Spelling for Reading?

In Chapter 12 of Beers' text she discusses the value of teaching and learning spelling in terms of improving reading comprehension. Spelling is important to be studied to aid comprehension because as Beers states (2003), "as children read, they connect sounds to letters; as they write, they connect letters to sounds. Understanding this relationship means that now, as we teach students how to spell, we recognize that we are helping them with the decoding process..." (p. 246). Beers encourages teaching spelling for reading improvement, and suggests strategies of word study rather than prescribing class-wide rote spelling tests.

I began thinking about practical applications of this approach, this word study, and right away thought of connecting it to foreign language classes. Students in high school are required to take foreign language classes, and could easily incorporate this study into their own study of spelling and English words. A teacher could find words that have similar patterns to foreign language words, and connect the meaning of the word to that of the foreign language word. Emphasizing the spelling of that word in English might doubly function to reinforce the spelling and meaning of not only the English word, but also differentiating it from the foreign language word. I wonder about partnering with Foreign Language teachers in this type of activity and what type of insight they would bring to the conversation.

Another practical application of teaching spelling might be to have students write down a list of words that most often confuse them, in terms of their spelling. This creates content driven by student needs, allowing the teacher insight into potential patterns that cause trouble or confusion. While similar to Beers' (2003) suggestion of a "Word Wall", this would be a more explicit discussion of the words and what about them might be confusing (p. 255). The teacher can take the opportunity to clarify the spelling of these words and explain why they are spelled a certain way. Providing a sense of logic or justification can help students remember spelling because they have a concrete reason as to why the word is spelled in that way, creating an association and understanding instead of just memorization.

Ultimately, I think the most important aspect of the inclusion of spelling in teaching reading would be explaining the purpose for doing so. Explaining to students that they are not only going to learn how to spell words, but that they are going to better understand words, to help them in their reading comprehension might make spelling more valuable to them. Again, this is an opportunity to use explicit instruction in reading, by equipping students with a tool that will help them enormously in their reading comprehension.