Developing a weekly spelling plan that differentiates instruction for all of your students is a challenging task for even the best veteran teacher. Teachers truly want to differentiate instruction according to diagnostic and formative assessments, but the materials, testing, instruction, and management can prove overwhelming to even the most conscientious professional. Help has arrived!

Differentiated Spelling Instruction (Level A) helps teachers differentiate standards-based spelling instruction with minimal teacher prep, correcting, and paperwork. Level A words, spelling patterns, vocabulary, and structural analysis correspond to traditional fourth grade instruction. This Level A spelling curriculum is the fourth grade program in a five-level series (A-E) that provides fourth-eighth grade teachers with full-year comprehensive spelling programs. Each program integrates spelling, vocabulary, and structural analysis instruction and practice. Review is built into each level. The program is specifically designed to take minimal instructional time (45 minutes in class and 45 minutes homework per week). You do have other subjects to teach.

Differentiated Spelling Instruction Overview

Everything a teacher needs to know about the program components and how to differentiate spelling instruction is found in the Learn How to Teach This Program in 10 Minutes section. It’s that easy. In brief, students take a spelling pattern pretest, then self-correct, and personalize their weekly spelling list. Teachers explain the spelling pattern. Students complete the spelling pattern word sort for homework and self-correct in class. Students study their spelling lists and take the posttest. After seven weeks of instruction, students take a formative assessment. The teacher records the student data and assigns remediation as needed.Let’s get specific.

What do you get in Differentiated Spelling Instruction (Level A)?

-Differentiated Spelling Patterns Instructional Scope and Sequence
-Greek and Latin Spelling-Vocabulary
-Instructional Scope and Sequence
-Diagnostic Spelling Assessment (Comprehensive 64 Word Assessment)
-Diagnostic Spelling Assessment Mastery Matrix
-Weekly Diagnostic Spelling Tests
-Weekly Spelling Sort Worksheets for Each Spelling Pattern (with Answers)
-Four Formative Assessments (Given after Seven Weeks of Instruction)
-Summative Assessment

Spelling Teaching Resources

-How to Study Spelling Words
-Spelling Proofreading Strategies for Stories and Essays
-Syllable Rules
-Accent Rules
-Outlaw Words
-The 450 Most Frequently Used Words
-The 100 Most Often Misspelled Words
-The 70 Most Commonly Confused Words
-Eight Great Spelling Rules, Memory Songs, and Raps (with Mp3 links)
-Spelling Review Games
-Formative and Summative Spelling Assessment -Mastery Matrices

Why Other Spelling Programs are Ineffective and Why Differentiated Spelling Patterns (DSI) Makes Sense

-Others use “themed” spelling word lists, grouping words by such themes as animals, months, holidays, or colors. DSI uses developmental spelling patterns for its word lists, providing sequential, research-based orthographic instruction.
-Others use practice worksheets that focus on rote memorization, such as word searches, fill-in the-blanks, or crossword puzzles. DSI provides spelling sorts/word parts worksheets to help students practice recognition and application of the spelling patterns.
-Others de-emphasize structural analysis. DSI emphasizes word study: syllables, accents, morphemes, inflections, spelling rules, pronunciation, and derivational influences.
-Others do not integrate vocabulary instruction. DSI integrates homonyms, common Greek and Latin prefixes, roots, and suffixes, and other linguistic influences.
-Others minimize the reading-spelling connection. DSI reinforces the decoding-encoding connection with an instructional scope and sequence aligned with systematic explicit phonics instruction. The DSI program includes five years of seamless spelling instruction (Levels A, B, C, D, E)—perfect for grade-level classes, combination classes, and flexible homeschool instruction.
-Others ignore spelling irregularities. DSI includes “Exceptions” throughout the program, providing problem-solving strategies that build student (and teacher) confidence in the English orthographic spelling system.
-Others use spelling tests solely as summative assessments. DSI uses spelling tests as diagnostic and formative instruments to help teachers differentiate instruction. Recording matrices enable teachers to keep track of mastered and un-mastered spelling patterns for each student—simple record-keeping and minimal paperwork.
-Others provide one-size-fits-all instruction. DSI provides the resources for true differentiated instruction from remedial to grade-level to accelerated spellers.
Others use visual-only spelling strategies. DSI uses multi-sensory instructional practice, including songs, raps, games and phonological awareness activities—perfect for students with auditory processing deficits and a “must” for effective Response to Intervention (RtI) instruction.
-Others have no writing-spelling connection. DSI requires students to develop weekly Personal Spelling Lists that include commonly misspelled words from their own writing.
Others provide no review activities for unit spelling tests. DSI provides ample review activities, including Word Jumbles for each sound-spelling pattern, web-based songs and raps, and entertaining games.
-Others take either inordinate teacher preparation (think Words Their Way ©1995-2005 Pearson Education) or require too much class time. DSI is “teacher-friendly” and requires only minimal prep time. And the flexible DSI resources will not eat up excessive instructional minutes.
-Others are overly expensive and require consumable workbooks. DSI requires only one worksheet each lesson, per student—truly economical.

Differentiated Spelling Patterns perfectly complements the remedial spelling program, Teaching Spelling and Vocabulary (also found here on TpT). Teaching Spelling and Vocabulary is a diagnostically-based program focusing upon the K-3 vowel sound-spelling patterns that so many remedial spellers have not yet mastered. With this comprehensive curriculum, remedial spellers “catch up,” while they “keep up” with grade level conventional spelling rules, structural analysis, syllabication, and systematic Greek-Latin vocabulary instruction. A must for Tier 1 and 2 Response to Intervention (RtI) and reading intervention classes to partner with a systematic explicit phonics program, such as Teaching Reading Strategies (also found here on TpT).