An introductrion to spelling techniques

1. HOW DO YOU SPELL?
Developing Different
Spelling Strategies

2. Do you use SYLLABLES?
B holiday • hol·i·day (3)
B competition • com·pe·ti·tion (4)
B football • foot·ball (2)
B temperature • tem·per·a·ture (4)
B particularly • par·tic·u·lar·ly (5)
B alphabet
• al·pha·bet (3)
B underwater
• un·der·wa·ter (4)
B volcano
• vol·ca·no (3)
• in·vis·i·ble (4)
B invisible • psy·cho·lo·gy (4)
B psychology

3. Do you use mnemonics
(spelling hints)?
 Can you come up with some spelling hints to
help you spell for the following words:
1. business
2. special
3. secretary
4. friend
5. accommodation
For example: because (big elephants can always understand
small elephants)

4. Extending ROOT words
 We can add a PREFIX to the beginning of a
ROOT WORD, or a SUFFIX to the end. For
example:
Root word: act
react
action
reaction
Using the root words you have on cards, in groups see how many words you can
make using prefixes and suffixes.

5. Spelling Patterns / Shape
 instantaneous, miscellaneous
 height, weight
 field, yield, niece, piece
 dissatisfied, dissolve, dissent

6. How well do you know your
HOMOPHONES?
1. write
2. right
3. affect
4. effect
5. advise
6. advice

7. Sound
 A lot of people use sound to help them spell –
however we often mispronounce words which
can affect our spelling.
 http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=destruction
How do we spell these words?

8. Spelling Rules
• For example:
‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’
...but this rule doesn’t always apply
e.g. the word ‘height’.
There are many spelling rules and we’ll be
covering these in the sessions to come.

9. Online Dictionaries
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
Advanced learners dictionary
The Merriam Webster Dictionary
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/volcano
Although this dictionary is American it is useful as it splits
words into syllables.
Online Pronunciation Guide
http://www.howjsay.com/
Provides sound clips of words - helps you with
pronunciation