what the research says

Explicit spelling instruction transfers to authentic contexts

…our results show that following explicit instruction in spelling, students do transfer spelling knowledge into independent composing, but the transfer is not instantaneous. It takes time to consolidate learning and make the necessary progress within and across school years in the journey toward skilled writing. The widely held belief that explicit spelling instruction (based on alphabetic principle from phoneme to grapheme and other strategies for making connections between units of written and spoken words) does not transfer to spelling in authentic contexts has been debunked.

Amtmann, D., Abbott, R.D., & Berninger, V.W. (2008). Identifying and Predicting Classes of Response to Explicit Phonological Spelling Instruction During Independent Composing. Journal of Learning Disabilities 41 (3), pp. 218 – 234.

First graders use multiple, overlapping strategies to spell

Sharp et al used a microgenetic study (i.e., capturing detailed information on a small sample of subjects) to show that students use multiple strategies at the same time in spelling. This is in contrast to the more usual stage model in which students progress from one stage in their spelling ability to another. Reality, apparently, is messier than that:

…the use of a variety of strategies occurred not only all along the developmental continuum but across 89% of the individual spelling trials. [Strategies include:]

Complete retrieval  = Accessing spelling features from memory to correctly spell words

Partial retrieval = Accessing partial spelling features from memory to spell words incompletely

Guessing = Choosing a string of letters with no phonological or morphological logic

Sounding out = Using phoneme to grapheme matching

Rule use = Applying orthographic rules to help spell words

Analogy = Using another word to help spell a current word

Visual checking = Perceptually checking a word to see if it looks right

Copying = Visually consulting a visible source

Chunking = Using common letter patterns to help spell unfamiliar words

Sharp, A.C., Sinatra, G.M., & Reynolds, R.E. (2008). The Development of Children’s Orthographic Knowledge: A Microgenetic Perspective. Reading Research Quarterly, 43 (3), p. 206 -226.

Findings also suggested that strategies improve along with phonics knowledge:

…we interpret the results of the feature error analysis as indicating that knowledge of orthographic understanding supported an increase in more sophisticated strategy use, and more sophisticated use allowed feature knowledge to become more efficient.

Sharp, A.C., Sinatra, G.M., & Reynolds, R.E. (2008). The Development of Children’s Orthographic Knowledge: A Microgenetic Perspective. Reading Research Quarterly, 43 (3), p. 206 -226.