When I first started teaching, spelling was a bit of a mystery. Teachers in my school used a variety of methods. Some taught spelling and site words together, some used words from the outdated Reading series, some used vocabulary words, and some didn’t really do it at all.When I first started teaching I was lucky enough to have a wonderful mentor who’d gotten her Masters in Reading. She taught me so much, but perhaps the most valuable tool she gave me was teaching me about Word Study. After returning to school and getting my own M.Ed in Reading, I saw the research and understood how to make it work best for my students year after year. I got to work creating an entire series of spelling words that follow increasingly difficult spelling patterns. By learning to isolate these patterns in spelling, students simultaneously become better writers and better readers.I could go on and on about the importance of Word study. In fact, I’ve got an entire series on Word Sorts coming very soon. Today though, I wanted to share the order in which I teach these spelling patterns and explain why I chose this order. Continue reading →