Nevertheless, research has shown that learning to spell and learning to read rely on much of the same underlying knowledge — such as the relationships between letters and sounds — and, not surprisingly, that spelling instruction can be designed to help children better understand that key knowledge, resulting in better reading. Catherine Snow et al. summarize the real importance of spelling for reading as follows: “Spelling and reading build and rely on the same mental representation of a word. Knowing the spelling of a word makes the representation of it sturdy and accessible for fluent reading."

How Spelling Supports Writing

Research also bears out a strong relationship between spelling and writing: Writers who must think too hard about how to spell use up valuable cognitive resources needed for higher level aspects of composition. Even more than reading, writing is a mental juggling act that depends on automatic deployment of basic skills such as handwriting, spelling, grammar, and punctuation so that the writer can keep track of such concerns as topic, organization, word choice, and audience needs. Poor spellers may restrict what they write to words they can spell, with inevitable loss of verbal power, or they may lose track of their thoughts when they get stuck trying to spell a word.

The research base for claiming that spelling is important for young children is solid: Learning to spell enhances children’s reading and writing.

We will begin with simple spelling words that will help in writing and reading fluency. I will also have "Bonus Words" included with each posted spelling list.

The bonus words also help all students learn the meanings of many valuable words that will enrich their vocabulary and knowledge base. These words will also help reinforce Science, Social Studies, and other curriculum areas.

Each week, your child will receive 1 to 3 bonus words. THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED TO LEARN TO SPELL THE BONUS WORDS.

It is however, important and required for your child to learn the meanings of the bonus words and to be able to orally, by drawing pictures, or using inventive spelling, demonstrate the meaning of the bonus words.

September 2, 2011

Spelling List #1

1. am

2. you

3. the

4. my

5. me

6. in

7. an

8. see

9. is

10. I

Bonus Words

1. Florida

2. Miami

Clarification on what is required as to spelling homework.

I believe that each child will have their own style of learning each new list of words (some children are visual learners, some are auditory learners, some learn kinesthetically and many use a variety of styles to learn); therefore there is NO REQUIRED homework to be turned into me.

I do strongly suggest that you use http://www.spellingcity.com to help make learning the words fun, in addition to the children who might benefit from a “drill” approach, or even writing them several times, (the way we used to only learn spelling words.)

If you haven’t been to that site, a quick reference to find our lists. Open spellingcity.com, search by “teacher”, type in “Ira Levine” and you will find this list and every subsequence list posted there as well as on our website under “Spelling”.

We will also practice the words in class using various multisensory “fun” methods.

Farmer Ira Levine

Spelling

Bonus Words

Bonus Words

Bonus Words

Bonus Words

Bonus Words

Bonus Words

How Spelling Supports Reading

How Spelling Supports Writing

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