Spelling Professional Books

A selection of
useful
resources
Spelling

This book is based on modern research into spelling
and effective teaching. Features include:
• A Whole School Approach to Teaching Spelling
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Knowledge about spelling
Beliefs about learning to spell
Assessment strategies
Consistent approaches to teaching
Curriculum scope and sequence

This book by Diane Snowball and Faye Bolton
assists teachers with:
• Understanding current beliefs about teaching
and learning
• Implications for classroom practice
• Implementing spelling investigations – sounds,
patterns, affixes…
• Identifying possible spelling focuses at each
grade level
• Differentiation
• Relating spelling to reading and writing
• Generalisations that assist students to develop
a deep understanding of how English works

Misty Adoniou explains how English
spelling is not just random but is a system
based on meaning and a fascinating
history of words in English.
This text is based on the belief that good spelling
is the result of good teaching. Features include:
• How words work
• How humans learn to spell
• Planning a spelling program
• Assessment of spelling.

“Our students need instruction that makes them
think and helps them apply their word
knowledge to real reading and writing
situations.”
Palmer and Invernizzi write about practices that
better support literacy growth. Features include:
• Why skill and drill worksheets caurse struggle
or disengagement
• Teaching that research says actually works
• Instructional ideas to put to use tomorrow

This book focuses on the impact of
politics on literacy policy and practice.
The authors claim that ideology is
trumping the evidence so that synthetic
phonics adherents are ignoring the
research and the successes of the
teaching in many classrooms.
There are four contributors from the
United Kingdom and three from
Australia.

This book is a word study program that is
soundly based on research.
The work is based around spelling stages
and suggests instruction to differentiate
support for individual students.
Of particular interest and validity is the
approach used for assessment.