthographic knowledge tells them to add an e to spell the word correctly. (There is an interesting lesson in the history behind this convention which deserves a blog of its own!)

Research also tells us that orthographic knowledge does not develop automatically through exposure. Daffern’s research (2017) found students generally master basic phonics but often struggle with things like positional rules and vowel patterns in words. This understanding relies on teachers explicitly teaching students how patterns operate within words. Orthographic teaching builds the “visual map” of English. This allows us to recognise words and produce them quickly and accurately.

Effective spelling instruction should involve explicit teaching of the spelling rules and generalisations that apply to standard English. Teachers should use metalanguage and explicit modelling to help students understand why certain spelling patterns occur and how to apply them.

This includes demonstrating and clearly explaining generalisations, and any exceptions.

Morphological features: understanding meaning within words

The third layer, morphology, focuses on the meaning structure of words. English spelling often reflects morphemes, the smallest units of meaning, rather than just sound. Morphemes combine to form new words and include bases, prefixes, and suffixes such as help, un- and -ful.

This knowledge is the icing on the cake when it comes to spelling instruction. When students see that help, helpful and unhelpful share a base, they can use that knowledge to not only spell new words but to work out their meaning.

Morphological awareness also supports vocabulary and comprehension. It helps students to unpack unfamiliar and increasingly complex words. But this is not a knowledge reserved for older students! Students in the early years can begin exploring morphemes through direct instruction (Daffern 2021). From about Year 3 onward, morphological knowledge becomes a major driver of reading and writing development.

Graphic organisers you already use in word study lessons can be easily adapted so that students explore words through all three word forms. This is a great starting point if you want to make quick, meaningful changes.

This example shows an extended Word Matrix. Students investigate how many words they can build from the base word help using prefixes and suffixes (a).

As they record each new word, they identify the individual phonemes (b) and use their understanding of prefixes and suffixes to explore its meaning.

To complete the word study, students note any insights, reflections, or observations about spelling patterns or generalisations (c).

You can download a blank copy of the extended Word Matrix beneath the image.

How do the three work together when we teach spelling?

To help understand how they work together, let’s look at the example above in practice.

When a student writes the word unhelpful, they must:

Hear the individual sounds (/u/ /n/ /h/ /e/ /l/ /p/ /f/ /u/ l/).
Know which letter patterns represent those sounds (un, help, ful)
Recognise that help is the base word, know that un changes meaning to its opposite and that ful turns a verb into an adjective.

If one part of this process is weak, the word may be misspelled or misunderstood. Phonology, orthography and morphology are therefore not separate teaching sequences but mutually reinforcing systems.

Does it really matter if we teach them together?

This new understanding might challenge some old ways of thinking. After all, we’ve long believed that the best progression is phonics in the early years, followed by morphology later. Many spelling programs have even separated sound from meaning. But research now gives a clear answer: students benefit most when all three word forms (phonological, orthographic and morphological) are taught together.

Students who integrate all three forms develop stronger spelling, reading and writing outcomes than those who learn them in isolation (Daffern, 2017). Berninger and colleagues found that spelling growth actually depends on the coordinated processing of sounds, letters and meanings. These systems work together whenever a student reads or writes a word, so teaching them in combination reflects how the brain naturally manages written language.

Each form supports and strengthens the others. As teachers, we need to remember that:

Phonological awareness helps students encode sounds.
Orthographic knowledge gives them accurate letter patterns.
Morphological understanding connects spelling to meaning.

Together they create what cognitive scientist Charles Perfetti calls lexical quality: a mental representation of a word that is precise in its sound, spelling and meaning. Words stored with high lexical quality are recognised faster, read more fluently and spelled with greater accuracy.

And as teachers of spelling, isn’t this exactly what we’re aiming to achieve?

We’ve collated 38 Essential Vocabulary Spelling Glossary word wall cards for classroom use and to ensure a consistent language when talking about spelling.

Designed to be used as a wall display to define and explain the essential metalanguage of spelling. Each card includes a clear, student-friendly definition. Icons represent each of the word knowledges. It is perfect for linking with your daily spelling, morphology, or phonics routines.

What's next in the Teaching Spelling series?

In an upcoming part 2 of this blog series, we will examine what the teaching of spelling using phonology, orthography and morphology looks like in a classroom. We will also explore how you can look closely at student’s misspelled words using the three forms to understand their spelling attempts.

We will bring the theory into daily practice to help support you to make those small shifts towards the most effective spelling instruction.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram so we can keep you up to date!

If you missed the first blog in this series, you can read it here. Teaching Spelling: 5 small changes for big impact. This blog certainly struck a chord with teachers and clocked up over 10 000 views on Facebook during the first few days it was shared. Pie Corbett, the highly respected author of “Talk for Writing” commented on how this “excellent article” included two elements often missing from the discussion around how to improve instruction. With so much interest it certainly shows that you are not alone as you work towards ensuring how best to teach spelling! This blog is a very good starting point.

If you’d like to join some like-minded teachers to discuss the blog, or how to teach spelling, or anything related to teaching writing, you are warmly invited to join our Facebook group “The Lounge”.

Just follow the link and answer the three questions and… you’re in!

References

Berninger, V. W., Abbott, R. D., Nagy, W., & Carlisle, J. (2010). Growth in phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in grades 1 to 6. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 39(2), 141–163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-009-9130-6

Daffern, T. (2017). Linguistic skills involved in learning to spell: An Australian study. Language and Education, 31(4), 307–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2017.1296855

Daffern, T. (2021). Exploring Australian students’ spelling skills. Oxford University Press. https://www.oup.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/183006/PRIM_Oxford_Spelling_Paper_2021_DIGITAL-1.pdf

Garcia, N., Abbott, R. D., & Berninger, V. W. (2010). Predicting poor, average, and superior spellers in grades 1 to 6 from phonological, orthographic, and morphological spelling or reading composites. Written Language and Literacy, 13(1), 61–98. https://doi.org/10.1075/wll.13.1.03gar

NSW Department of Education. (2023). Spelling diagnostic assessment. https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/literacy-and-numeracy/assessment-resources/spelling

NSW Department of Education. (2023, December). English – Stage 2 Instructional sequence: Spelling. https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/en/home/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/english/documents/english-s2-spelling-instructional-sequence.pdf

Perfetti, C. A. (2007). Reading ability: Lexical quality to comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(4), 357–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888430701530730

The post How To Teach Spelling: Unlocking the Power of Sounds, Meaning & Letters appeared first on Quality Writing Instruction.

Teaching Spelling: 5 Small Changes for Big Impact!

Kellie — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 06:27:52 +0000

Teaching Spelling: 5 Small Changes for Big Impact!

Teachers are always looking for effective spelling instruction strategies. With the research supporting the Science of Reading, we know spelling matters! But we also know how easy it is for teaching spelling to slip down the list when reading, writing, and assessment pressures compete for our time and effort! The good news is that there are strategies for spelling instruction that can be easily built into everyday classroom routines without the need for new programs, expensive resources, or extra planning time.

When I started teaching (a long time ago now) my spelling instruction was a weekly list and a Friday test. I don’t really think I ‘taught’ spelling but rather my students ‘learned’ it through lists with no connection to what I was teaching. My students would memorise a handful of words, we’d tick the assessment box, and I’d diligently add up how many words they got right each term to give them an overall rating! This teaching of spelling feels so strange to me now, especially with my love for words and how they work.

Research is showing what I think we all knew deep-down; those old routines for teaching spelling don’t give students the lasting knowledge they need. There have been significant shifts in what we know about how to teach spelling, which is good news for us, but even better news for our students.

To help you manage the significant shifts without feeling overwhelmed, here are five evidence-based changes you can try in how you teach spelling. I have selected five simple changes that have the biggest impact on spelling instruction (and sprinkled in some free resources to help you implement the change to your spelling instruction!)

1. Build in Morphology to Strengthen Spelling!

This change punches above its weight! Not only is it effective, but it helps build that love of language and curiosity about how words work that students need! For even more impact, introduce morphology into the early years spelling instruction.

A 2025 study at Australian Catholic University found that teaching morphology doesn’t just help students spell the words you directly teach. It helps them generalise that knowledge to the new words they encounter as well. Unfortunately, recent surveys have found that morphology remains a weak point even in Years 5 and 6, especially when it comes to derivational suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, and homophones (Daffern, 2021).

Small changes:

Start to explore morphology in the early years and keep building on it. Start with the simple affixes students encounter as they read.
Instead of only focusing on sound-spelling links, spend a few minutes each week to unpack how affixes change word meaning: happy → happier → happiness.
Model and explicitly demonstrate how you ‘think’ when you come across words you are not sure of during reading and writing instruction. Highlight the morphology of words as you think aloud.

Big results:

Students stop thinking of every new word as something they need to memorise.
They begin spotting patterns and words connected through morphology. If they understand what the morphemes mean not only do they have ‘spelling’, they have ‘meaning’!
They grow a bank of morpheme knowledges that transfer across words and even subject areas. Imagine recognising the connection between autobiography and antibiotics are words related through a common root word!
And the best bit? Teaching morphology helps students improve in spelling, writing and reading, even words they haven’t been explicitly taught. If you make one change today, make it this one!

To get you started here’s a simple graphic organiser your students can use to pull words apart and look at how meaning is made. Suitable for learning to spell words in any subject area. We’ve got heaps more to share here so make sure you stick with us!

2. Use Error Analysis to Drive Spelling Instruction.

Spelling errors are goldmines. Attempted spellings reveal a lot about how a student is thinking and show us exactly where they have misconceptions or misunderstandings. But only if we stop and look closely.

Daffern and Fleet (2021) emphasise that systematic spelling error analysis should guide what we teach. When we identify and categorise errors by type: phonological (sound-based), orthographic (letter pattern-based), or morphological (meaning-based) we gain a deeper understanding of how our students think about how words work. Introducing this change to spelling instruction actually helps level the playing field for many students. This is because when we start to look at words through the three lenses and start teaching spelling through them all students add to their spelling strategy bank beyond ‘sound-it-out’. Higher-achieving spellers draw flexibly on multiple strategies, while struggling spellers often rely on sounding out alone (Templeton & Morris, 2000).

Small changes:

Analyse your students’ writing, and pay attention to their attempted spelling. Pick 10–15 attempted spellings and determine what type of errors they are making. The downloadable “Spelling Analysis Template” will help!
Review this on the class level and use those patterns to shape your next lesson. For example, if lots of students misspelled words like hopping and hoped, it is time to plan a quick review on the spelling generalisation.
Create a class error wall or chart where you post “Our tricky words this week” or “Words that Bug Us” and revisit them regularly.
Encourage students to track their own recurring errors and choose one spelling generalisation to target as a learning goal.
Change the way you mark spelling. Instead of marking with a big, fat, red cross (you know what I mean), identify which parts of the word represents the correct letters in the correct order, and highlight the areas to improve!

Big results:

Spelling instruction becomes responsive to the needs of your students. The decisions you make above the next generalisation or letter pattern comes directly from your students’ writing.
Students start to see their mistakes as useful for improvement, not just ‘errors’.
Over time, patterns become predictable, and both you and your students know where to focus.

Our ‘Attempted Spelling Analysis Template’ is perfect for looking closely at attempted spelling. The simple instructions will guide you as you annotate and analyse words to make decisions about what to teach next. Let us know when you use it!

3. Turn Word Lists into Word Study to Teach Spelling.

Weekly word lists and tests are a tradition many of us grew up with. The main trouble with this, is that the spelling rarely stuck! I couldn’t count the number of memories I have of students who would pass the Friday test with flying colours every week, only to misspell half those words in their writing on Monday. Simply, rote memorisation of lists doesn’t transfer well to real writing (Pan, Rickard & Bjork, 2021).

So, what actually works? Interactive practice. This simply means getting students to actively work with words, sorting, comparing, discussing, and applying patterns, rather than just copying or memorising them. This practice makes a much bigger difference because it encourages students to think about how words work, not just how to memorise them. When students explore words through patterns, word families, generalisations and relationships, they are engaging with the underlying systems of spelling. This kind of analysis strengthens orthographic and morphological knowledge, which are the very skills linked to long-term spelling success (Graham & Santangelo, 2014; Daffern, 2021). It also makes spelling “stickier” because students are processing words at a deeper level instead of storing them for a short-term test.

Small changes:

Instead of asking students to copy lists, turn it into a word sort. Students sort and group words by patterns, make observations and then apply them. This can be an independent or collaborative learning activity. You will find our “Word Study” template really handy for introducing word sorts.
Give students opportunities to apply known rules to untaught words. Add one or two mystery words or wild card words that are connected to the learned generalisations to the Word Study. Have students predict and then check how the words are spelled based on what they know. Another great collaborative learning opportunity.
Include one or two challenge words each week that go beyond the core pattern, such as words with tricky morphology or less common roots. This stretches capable spellers and exposes all students to new word-building knowledge.

Big results:

Students process spelling more deeply when they compare, contrast, and apply rules. They learn to notice and explain why words are spelled the way they are, instead of just memorising them.
Discussing patterns with peers or in whole-class word sorts builds metalinguistic awareness, which is linked to stronger spelling and vocabulary outcomes (Daffern, 2021).
Instead of isolated practice, students create networks of knowledge around words. This strengthens long-term recall and increases the chance they will apply the same rule correctly in new writing contexts. Bonus, this also supports vocabulary growth!
Makes learning to spell collaborative, engaging and purposeful, and linked to real writing and word knowledge.

The “Word Study” graphic organiser is so easy to implement. Just print and your students are ready to follow the prompts and unpack the focus words. This is the version to print in colour.

Exactly the same but in black and white, this “Word Study” graphic organiser will help to save on printing costs. Set students up in small groups of 3 or 4 when you first introduce this activity so they can discuss and share what they discover.

4. Make Spelling Visible During Reading and Writing Instruction.

Too often, spelling is treated like an isolated, separate add-on of the literacy block. Instruction is reduced to repetitive work sheets, dictionary work, or lists to memorise and then hope students “transfer” those skills into their independent writing. The problem is that many students do not automatically do this. Rote and copy-heavy activities like these rarely support long-term learning or transfer to real writing (Pan, Rickard & Bjork, 2021).

Spelling instruction has the greatest impact when it is embedded within authentic writing tasks, not just taught in isolation. Schools that integrated spelling into their writing cycles have found that students show stronger autonomy and greater willingness to attempt unfamiliar words (Daffern et al., 2024). Even better, spelling and reading rely on the same knowledge of phonology, orthography, and morphology. Therefore, teaching spelling also strengthens decoding while also supporting fluent, accurate writing (Moats, 2005, and others!)

Small changes:

During shared writing, model your spelling decisions while verbalising thinking. Make it explicitly clear to students the questions you ask and the methods you use when you are attempting to spell (and check) unknown words.
Collect words students are uncertain about spelling. Use these words in mini-lessons or take time to revisit them in Word Study work.
When editing, ask students to apply one specific spelling lens, instead of “fix everything”.
Introduce a reliable routine or framework for drafting and editing. If you are looking for a complete system for editing and drafting we have developed ‘5 Steps to Quality Writing’. We’ve linked it below if you’re keen to check it out.

Big results:

When students see spelling modelled during writing, they learn that it is not separate from composition but part of the same process. This helps close the transfer gap.
It builds metacognitive awareness. Students begin to think more carefully about the different strategies they can use, rather than relying on letter-sound patterns.
Students are more likely to use a wider vocabulary. Struggling spellers often simplify their vocabulary to words they are confident to spell. Making spelling visible during writing encourages them to take risks, knowing they have strategies to fall back on.
Over time, students develop the habit of self-checking and refining spelling as part of the drafting and editing cycle, especially if you have an established routine in place.

Transform your students’ writing from ‘good’ to ‘quality’ with a proven, step-by-step editing framework that builds independence and mastery.

“5 Steps to Quality Writing” will support you to improve the quality of writing conferences, be able to give focussed feedback, and boost students’ writing quality with this ready-to-use resource set.

For sale now on TpT.

5. Use Spaced Retrieval to Foster Lasting Spelling Knowledge.

One of the main reasons spelling does not stick is because practice is often massed into a single week. Students learn a pattern, complete a test, and then move on. Without regular review, those words quickly fade from memory.

Cognitive science is clear on this point. Knowledge is strengthened when it is revisited after intervals, a principle known as spaced retrieval (Cepeda et al., 2006). In spelling, that means students need multiple, short opportunities to recall and apply words and patterns over time, not just a single burst of practice. Research on literacy instruction shows that periodic review is one of the simplest and most effective ways to make learning last (Graham & Santangelo, 2014).

Big results:

Start each lesson with a structured review of spelling generalisations, or patterns, or even words from previous weeks.
Use cumulative lists rather than discarding words. Cycle old words back in.
Run low-stakes quizzes weeks after initial teaching to strengthen memory.

Big results:

Retrieval practice strengthens long-term memory far more effectively than re-studying or re-copying (Roediger & Butler, 2011). Each time students recall a word, the memory trace becomes more durable.
Spacing review helps prevent forgetting. Words revisited after a delay are more likely to move into long-term storage, so students can retrieve them automatically during writing.
By blending old words into current work, students see that spelling knowledge is cumulative and connected.
This builds fluency and frees cognitive resources. Once high-frequency patterns are automatic, students can focus more attention on composition and vocabulary choice.

What Next for your Spelling Instruction?

None of these changes are dramatic and can be easily integrated into classroom instruction immediately! There are no new programs, or expensive resources, or any major timetable restructure.

What they do require is a shift in mindset. Spelling is really about learning to understand how the English language works. It is a system of knowledge that we can teach in small, powerful ways.

Remember:

introduce morphology for an easy win
analyse attempted spelling
incorporate interactive practice
make spelling visible
add spaced reviews

Be sure to download and save the resources we have shared to help make implementation easier for you. Try one or two of these tweaks in your classroom over the next few weeks. Track your students’ errors, their confidence, or even their willingness to take risks in their writing. Spelling still matters and these small changes will have big results for your students!

What else can you do?

We share tips and resources for teachers to help with writing instruction (mainly because we love words and how they work but also because we know that teaching writing can be hard). We’ve got a whole suite of great stuff coming about how to improve Spelling Instruction that you do not want to miss out on! So go ahead choose your favourite way for keeping in the loop!

“The Lounge” is Quality Writing Instruction’s Facebook group, where you can share ideas and get support from a fabulous group of like-minded teachers. It’s about to undergo a major renovation!

References and Further Readings:

Cepeda, N, Pashler, H, Vul, E, Wixted, J & Rohrer, D, 2006, ‘Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis’, Psychological Bulletin, vol. 132, no. 3, pp. 354–380.

Daffern, T & Fleet, J, 2021, Exploring Australian students’ spelling performance: Analysis of six cohorts of NAPLAN data, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Daffern, T, Hogg, K, Callaway, N, Wild, H & Kelly, S, 2024, ‘Supporting schools to implement an evidence-based and effective approach to teaching spelling’, Learning Difficulties Australia Bulletin, vol. 56, no. 1, April, pp. 32–39.

Graham, S & Santangelo, T, 2014, ‘Does spelling instruction make students better spellers, readers, and writers? A meta-analytic review’, Reading and Writing, vol. 27, pp. 1703–1743.

Jones, A, Wardlow, L, Pan, S & Rickard, T, 2015, ‘Beyond the rainbow: Retrieval practice leads to better spelling than does rainbow writing’, Educational Psychology Review, vol. 27, pp. 447–463.

Moats, L, 2005, How Spelling Supports Reading: And Why It Is More Regular and Predictable Than You May Think, American Educator, Summer, pp. 12–43.

Pan, S, Rickard, T & Bjork, R, 2021, ‘Does spelling still matter – and if so, how should it be taught? Perspectives from contemporary and historical research’, Learning Difficulties Australia Bulletin, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 10–16.

Roediger, H & Butler, A, 2011, ‘The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention’, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 20–27.

Templeton, S & Morris, D, 2000, Spelling Instruction: What Can We Learn from Research?, International Reading Association, Newark, DE.

The post Teaching Spelling: 5 Small Changes for Big Impact! appeared first on Quality Writing Instruction.

The English Achievement Standards are New and Improved.

Kellie — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 02:18:22 +0000

The new, improved English Achievement Standards.

By KELLIE

The Australian Curriculum: English achievement standards were revised in May 2022. Three significant revisions in v9.0 have improved the English achievement standards for writing.

There has been a lot of talk about the revised version 9.0 of the Australian Curriculum: English and the changes that have occurred to the content descriptions and elaborations. This article will focus on three significant changes to the Australian Curriculum: English achievement standards.

We will start by exploring the overhaul of the literacy general capability and then look at two ways this improvement complements the English achievement standards.

1. Literacy General Capability

Let’s start by discussing the revised literacy general capability.

The v9.0 literacy general capability is very different from the previous version. Not only is it structured differently, but the progressions within the capability are no longer banded. The literacy general capability now reflects a more nuanced, research-based understanding of how literacy develops. (Remember how difficult it was to try and describe the learning taking place between the end of year 2 and the end of year 4?)

Now, the Literacy general capability is essentially the National Literacy Learning Progression. You may be familiar with the Literacy Learning Progression released by ACARA a few years ago. These progressions are very helpful as they describe the observable indicators of literacy development. These indicators reflect the typical trajectory of the development of literacy skills.

ACARA itself gives us a clue as to how important this revision is; “The Literacy progression complements the Australian Curriculum: English by providing more fine-grained descriptions of literacy development, to support teachers to accurately monitor students’ literacy development, across all learning areas.”

This is great news for teachers. This alignment is going to be very helpful when it comes to recognising those nuances in literacy development that were hard to distinguish in the ‘old’ literacy general capability.

Let’s look briefly at the new look literacy general capability.

What does the literacy general capabilty now look like?

- Elements

The literacy general capability now consists of three elements.

Speaking and listening
Reading and viewing
Writing

This structure acknowledges the importance of each of these aspects of literacy development, and how they are interconnected.

- Sub-elements

Each of the elements consists of sub-elements that represent “evidence-based aspects of literacy development” (ACARA, 2022). The sub-elements are the relevant knowledge and skills that underpin each of the elements.

The Writing element has five sub-elements:

Creating texts (including crafting ideas, text form and function, and vocabulary)
Grammar (accuracy, group and word level, sentence level, and whole text level)
Punctuation
Spelling
Handwriting and keyboarding.

The Creating Texts sub-element is described as being holistic and is supported by the others. This means that teachers can refer to the other sub-elements for further clarification or refinement.

- Progression levels

The sub-elements are organised into progression levels. These describe how students typically become increasingly proficient in literacy. They are what ACARA is referring to as “the more fine-grained descriptions of literacy development”.

These progressions contain observable indicators that describe what students may say, do or produce at each level. They are coded with a P and a number to show the increasing levels. As you would expect, the indicators become increasingly more complex than the previous sets. This results in a continuum of teaching and learning.

The number of progression levels for each sub-element has been determined by research evidence. The diagram below shows how the writing element is organised with the range of progression levels within each sub-element.

These levels are aligned to the AC: English year levels. Foundation starts at P1 and then progresses through various levels until completion depending on when students are typically proficient. There is often more than one progression level within a curriculum year. You can see in the diagram that Handwriting and Keyboarding have eight levels and these are aligned with the Foundation to Year 4 English curriculum.

How has this improved the English Achievement Standards?

This is where it gets exciting. It is through these ‘parts’ of the literacy general capability that we can see one of the big changes in the new curriculum revision: the adjustments to the v9.0 English curriculum achievement standards. These improvements are going to be very helpful to teachers and influence the way we teach, monitor, and assess writing.

Let’s now explore how the curriculum now aligns with and is complemented, by the literacy general capability through the English achievement standards for writing.

2. The achievement standards reflect the elements.

The English v9.0 achievement standards have been revised to align with the elements of the literacy general capability.

As discussed previously, there are three elements of the new Literacy general capability:

– Speaking and listening
– Reading and viewing
– Writing

There are now also three paragraphs in the new achievement standards in English! This is not a coincidence. The three paragraphs align with the three elements. (I know right? This makes so much sense!)

The first paragraph of the English achievement standards is about students’ capabilities in speaking and listening, the second in reading and viewing, and the third in writing.

This image shows how the English achievement standards in v9.0 are written in three paragraphs reflecting the elements of the literacy general capability.

3. The achievement standards reflect the sub-elements.

It is not only the structure of the achievement standards that has changed to align with the literacy g.c., the year-level expectations for students are further mapped to the sub-elements.

When we unpack the writing paragraph for each of the year levels from Foundation to Year 6 we find there is a pattern. The statements of year-level expectations are arranged in a similar way for each year level.

The first few statements in the writing achievement standard paragraph are aligned with the Creating Texts sub-element. Generally, the first statement of the achievement standard aligns with crafting ideas, the second statement with text form, and the next statement(s) with text features (incorporating vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation).
A statement aligning with the handwriting and keyboarding sub-element follws. Although there is no mention of keyboarding in the revised English achievement standards and in line with the progressions themselves, this does not continue beyond year 4.
Finally the paragraph is completed with a statement about students’ spelling capabilites.

That is probably as clear as mud! The following diagram will help explain it further. Here the Year 2 writing achievement standards are colour coded to show how they align with the sub-elements embedded in the literacy general capability.

What does this mean for the teaching of writing?

This is exciting as this alignment of the achievement standards with the literacy progressions has such great potential to support teachers of writing.

In future articles, we will discuss possible ways that these changes to the English achievement standards can be applied to the teaching, monitoring, and assessment of writing.

While you wait, download the F-6 curriculum document below and explore the new structure to the English achievement standards in writing. (You never know we might feel inclined to work on the Speaking and Listening and Reading and Viewing achievement standards one day too!).

Please let us know if this breakdown of the English achievement standards has been helpful!

F-6 Australian Curriculum: English achievement standards

This free document shows the breakdown of each of the year-level English achievement standards for writing aligned to the literacy general capability.

Viewing the achievement standards in this way helps to show the progression of literacy development in each of the sub-elements across the curriculum year levels.

You can download this here.

Australian Curriculum:English v9.0 achievement standards showing alignment to the literacy general capability. (Writing).

Foundation to Year 6.

Would you like to talk more about the changes to the English Curriculum and the implications for teaching writing? We’d love to hear if you found this article useful! Join us in The Lounge.

“The Lounge” is Quality Writing Instruction’s Facebook group, where you can share ideas and get support from a fabulous group of like-minded teachers.

References:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2022. Literacy. https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/teacher-resources/understand-this-general-capability/literacy

If you’d like to explore the literacy general capability even further you can do so here.

The post The English Achievement Standards are New and Improved. appeared first on Quality Writing Instruction.

Writing attitude survey for primary school students.

Kellie — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 10:45:53 +0000

A writing attitude survey for primary school students.

By KELLIE

Intro

A ‘Writing Attitude Survey’ is a simple way to learn more about how students feel towards both writing and themselves as writers. These attitudes influence students’ motivation for writing.

What influences students' motivation to write?

Motivating reluctant writers is a goal shared by many teachers. It is the topic of many conversations and the source of great frustration.

Motivation for writing is a “students’ inclination, energy, and interest in writing and writing tasks” (Martin, Collie & Curwood, 2015).

Some students lack motivation for writing in general. For others this reluctance may be limited to certain writing tasks or even subject areas.

There are many factors which may be influencing a student’s reluctance to write:

previous writing failure
poor handwriting and mechanical skills
disengagement
fear and anxiety
disinterest
confidence and self-belief

Some writing behaviours, such as poor handwriting or spelling problems, are obvious. Other underlying attitudes, beliefs and emotions are often harder to identify.

How do teachers learn about these attitudes?

There are many ways to learn more about these underlying influences on motivation.

Teachers can talk with students and ask questions. Conferences, interviews and informal discussions are essential when establishing a positive writing environment. The biggest difficulty is that they are time-consuming. Finding time can be especially difficult at the start of the school year.

Therefore methods that are quick and easy to complete are often used alongside conferencing. These methods include surveys and opinion polls.

A ‘Writing Attitude Survey’ is a method to gather information quickly. It provides useful insights into the feelings students have about writing. As well as how they see themselves as writers.

What influences attitudes towards writing?

These surveys are most useful when they reveal those factors that may be influencing a student’s attitude toward writing.

Four main factors are generally recognised as influencing students’ attitudes.

How they perceive themselves as a writer. This is often referred to as writing self-efficacy.
If they value writing. This may change according to the writing tasks they are being asked to complete.
Their beliefs about writing in general. Students who feel writing is hard, or boring, are more likely to avoid writing.
Their understanding of writing as a collaborative or social construct. This will influence their confidence in sharing their writing with others.

Recognising that these factors may be influencing attitudes is beneficial to both teacher and students!

Writing attitude survey for primary school students.

This survey gathers information on the four main factors. Teachers can also analyse student’s responses and identify which factors are most influential.

The statements relate to each of the four major influencing factors. These are shown in the last four columns of the survey.

They are categorised as follows:

Self-efficacy (SE)
Collaboration (C)
Motivation to write (M)
Values and beliefs about writing (VB)

To complete the survey, students read the statements and then select one of the three icons.

The three icons represent degrees of agreement.

A happy face indicates agreement, or a positive response.
An unhappy face means disagreement, or a negative response.
The neutral face indicates that the student does not agree nor disagree with the statement, or is unsure.

The Writing Attitude Survey includes statements related to the main influencers on attitude to writing. Students respond by selecting the icon that best represents their reaction to the statement. The responses are then scored for analysis.

Scoring and analysing the results.

Following the implementation, the teacher scores the responses.

3 points for a happy face or positive response
2 for neutral
1 for the unhappy or negative response

The teacher then calculates the total number for each category. Each category has the potential to be scored 15 points.

Lower scores show an negative reaction to the particular category. For example, a student who scores only 5 in the collaboration category may not be confident to share their writing. This may in turn impact on their motivation to write.

You can download a copy of the Writing Attitude Survey here.

Attitude is everything!

Of course, this is not the only information a teacher needs to know their students and their attitudes toward writing.

Teachers should gather information on students’ interests, as well as what they perceive as their strengths and areas for development in writing. Knowing the types of texts students prefer to write is also valuable.

Above all, it is essential teachers have a strong understanding of how each student is progressing in writing in relation to the curriculum. This is achieved through carefully analysing and reviewing student’s writing against the year level expectations.

Although it is often overlooked when establishing a writing classroom but teachers should have an understanding of how they see themselves as writers and how this impacts on their students.

Being aware of the many and varied reasons that contribute to why students are unmotivated to write is beneficial. Also knowing how this motivation (or lack of it) is influenced by internal and external factors is an essential step in developing a positive writing environment.

Motivating reluctant students and creating a positive writing classroom are topics many teachers enjoy discussing. Join us in The Lounge for more!

“The Lounge” is Quality Writing Instruction’s Facebook group, where you can share ideas and be supported by a fabulous group of like-minded teachers.

References:

Collie, RJ, Martin, AJ. & Curwood, JS, 2015, ‘Multidimensional motivation and engagement for writing’, Educational Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2015.1093607

Graham, S, MacArthur, CA & Hebert, M, 2019, ‘Best Practices in Writing Instruction’, Guilford Publications, New York.

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Puns are not just fun and games (don’t tell your students!)

QWI — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 08:31:53 +0000

Puns are not just fun and games

But don’t tell your students!

By KELLIE

“Getting students interested in and excited about words is a crucial component of literacy programs.” (Graves and Watts-Taffe, 2008).

Wordplay develops word consciousness and curiosity, motivates and engages writers, and develops understanding of words and how they work.

Puns are a common form of wordplay and the creation of puns can easily be incorporated into the language learning curriculum. As students learn about the ambiguities of words and the relationships between spelling, pronunciation, and meaning, they can experience the joy of manipulating language for comical effect.

Puns can be in a written, verbal or visual form and can be for either comical or rhetorical effect. They are a fun way to encourage writing as they exploit the different meanings of words that look or sound alike but have different meanings. Writing puns is an activity which requires students to focus their attention deliberately on words.

To compose puns successfully, students must be able to convey a ‘hidden meaning’ through the words they select. They must make word associations, understand connotations and contexts, and think flexibly about language (while being brave enough to break some rules!).

Perhaps most importantly, they must understand that in order to comprehend a pun, the reader/viewer must not take the words literally!

There are three most common forms of puns which are based on the interplay of spelling, sounds and meaning in different types of words to introduce to your students.

Sound-alike puns based mainly on homophones or words that sound alike
Look-alike puns exploiting homographs and homonyms
Close-sounding puns relying on words or phrases that sound very similar

Sound-alike (homophonic) puns

Homophonic, or sound-alike, puns play with words or phrases that have different spelling and meaning but have the same pronunciation. These puns play with meaning by substituting a word with it’s homophone, creating a double meaning and are considered the most common form of a pun.

Homophones are plentiful in the English language, and exploring and understanding homophones is an expected learning experience in the early years of primary school curriculum.

Some examples of homophones are:

their, they’re, there
write, right
to, too, two

To write a homophonic pun, students must create a context in which to interchange the homophones and connect the words meaningfully so that the phrase, or image, makes sense.

Lookalike puns

These types of pun are a phrase that contains a word that sound and look the same but have different meanings.

These puns rely on polysomic words, or words that have multiple meanings, and often play on homographs and homonyms.

Homographs are words that have the same spelling but have different meanings and pronunciation, and some examples include:

bow (to curtsy) and bow (as in bow and arrow)
tear (as in tear in your eye) and tear (to rip your clothing)
right (as in correct) and right (as in the opposite direction to left)

Homonyms are words that sound and look alike, but have different meanings, and some examples are:

duck (as in the bird) and duck (as in the ‘duck’ for cover)
fly (move through air with or without wings ) or fly (insect) or fly (zipper on trousers) or fly (move quickly) of fly (colloquial for awesome)

This pun is based on both a homophone and a homonym (compound pun). The word ‘seconds‘ has been manipulated for comic effect. The meaning of seconds in reference to time (associated with a clock) has been replaced by the term which refers to an extra serving of food (associated with being hungry.)

Close-sounding puns

These puns are based on words that have different meanings and spellings, but sound similar, differing in only one or two sounds. They are achieved by replacing a close-sounding word or phrase with another similar sounding word, which might be a nonsense word.

They require making an association between the sounds of words that effectively have nothing else in common and therefore require a strong understanding of the English language.

Knock-knock jokes are examples of this type of pun or play on how words sound.

Knock. Knock.

Who’s there?

Ech.

Ech who?

Bless you!

Lems (2011) demonstrated the process of understanding the pun through a series of steps. To understand this pun, students must

recognise and make connections with the replacement words and phrases (‘Ech’ connect this nonsense word and ‘who’)
hear the other words in the sentence and connect with a plausible phrase that sounds similar (connect ‘Ech’ ‘who’ to the retort ‘Bless you’)
recognise that this sound sequence can represent the word ‘Achoo’ (onomaopoeia) which connects plausibly with ‘Bless you!”.

To assist your students to understand the three word classes we have put together a set of posters explaining the subtle differences.

Each card includes a definition, illustrated example sentence and the word morphology.

Do you love wordplay and puns? Each week we share a pun or joke suitable to share with students that explore the ambiguities of language across the curriculum.

Come join us in The Lounge and share your love of language!

“The Lounge” is Quality Writing Instruction’s Facebook group, where you can share ideas and get support from a fabulous group of like-minded teachers.

References:

Graves, M, and Watts-Taffe, S, 2008, ‘For the Love of Words: Fostering Word Consciousness in Young Readers’ in The Reading Teacher, 62, 3, pp 185-193

Lems, K, 2011, ‘Pun Work Helps English Learners Get the Joke’ in The Reading Teacher, 65, 3, pp 197-202

Whitaker, S, 2008, ‘Finding the Joy of Language in Authentic Wordplay’ in English Journal, 97, 4 pp 45-48

The post Puns are not just fun and games (don’t tell your students!) appeared first on Quality Writing Instruction.

How to get students writing in maths: quick writes

QWI — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 03:37:30 +0000

How to get students writing in maths: quick writes

By KELLIE

Quick writes, or daily writes, are an integral part of many classroom routines. They are a simple way to encourage students to generate ideas for future stories and to motivate reluctant writers.

Daily writing need not be limited to narrative or recounts though! Using a visual stimulus is a simple way to prompt students to write maths stories or maths problems.

The following examples show how teachers can incorporate maths into daily writing. It is important to remember that students will need scaffolding and practice to achieve this independently.

Daily writing picture prompts

One way to encourage students to write maths problems is through a photo stimulus.

The photo need not be accompanied by an explanation, or even numerals to prompt a maths story.

Encourage students to think “outside the box” and write maths stories from across the strands. Guide students to make the connection between the visual, mathematics and their everyday experiences when writing their maths stories.

class discussion of the visual prompt
students write a maths problem
students share their problem with a partner to solve
students respond to feedback on their story and make adjustments

To assist students to give effective feedback support them with guiding questions to refer to such as these from ‘Visible Learning for Mathematics, Grades K-12’ (2017).

What is the question asking?
What useful information is given?
What other information would be helpful?
What might the answer look like?

A year 5 example: eggs

In this example, a year 5 class wrote maths stories based on the eggs photo prompt.

A number of students wrote addition and subtraction stories reflecting the image but other students branched out using the prompt ‘egg’ more broadly.

Some examples are below.

The examples represent the problems after students had shared and received feedback from others. Some amendments are evident in the examples.

A year 3/4 class example: fruit bowl

As writing maths stories had only recently been introduced to the students’ daily writing routine and some students were having difficulty writing ‘solve-able’ stories, the teacher demonstrated how to improve a story.

Together the students identified what was missing from the maths story and why it wasn’t able to be solved.

Using the photograph “Fruit Bowl” below, the class then jointly constructed an “improved” maths story adding enough detail to ensure it could be solved.

The students then collaborated with a partner to write a story about the photograph.

As the class were studying fractions, the teacher suggested that students try to write maths problems or stories incorporating what they were learning.

Year 2 example: picture book prompt

An oldie but a goodie!

After reading the story ‘Each Orange Had 8 Slices’ by Paul Giganti, Jr, the class co-constructed a number of maths stories following the language patterns in the book and then wrote accompanying questions.

During the modelled lesson, the teacher demonstrated how to use pictures to help solve the problem.

Throughout the next week, students worked in small groups to write maths stories for others to solve.

Each group was asked to accompany their story with a method to assist others to solve the problem.

The completed word problems and supporting illustrations were collated into a maths story book and added to the class library.

More ideas to get your students writing in maths...

We would love to hear from you and learn how you encourage writing in maths. Please join us in The Lounge and share!

“The Lounge” is Quality Writing Instruction’s Facebook group, where you can share ideas and get support from a fabulous group of like-minded teachers.

References:

Giganti, P, 1992, ‘Each Orange Had 8 Slices’, HarperCollins Children’s Books, New York.

Hattie, J, 2017, ‘Visible Learning for Mathematics, Grades K-12 : what works best to optimize student learning’, Thousand Oaks, California : Corwin, a SAGE Company.

The post How to get students writing in maths: quick writes appeared first on Quality Writing Instruction.

Vocabulary in maths – Year 3 to 6

QWI — Sat, 29 Aug 2020 01:30:18 +0000

Teaching vocabulary in mathematics: year 3 - 6

Naming Polygons

By KELLIE

Explore how to meet the vocabulary literacy demands of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and how morphology and etymology have influenced mathematical vocabulary.

This 15-minute presentation reveals the patterns of how many common shapes are named and demonstrates ways to support students to use word knowledge and word origins to make sense of mathematical language – particularly when learning about polygons.

The examples given, and some supporting resources are suitable for any year level and any subject area.

Resources to support building vocabulary in maths

The word cards used as demonstrations during the presentation can be downloaded here.

Silent word sort cards. This activity requires students to sort words according to how familiar they are with them. This activity is useful for any subject and any year level. An easy pre-assessment!

These cards are an example of how adding simple definitions and word origins to word cards is a useful reference for students.

Want to explore more fascinating tips for teaching vocabulary in maths? Join us in The Lounge.

“The Lounge” is Quality Writing Instruction’s Facebook group, where you can share ideas and get support from a fabulous group of like-minded teachers.

We have put together a booklet listing the most common Latin & Greek words, with examples. There is plenty of room for your students to add more.

Suitable for both primary and secondary students.

References:

Australian Curriculum, “General Capabilties in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.” https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/Mathematics_-_GC_learning_area.pdf

Australian Curriculum, “General Capabilties in the Australian Curriculum: Literacy.” https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/literacy/

The post Vocabulary in maths – Year 3 to 6 appeared first on Quality Writing Instruction.

How to get students writing in maths: explanations

QWI — Sat, 29 Aug 2020 01:11:37 +0000

How to get students writing in maths: explanations

By KELLIE

Students are often asked to explain their thinking or explain their learning in maths. To be successful, they must be taught how to write mathematical explanations to meet the purpose and audience.

In this blog, we explore how to support the writing of procedural and reflective explanations in maths with examples from both the early and middle years of primary school.

Teach students how to write the text

When teaching students how to write explanations in maths scaffold their learning just as you would for any piece of writing.

Explicitly teach the text structure, purpose and audience for the explanations they are composing. For example, students should know that explanations provide you (their audience) with information on how they are thinking and working out mathematically and ensure they know what your expectations are.

Scaffold their learning with anchor charts, easy to follow processes, and examples that students work through collaboratively and independently. If you are looking for some ideas, there are supporting resources to download at the end of this blog.

Students require multiple exposures to examples of maths explanations before they can compose them successfully.

Writing to explain processes

Students are often required to write explanations in maths to explain the processes they followed to work through a task, or to explain their thinking.

Again, explicitly teach how to write this form of explanation and provide models of examples for students to refer to.

What are you learning about?
What steps did you take to solve the problem?
How did you check?

An authentic way to encourage students to explain a process is to analyse examples of student work that contains errors or misconceptions. Students respond and write an explanation of how to solve the problem as feedback.

Allow students to plan and write procedural explanations in a number of ways:

design a flow chart
write a step by step process (First, Then, Next, Finally…)
illustrate each step
tell someone the steps

If possible, provide time for them to test the accuracy of their explanation by having other students follow the process and offer feedback.

Encourage the use of diagrams and illustrations to support their thinking.

Another simple and fun way to encourage procedural explanations is to ask students to write a note for a peer who missed the lesson! Challenge them to explain the processes and procedures as clearly as possible.

Writing to explain new learning

When asked to write an explanation of new learning, students benefit from question prompts or sentence starters to help them to organise their thinking.

Generalised questions such as these can be adapted to many purposes.

What are you learning about?
What did you think (before)?
What did you find out? What did you observe?
What do you think now?

Combine these with graphic organisers, column-notes, or tables for an effective way for students to organise their thinking and plan before they start writing.

Some practical examples

The guiding questions listed are easily adapted to any task and any year level.

The first example is a prep student’s response to a mathematical inquiry task.

What did you think (before you started)?

The balls will roll. And the ones with round parts. Not the sharp ones.

What did you observe?

Only ones shaped like balls or have some round sides rolled down. The cylinder rolled on its side but not when it was on the flat side. The ones with flat sides did not roll.

What do you think now?

The ones with flat sides do not roll. The round ones rolled down faster when it was steeper.

The class teacher was able to make judgements about the student’s thinking from their explanation to inform further directions.

(A scribe recorded the student’s response.)

Explaining observations in year 4

In this example, the student has used a Venn diagram to compare the features of squares and rectangles.

The student has then composed a short explanation of what they have learned from this comparison. Their explanation follows the simple structure:

What did you think (before you started)?

Squares and rectangles have lots in common and look a bit alike.

What did you observe?

They are both closed shapes. They both have four sides and four right-angled corners. Squares have four sides that are all the same length. But rectangles have 2 sides that are the same, and the other 2 sides are also the same length.

What do you think now?

I think a square is a special type of rectangle.

Please note all examples have been transcribed as the original student responses.

Explaining the testing of theories or ideas in year 5

In this example, the student was testing their theory that “all odd numbers are prime, and all even numbers are composite.” Students were asked to test their theory, and record their observations using a Frayer model. They were then asked to write an explanation of what they had observed, and how this had impacted on their learning.

Because of the personalised nature of the task, the use of I statements was considered acceptable.

In this explanation, the student quickly addresses a misconception they had which became apparent almost immediately.

When discussing their new learning, the student noted additional observations made.

Remember, when teaching students how to write mathematical explanations:

use examples as models
use scaffolds and prompts such as sentence starters and questions
graphic organisers are your students’ best friends
encourage students to draw and illustrate their thinking
allow students to organise their thinking before sharing or writing
use students’ writing as formative assessment to inform next steps for teaching

We have collected sentence starters, question prompts and graphic organisers to support the teaching of writing explanations in maths. The examples explored in this blog are included too.

More ideas to get your students writing in maths...

To share your thoughts and hear how other teachers teach writing in maths, join us in The Lounge.

“The Lounge” is Quality Writing Instruction’s Facebook group, where you can share ideas and get support from a fabulous group of like-minded teachers.

The post How to get students writing in maths: explanations appeared first on Quality Writing Instruction.

How to get students writing in mathematics: use graphic organisers.

QWI — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 10:09:27 +0000

How to get students writing in maths: graphic organisers

By KELLIE

Writing in maths has many benefits for both teachers and students. Writing allows students to organise their ideas, clarify and reflect on their learning. For teachers, it provides valuable insights through formative assessment. However, thinking of ways to incorporate purposeful writing in mathematics can be stressful.

There’s no need to worry! In this blog you will see it can be as simple as thinking differently about some of the graphic organisers and scaffolds you already use, and creating some simple tables.

When it comes to helping students organise their ideas, simple scaffolds and tables are your best friends!

Simple scaffolds and graphic organisers can help students to:

organise their mathematical thinking,
summarise new learning, and
make connections to prior knowledge and understanding.

Use tables or column-notes

You can easily create a column note, or table, for any purpose in Word. (Not sure how to do this? Here’s a quick tutorial.)

In this example, students use the table to make connections between their new learning and what they already know. Personal connections are examples of how they apply this knowledge in real life.

Be creative with graphic organisers you already use

Another idea is to re-purpose familiar graphic organisers and use them in different ways.

Even scaffolds we usually use for teaching vocabulary and word study can be modified to support teaching in maths.

Frayer models are easily adapted to provide an effective way for students to organise their thinking about mathematical concepts.

Here’s a simple way for students to compare and contrast in mathematics.

Using a Venn diagram as a scaffold, students arrange and classify the characteristics of common shapes and summarise their similarities and differences.

After students have organised their thoughts, ensure they use their notes to compose a summary or an explanation of their new understanding.

“Squares and rectangles have a lot in common and look a bit alike. They are both closed shapes. They both have four sides, and four right-angled corners. Squares have four sides that are all the same length. But rectangles have 2 sides that are the same, and the other 2 sides are also the same length. I think a square is a special type of rectangle.” (Immy, grade 4.)

Encourage visual representations of learning

Always encourage students to describe and explain their connections through words, numbers and diagrams. Allow students time to gather their thoughts before sharing with others.

“Drawing is not just a way to make their thoughts about mathematics visible to others; it is a device to capture the language of mathematics in order to make it visible to themselves.” (Tuttle, 2005).

You can download blank copies of the graphic organisers we used as our examples here. We’ve prettied them up and included another example.

More ideas to get your students writing in maths...

Keen to share how you incorporate writing into your maths instruction? We’d love you to come join us in The Lounge!

“The Lounge” is Quality Writing Instruction’s Facebook group, where you can share ideas and get support from a fabulous group of like-minded teachers.

References:

Tuttle, C.L., (2005). Writing in the mathematics classroom. In J.M. Kenny (Ed.), Literacy strategies for improving mathematics instruction (pp. 24-50).

The post How to get students writing in mathematics: use graphic organisers. appeared first on Quality Writing Instruction.