PR-2288IRE My Spelling Workbook Teacher Guide - Book B

Metacognitive Approach
Aim: To encourage children to become successful independent spellers and thinkers.
Introductory Stage
• Each category of question (Clarifying, Literal, Inferential, Personal, Visualising, Predictive, Summarising and Reflective)
should be explained to the children. It is important that they understand what kind of question they are asking.
• Not all cards will be relevant in every situation. On occasion, they will be.
• Some of the questions may appear to be the same but are repeated under different categories. This is because the context is
different and this should be explained to the children.
Preparation Stage
• The teacher chooses a suitable spelling word. A word that encompasses all the categories of questions is better. However, it
should be stressed that not all categories are relevant to every word; for example, ‘yesterday’.
• The cards are displayed for all children to see. Teachers might prefer to enlarge the cards to A3 when photocopying or to
laminate them. (See pages 6–13).
Modelling Stage
• The teacher models a word; for example, ‘yesterday’. The teacher demonstrates the thinking process involved by applying the
questions suggested in the relevant categories and ‘talking’ through his or her answers.
• Allowing children to interact with the teacher using this process can be very productive.
Explanation of Question Types
Clarifying questions are questions that make words,
phrases or concepts clear and understandable.
For example: What is the word?
forgot
What does this word mean?
didn’t remember
Can the word be broken into smaller sounds?
for—got
Literal questions are questions that have a straightforward answer found in the text.
For example: What is the tricky part of the word?
or
Inferential questions are questions that ask you to deduce answers from the text.
For example: Can I think of some other way to help remember how to spell this word?
break the word into two little words: for, got
Review sample
Personal questions are questions that are relevant to oneself.
For example: Do I know how to spell any part of this word?
yes
Is this a word that I need to learn to spell?
yes, because I sometimes use this word in my writing
4 My Spelling Workbook B Teachers Guide—Prim-Ed Publishing—www.prim-ed.com