Spelling it out! How words work and how to teach them

After writing an article titled ‘Why some kids can’t spell and why spelling tests won’t help’ for an online news site, I was inundated with emails from parents, teachers and grandparents concerned about their own spelling skills, or those of the children in their lives.

Spelling matters, it seems. Even in an age of spell check and auto correct – spelling matters.

It matters because spelling errors are so visible and open to the judgement of others. It matters because fear of making spelling errors deters many from writing. It matters because there is a strong connection between good spelling and reading comprehension.

In this presentation we dispel the perception that English spelling is chaotic and random, and uncover the systems behind English spelling. We will look closely at the linguistics of words, and understand the ways in which etymology (word origins), morphology (meaning components), phonology (sounds) and orthography (spelling conventions) provide strong, multiple pathways into learning how to spell words.