Designing a Low Variance Spelling & Reading Curriculum: Jenny Baker FAQs

Hundreds of TFE members tuned into my session in September 2021. If you haven’t see it yet, you can catch up here. While I tried to tackle as many of your questions in the session, we couldn’t get to all of them. Please see my responses to a few key questions below.

If you have more questions feel free to add a comment to this blog post.

Q. Is there any talk of DOE formalising a scope and sequence like this? It’s crazy that this is left up to individual schools.

Certainly not in Western Australia; in WA, we are sharing the K – 3 Scope and Sequence along with the Daily Review Power Points that were developed through Mosman Park Primary School. Other schools are downloading it for their own use, and some are opting to contribute to the review and continued development of the document. The 4 – 6 Scope and Sequence is markedly more difficult to develop as it involves higher levels of morphology and etymology, but it can also be systematised and broken down into manageable parts across those three years. Once we have a K – 6 scope and sequence, it will be reviewed and shared throughout WA.

Q. There is such a huge amount of knowledge required that teachers simply don't get through uni.

I agree… There is a lot we have to learn about regarding how words work, and what are the best practice methodologies for teaching literacy skills to young learners. We have to understand the inner workings of words, and the mechanisms that contribute to increasing complexity within words. We need some common terminology to make sure that we are referring to the same concepts. I know that as a Speech Pathologist, our background in linguistics and phonology is invaluable when analysing spelling, writing and reading samples. It is also important to consider linguistic and phonological factors when designing the item pool of words, phrases, sentences to promote strong traction of local learning as well as generalisation to global learning.

There is a lot we have to learn about regarding how words work, and much of it is missing from pre-service teacher education.

Q. What's the difference between orthographic memory and automaticity? Are these related?

The Visual Word Form Area is in the left Fusiform Gyrus of the Occipital Lobe. It is here that orthographic memory is situated.

Linnea Ehri explains that orthographic mapping involves the formation of letter-sound connections to bond the spellings, pronunciations, and meanings of specific words in memory. It explains how children learn to read words by sight, to spell words from memory, and to acquire vocabulary words from print.

We know that once a word has been mapped orthographically – once it has taken on a Mental Graphemic Representation, then it “sticks” in the Visual Word Form area and can be retrieved for the purpose of reading or spelling. The Visual Word Form Area in the left Fusiform Gyrus of The Occipital Lobe is where orthographic memory is situated. The quick, accurate and easy retrieval is automaticity!

This article explains it well.

Q. What spelling assessments do you recommend. My class have missed a lot of direct spelling instruction in the last 2 years. Can you recommend a good assessment I could use to find the gaps?

We use many of the MOTIF tests https://www.motif.org.au/home/test/dists

These are free and have been normed on Australian children from Years 1 – 7.

·      DiSTs – spelling single sounds

·      LeSt – sounds associated with letters

·      DiSTn – nonsense words

·      DiSTi – irregular words

·      Test of Orthographic Choice

I have attached the Fremantle Spelling Survey and Survey Response Sheet for TFE members to use.

We have developed a simple spelling survey (Fremantle Spelling Survey; see Survey Response Sheet also) that assists teachers to identify gaps according to word structure in the initial code (phonologically regular words from one to four syllable words). In addition, the most common spellings of the 13 phonemes from the extended code are assessed.  I have attached it for people to use.

Other assessments include:

·      The Components of Spelling

·      The Sounds Write Screener

·      Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - Third Edition (WIAT-III) Spelling

·      Dalwood Spelling Test – K to Year 10

·      Single Word Spelling Test (Sacre & Masterson)

·      Test of Written Spelling – Fifth Edition (Moats)

Q. As curriculum lead, should I be mapping individual words in our scope for teachers or is the focus on phoneme/graphemes/rule sufficient?

I have no doubt that you must plan the scope and sequence right down to actual word choice because so much can go wrong with incorrect words being targeted and so much can be capitalised upon when good quality words are selected. When you are in control of word selection, you can teach choices about spellings based on phonological properties of (and sometimes semantic relationships between) words, not just orthographic features.

Don’t forget to access the resources available to TFE members, including the Scope and Sequence co-designed by Jenny Baker, available on her event page.

Q. How do you account for mastery with a low variance scope and sequence? What is the allowable range for variance, so students don't fall behind the 'pace' of instruction?

We set mastery at 80% before moving on to a new sound as this is the level prescribed by Sounds Write which is the program we use. Although we move to the next sound with 80% mastery, we still monitor progress and revise previously learned (and possibly unstable spellings) accordingly until we are satisfied that 80% is maintained. The figure of 80% involves both taught words as well as control words (ones that have deliberately been omitted from the teaching pool) so that generalisation can be determined.

Is deliberate, repeated practice of reading and spelling necessary? Yes.

Q. Is drill practice an effective instruction/ intervention approach?

While the term “drill” is a loaded one, there is no doubt that deliberate, repeated practice of reading and spelling is critical to ensure all children master this vital aspect of literacy.

Many teachers have been told that repeated practice is just “drilling” students, and “killing” the love of learning. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to mastering the English language!

Deliberate, repeated practice of phoneme:grapheme mapping with reading, spelling and writing is vital for the development of Mental Graphemic Representations or “sight words”.

Deliberate, repeated practice of phonemic manipulation is also vital to promote self-teaching and orthographic mapping.

This practice does not have to be boring! In fact, it works much better when you keep it fast-paced, exciting, and energetic for students. The ultimate fun is found when students master their own language, one word at a time! Practice on the right words, at the right time will get them there.

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Jenny Baker is a Speech pathologist who has been working in the area of spelling and written expression for over 30 years. She is one of the directors of Fremantle Speech Pathology Services, a busy private practice in Perth that works almost exclusively with school aged children.

Jenny is also involved in the clinical education of speech pathology students, equipping them with the knowledge and experience required to operate in school-based settings.

Don’t forget to check out the resources including the actual scope and sequence co-designed by Jenny Baker, available from her event page.

Catch up on Jenny’s webinar now.

Still have questions? Feel free to add them as a comment below.