One way to teach a student to encode is to teach synthetic spelling. When students spell synthetically, they break words into their phonemes, identify the letters that represent each phoneme, and then put these letters together to make words. The first words that your student will learn to spell synthetically are single-syllable words.
Explicit Instruction
If you are intervening to support your students' ability to spell single syllable words synthetically, you should start by explicitly teaching the skill. This sounds like:
Activity A: Segment-To-Spell, Single Syllable Words
The following intervention strategy is sourced from O'Connor, R. (2014). Teaching word recognition: Effective strategies for students with learning difficulties (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Segment-to-spell differs from traditional spelling in three dimensions. First, students are asked to identify consciously each sound within the word segments. Next, as they spell the word, they use their knowledge of segmenting alphabet letters to generate a spelling, rather than using memorization techniques. Last, teachers have students examine the word that they have spelled, produce a sound for each letter in the word, and blend sounds back together to regenerate the spoken word with which they started. Segment-to-spell captures all the dimensions of decoding, along with the kinesthetic experience of moving letters or tiles, which focuses students’ attention on the task at hand.
Begin teaching segment-to-spell after students in the instructional groups have learned to segment spoken words with two, three, or four phonemes. Choose a short list of words (three or four, as a start) that consist only of letters that have been taught, with no silent letters or vowel combinations that are unusual. For example, suppose the students have learned letters and sounds for a, m, s, t, i, d, and f. The teacher might decide to use fat, fit, and sad on the first day. Provide each student in the group with letter tiles or cards for a, m, s, t, i, d, and f, and [a] three-box segmenting card:
Say, “Tell me the sound you hear in fat.” (Students say "/f/ - /a/ - /t.") If students in the group had difficulty providing the sounds, spend a few sessions providing directed opportunities to the segment.... If only one or two students have difficulty segmenting all of the sounds in fat say, “Say fat with me very slowly.” (Students say, “Fffaaattt.” “Now you say fat slowly.” (Students: “Fffaaattt.” “Now tell me the sounds you hear in fat.”
In this activity, it is important to consciously link spelling with reading by asking students to read back the word they have spelled. In our studies (e.g., O’Connor & Padelaidu, 2000) and in our classrooms, we have known many children who can segment and generate a plausible spelling for a word but who cannot read back the words they spell. When we include blending and segmenting in the same instructional sessions, students learn more rapidly and have less difficulty decoding.
Give students letter cubes that spell a word. Tell students a word, and ask the student to repeat the whole word. Then, ask them to push the letter cubes into a box as they say each sound. Then, ask them to move the letter cubes out of the box, spelling each letter as they move each cube. Then, they will spell the word in the boxes. "I'm going to give you a word. We're going to say the whole word, and then we're going to push the sounds into each box. Then when you bring them back down, I want you to spell the letters. Finally, I will write letters in the boxes."
Segment-to-Spell in Action
Watch this clip to see how to execute Segment-to-Spell. Notice how the teacher incorporates Make It Move to make the intervention more effective.
O'Connor, R., & Vadasy, P. (Eds.). (2011). Handbook of reading interventions. New York: Guilford Press.
As students become better readers and spellers, they can learn to spell multi-syllabic words synthetically as well. Spelling multi-syllabic words synthetically requires the student to break a word into its syllables, break each syllable into phonemes, recall the letter that represents each phoneme, and either arrange or write the letters to make each syllable, one at a time.
Explicit Instruction
If you are intervening to support your students' ability to synthetically spell multi-syllable words, you should start by explicitly teaching the skill. This sounds like:
Activity B: Segment-To-Spell, Multi-Syllable Words
The following intervention strategy is sourced from Henry, M. (2010). Unlocking literacy: Effective decoding & spelling instruction (2nd ed.). Baltimore, MD: P.H. Brookes.
Encourage students to tap each syllable, using different fingers for each sound. Children can tap [the syllables] on the opposite fist or even on a table. Some children prefer to feel the voice box [...] and still others like to clap each [syllable].
When spelling multi-syllabic words, students count syllables as they say and write the words, syllable by syllable.
Segment-To-Spell, Multi-syllabic Words in Action
Teacher: "Let's spell the word napkin. Remember to tap out each syllable you hear before you spell it."
Student: "/Nap/ /kin/. I hear two syllables."
Teacher: "Now, tap out the sounds in each syllable."
Student: "Nap /n/ /a/ /p/. Kin /k/ /i/ /n/."
Teacher: "Now spell the whole word."
Student: "N.a.p.k.i.n."
Henry, M. (2010). Unlocking literacy: Effective decoding and spelling instruction (2nd ed). Baltimore, MD: PH Brookes.
There are six regular spelling rules that can support students' ability to represent these words using the right letter combinations. Henry (2010) recommends explicitly teaching students spelling rules. This knowledge helps build independent spellers and also aids in reading the words in print.
Read these six spelling rules and consider how you might explicitly teach each rule.
Explicit Instruction
If you are intervening to support your students' ability to encode words that follow any of these rules, you should start by explicitly teaching the rule. This sounds like:
Henry and many other literacy researchers note that, in addition to learning the six spelling rules, there are irregular words that students just need to memorize! Irregular words, or nonphonetic words, usually feature a vowel spelling that does not carry its regular short or long vowel sound, such as mother.
Explicit Instruction
To support your students' understanding that some words are irregular, you can start by explicitly stating this fact. This sounds like:
Think about the following scenario, which takes place after a teacher has explicitly introduced segmenting to spell single syllable words, and give students the opportunity to practice:
Teacher: "Write the word script"
Student: "/s//c//r//i//p/" [writes] scip
In such a case, what might you do?
When you are planning your lessons, you should anticipate that your student will make errors throughout. Here is a series of prompts that you can use to respond to errors. Keep in mind that all students are different, and that students might respond better to some types of feedback than others.
| Level of Support | Description of Scaffold | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Smallest Scaffold | Try again! Allow student multiple opportunities to practice new skill. Ask the student to try the same letter again. | "Try again. Spell the word script. What word?" |
| Medium Scaffold | Provide Resources. Allow the student to use resources to figure out the answer (including helpful supports such as a visual or a prompt).
|
"Say script slowly. Tap out script. Say the sounds as you move these cubes onto your page. Now, write a letter that goes with each sound." |
| Highest Scaffold | Model, Lead, Test, Retest. Model for the student using this gradual release correction procedure adopted from Carnine, D.W., Silbert, J., Kame'enui, E. J. & Tarver, S. G. (2004). Direct instruction reading (4th Ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. | 1. Teacher says the correct answer. "/s//c//r//i//p//t/ s c r i p t, script." 2. Teacher models: "My turn. Spell the word script." (Signal) "/s//c//r//i//p//t/ s c r i p t, script." (Teacher responds) 3. Teacher leads: "Let's do it together. Spell the word script."(Signal.)"/s//c//r//i//p//t/ s c r i p t, script." (Teacher responds with the students.) 4. Teacher tests: "Your turn. Spell the word script." (Signal.) "/s//c//r//i//p//t/ s c r i p t, script." |
If your student struggles to meet your objective, there are various techniques that you might try, to adjust the activity to your student's needs.
| Activity | Description of Strategy | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Segment to Spell Single Syllable Words | Make it Move. If a student can't recall the number of sounds in a word, have him move a cube as he says each sound, says each corresponding letter, and writes each letter. | "Tap out script. Move a cube for each of the sounds in script. Now, say a letter to represent each sound. Now, write the letter." "Say script slowly and tap out the sounds." |
| Stretch it! If the student can't hear all of the phonemes in the word, encourage him to say it slowly and count the sound. If that doesn't work, say the word slowly for the student so that the student can attend to the sounds. | "Ssss/cccc/rrrrr/iiiiiiii/p/t." "Listen again and count the sounds that you hear. Ssssss/cccccccc/rrrrr/iiii/p/t. How many sounds? |
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| Segment to Spell Multi-Syllabic Words | Syllable Frames. If a student doesn't remember to write all of the syllables in the word, have him draw a series of boxes next to each other on the page. One for each syllable. Then, have him segment-to-spell each syllable and write/build it in its box. | "Say the word hospital." "How many syllables?" "Draw three boxes, one for each syllable. Now, tap and spell the first syllable." |
| Feel the Syllable. If a student is having difficulty counting the number of syllables in a word, have him touch his throat as he says the word. He will be able to feel a buzz for each syllable in the word. | "Say the word hospital." "Now say it again, slowly, touching your throat. How many buzzes do you feel? There are three syllables in hospital." | |
| Regular and Irregular Spelling Rules | Record It. If a student doesn't remember the spelling rules, give him a designated spot to write the rule in his intervention notebook. Then, remind him to reference his spelling rules page during encoding activities. | "Now that you know that rule, turn to the spelling rules section of your notebook. Write the rule. Write two example words that follow this rule." "Write the word 'friend' in your notebook." |