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Spelling at Oakfield Primary Academy
Spelling, the art of correctly assembling words from their letters, is one of the essential components of successful writing. Being confident at spelling leads to confidence in all aspects of literacy. The ability to recognise the links between word of the same origin and understanding word relationships has been proven to aid comprehension skills.
Teaching young spellers the strategies, rules and concepts to grow their spelling and vocabulary knowledge benefits them in all aspects of their learning, as well as in their everyday life.
Learners who feel confident with letters and word patterns are able to read and comprehend more complex texts. They also have the necessary language tools to better convey their own ideas through both written and verbal communication.
Building a strong foundational knowledge of the links between forms, letters, sounds and meaning is essential for students to become confident communicators ad writers.
Spelling Structure at OPA
Monday – Cold spelling test
Children will not have seen these spelling words before. This is to ascertain what the children know. This score will also prove to be a goal for children to beat by the end of the week.
Tuesday – Teach new spelling rule and practise
Teachers will teach a new spelling rule or strategies to the class – explaining in detail the relationships between letters. Children will have the opportunity to practise spelling these words within this lesson.
Wednesday and Thursday – practise and consolidation
Teachers will provide children with opportunities to rehearse spelling in a range of way to ensure fluency. This will ensure that new spellings have moved in to the long term memory and become ‘sticky knowledge’. Some of these strategies may be; pyramid spelling, missing vowels, draw the word, rearrange letter, etc.
Friday – Hot test
Children will be tested on the spelling they have practised all week. This will be another assessment point for teachers to observe how much progress has been made. Children will see that as a challenge to better their score from the previous cold test.
