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What's the best way to teach spelling? What is word study? Learn the answers to those questions and more by reading the articles in this section. Included are tips that provide concrete strategies teachers and parents can use to teach children how to spell words.
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By: Louisa Moats and Carol Tolman (2008)
Phonological awareness is critical for learning to read any alphabetic writing system. And research shows that difficulty with phoneme awareness and other phonological skills is a predictor of poor reading and spelling development.
By: Louisa Moats and Carol Tolman (2008)
Learn the six types of syllables found in English orthography, why it's important to teach syllables, and the sequence in which students learn about both spoken and written syllables.
By: Louisa Moats and Carol Tolman (2008)
English is a layer-cake language. Not only is it organized to represent sounds, syllables, and morphemes, but its spellings are derived from several languages that were amalgamated over hundreds of years due to political and social changes in Great Britain.
By: Louisa Moats and Carol Tolman (2008)
English orthography, or the English spelling system, may not be as transparent or easy to spell as Spanish, Italian, or Serbo-Croatian, but it's not crazy! Most English word spellings can be explained and most English words do follow spelling patterns.
By: International Dyslexia Association (2008)
Spelling is a challenge for people with dyslexia. The International Dyslexia Association provides a fact sheet explaining why people with dyslexia have trouble spelling, how to find out the reasons a particular child has this difficulty, and how to help children with dyslexia spell better.
By: Steven Graham, Karen R. Harris, and Connie Loynachan (2008)
This list was devised to help educators know which spelling words should be taught to children. The list contains 850 words that account for 80 percent of the words children use in their writing; the ones they need to be able to spell correctly.
By: Louisa Moats (2006)
Many young readers are puzzled by the rules and exceptions of spelling. Research has shown, however, that learning to spell and learning to read rely on much of the same underlying knowledge. Read this article to learn more about the relationships between letters and sounds and how a proper understanding of spelling mechanics can lead to improved reading.
By: Louise Spear-Swerling (2005)
Spelling difficulties can be enduring in individuals with reading disabilities, sometimes even after reading has been successfully remediated. Addressing spelling difficulties is important, because poor spelling can hamper writing and can convey a negative impression even when the content of the writing is excellent.
By: Reading Rockets (2004)
These three short video clips give you the chance to watch and learn effective techniques for teaching spelling. The video clips are from Reading Rockets' PBS television series Launching Young Readers. 
By: Susan Jones (2002)
Here are some concrete techniques that children can use to study spelling. This article also shares guidelines teachers and students should keep in mind, because practice makes permanent.
By: Shane Templeton (2002)
Although occasionally frustrating, spelling is logical, learnable, and critical to reading as well as to writing — but the most important thing is, it makes sense.
By: Diane Henry Leipzig (2000)
"Word study" is an alternative to traditional spelling instruction. It is based on learning word patterns rather than memorizing unconnected words. This article describes the word study approach.
By: Texas Education Agency (1996)
As children learn some letter-sound matches and start to read, they begin to write words and sentences. Seeing how words are spelled helps children in reading and writing.
- For older articles, see the Spelling and Word Study Archives >
