Spelling Inventory
Being able to communicate through written language is one of the most important milestones in children’s language development. Spelling is a vital communication tool that allows students to express their thoughts. Teachers and students work together to gain control over sound patterns in conventional ways. Once students gain control, they have phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness means students understand the different ways words are developed and have the ability to segment and blend together individual sounds.
To further understand where students are in developing their phonemic awareness, it is useful to administer spelling inventories. A spelling inventory is given to students throughout the year to allow teachers to be aware of the spelling stage each student is in and determine what each student needs to work on in order to have complete phonemic awareness. The spelling inventory breaks up the words into the different spelling components and assesses student’s understanding of spelling patterns. Some of the patterns include, beginning consonants, final consonants, short vowels, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, long vowel patterns, other vowel patterns, and inflected endings.
After learning about the importance of phonemic awareness and how to track each student’s understanding of words with spelling inventories, I administered two separate inventories to two students in my third, fourth, and fifth grade class. I am placed in a Resource room in an elementary school. The children in the class are all different ages and educational levels. Since each student in this class is at a different level, spelling inventories are especially important to plan lessons and keep track of the individual stages of learners. The teacher has students take spelling inventories often in order to assess their spelling level so she knows what to work on with each student and how to break them into spelling groups based on their level. She keeps a binder full of scores and color-codes the words each student gets correct and incorrect. The students come to the resource room for many reasons but especially because they have trouble with words. She believes that the more she focuses on spelling and understanding of words, the better readers, writers, and learners they will become.
During the literacy block, I was able to pull out two different students into the hall and give them individual spelling inventories. The first student I tested was a fourth grader, Student A. The second student I tested was also a fourth grader, Student B. They are both working on spelling but are very enthusiastic students who appreciate every opportunity to learn. We went through the list of words from the “Feature Guide for Primary Spelling Inventory”.
After administering the inventories, my teacher sat down with me to score them. She was interested in the results because she had not been able to give them a test since before Christmas. We scored both tests together and then she showed me previous inventories she had done with both children and explained how they went up and was happy that they improved. Student A moved passed the consonant blends stage and will now begin working on long vowel patterns because he only got two out of seven correct in this category. Student B is almost out of the long vowel patterns, but because she had two errors in this category, it is still considered her instructional level. My teacher explained that she believed Hannah had mastered the long vowels and was surprised at the results and reinforced how important spelling inventories are when trying to understand student’s spelling stage.
From completing this assignment, I have observed how valuable spelling inventories are the importance of giving them regularly in the classroom. In order to fully understand what spelling stage each individual student is in and how to continue with instruction spelling inventories are essential in order to teach students as efficiently and effectively as possible. The classroom is full of different learners who are on different spelling stages. Teachers need to collect data on each student using the spelling inventory in order to plan instruction.
Phonemic awareness is an important tool in communication. Students need to develop this tool in order to become better writers, readers, and learners. Once children understand how to break apart words and blend sounds together they will be able to express any thought they have. Students and teachers need to work together to obtain phonemic awareness. It is essential to administer spelling inventories to assess what students already understand and create lessons that will guide them towards complete phonemic awareness.
Being able to communicate through written language is one of the most important milestones in children’s language development. Spelling is a vital communication tool that allows students to express their thoughts. Teachers and students work together to gain control over sound patterns in conventional ways. Once students gain control, they have phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness means students understand the different ways words are developed and have the ability to segment and blend together individual sounds.
To further understand where students are in developing their phonemic awareness, it is useful to administer spelling inventories. A spelling inventory is given to students throughout the year to allow teachers to be aware of the spelling stage each student is in and determine what each student needs to work on in order to have complete phonemic awareness. The spelling inventory breaks up the words into the different spelling components and assesses student’s understanding of spelling patterns. Some of the patterns include, beginning consonants, final consonants, short vowels, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, long vowel patterns, other vowel patterns, and inflected endings.
After learning about the importance of phonemic awareness and how to track each student’s understanding of words with spelling inventories, I administered two separate inventories to two students in my third, fourth, and fifth grade class. I am placed in a Resource room in an elementary school. The children in the class are all different ages and educational levels. Since each student in this class is at a different level, spelling inventories are especially important to plan lessons and keep track of the individual stages of learners. The teacher has students take spelling inventories often in order to assess their spelling level so she knows what to work on with each student and how to break them into spelling groups based on their level. She keeps a binder full of scores and color-codes the words each student gets correct and incorrect. The students come to the resource room for many reasons but especially because they have trouble with words. She believes that the more she focuses on spelling and understanding of words, the better readers, writers, and learners they will become.
During the literacy block, I was able to pull out two different students into the hall and give them individual spelling inventories. The first student I tested was a fourth grader, Student A. The second student I tested was also a fourth grader, Student B. They are both working on spelling but are very enthusiastic students who appreciate every opportunity to learn. We went through the list of words from the “Feature Guide for Primary Spelling Inventory”.
After administering the inventories, my teacher sat down with me to score them. She was interested in the results because she had not been able to give them a test since before Christmas. We scored both tests together and then she showed me previous inventories she had done with both children and explained how they went up and was happy that they improved. Student A moved passed the consonant blends stage and will now begin working on long vowel patterns because he only got two out of seven correct in this category. Student B is almost out of the long vowel patterns, but because she had two errors in this category, it is still considered her instructional level. My teacher explained that she believed Hannah had mastered the long vowels and was surprised at the results and reinforced how important spelling inventories are when trying to understand student’s spelling stage.
From completing this assignment, I have observed how valuable spelling inventories are the importance of giving them regularly in the classroom. In order to fully understand what spelling stage each individual student is in and how to continue with instruction spelling inventories are essential in order to teach students as efficiently and effectively as possible. The classroom is full of different learners who are on different spelling stages. Teachers need to collect data on each student using the spelling inventory in order to plan instruction.
Phonemic awareness is an important tool in communication. Students need to develop this tool in order to become better writers, readers, and learners. Once children understand how to break apart words and blend sounds together they will be able to express any thought they have. Students and teachers need to work together to obtain phonemic awareness. It is essential to administer spelling inventories to assess what students already understand and create lessons that will guide them towards complete phonemic awareness.