S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G

    I wus uh reele bad speller az uh kid (and I still kind of am).  In fact, I have a confession... the only test I ever cheated on was a first grade spelling test.  I vividly recall sneaking a peek around my neighbor's cardboard cubby to see how she spelled the word "cup."  It's silly I know, who cheats in first grade?
    I can distinctly remember another time in kindergarten when my friend asked me how to spell the word "of." I really had no idea, but, in fear of looking unintelligent, I replied in the most confident voice I could muster, "of....... is spelled a-v."  Her smart reply was, "Nope, you're wrong. It's o-f."  Well, let me tell you I sure felt stupid! But, I didn't let that get me down. I still used the "think-spelling" strategy we were taught and continued to enjoy writing despite my ability to spell well.
    In light of some of my struggles in first grade mentioned above, the next year in second grade I was the only student to get every single spelling word right every single week on our spelling tests.  The thing was for those tests, I didn't really learn how to spell.  I did learn how to memorize which letters in which order formed which word.
     So we have come to the question, how important is spelling anyhow?  Well, I don't think there is a black and white answer.  I think it depends on the situation and the reason behind the writing.

Quick Thoughts on Wilde Chapter 6 "Developing Spelling Strategies":
*Three parts of spelling: knowledge of words, knowledge of spelling patterns, and spelling strategies.
*I'm glad we've moved past just asking the teacher or looking up a word in the dictionary
*I love these ideas:
  -helping students answer questions for themselves.
  -willingness to try out spelling, focus on fluency rather than correctness
  -introducing kids to the process and not expecting a perfect outcome.
  -help kids understand the reason behind correcting spelling (courtesy to the reader).
  -as they grow older they need to move past invented spelling

  "When in doubt, ask the writer where the spelling came from"

                                                                 -Wilde p. 98

     I think this is a good idea even when you are not in doubt about whether they have a learning disability.  In my opinion, ask students why they came up with a certain spelling gives them a chance to really think about the letters that they wrote down and how they work together.  It gives them the opportunity to think more critically about  their spelling.

The Wilde Article basically talked about five strategies that are relevant to spelling.  Here is an overview of them and some expansion on how to use them.

FIVE STRATEGIES:
1.) Placeholder Spelling: writing something that one knows isn't correct. or close, but they write it anyone just to get something down on the paper.  Good to use when you don't want to lose your train of thought or you are in a hurry and it doesn't matter if it is spelled correctly.

2.) Human Resource Use: asking someone else how to spell a word.  Ask students to come up with their own spellings first, or help them through the process.  Encourage students to help each other.

3.) Textual Resource Use: using a dictionary or a print source to find out how to spell a word.  Fill your classroom with written text that students can copy from.  It's also important to teach kids how a dictionary is organized and how to use it.

4.) Generation, Monitoring, and Revision: pretty self explanatory; coming up with, checking whether it looks right or not, and editing your own spelling of a word without outside help.  

5.) Ownership: you have mastered the spelling of a word and can write it without thinking about it.  Encourage students to build up their vocabulary and their repertoire of words they know how to spell.

Now it is just a matter or learning how exactly it is best to use these in the classroom.  I think the though part is that is varies with each year and each kid, and isn't that true with basically everything involving education...