Spelling
Literacy is more than just decoding and reading. Assessing a student's spelling ability can uncover underlying issues.
- Similar letter shapes, like b and d or m and w, can create confusion for students with dyslexia as they learn to transcribe the sounds they hear into letters they can see.
- A sign that a student is having trouble with spelling is that the student uses phonetic spellings. The student hasn't internalized the spelling patterns in the language and instead uses the most basic sound-symbol relationship to spell.
- Struggles with spelling may also impact a learner with dyslexia’s written expression. Rather than becoming bogged down in the spelling of more advanced word choices, a learner with dyslexia may choose a more simplistic word they can spell rather than one that better targets their ideas.
Reflection
- Why might a student with dyslexia be a better reader than speller?
- How can an incorrect spelling inform a teacher about a student's learning profile?
- Other than being incorrect, what are other ways struggles with spelling words can affect a student with dyslexia in the classroom?
Other resources
- Watch the Made By Dyslexia: Dyslexia Awareness - Literacy video.
- Watch Kiera Knightley talk about her challenges with spelling
- How Spelling Supports Reading from Reading Rockets.
- Learning and Thinking Differences That Cause Trouble with Spelling from Understood.org.