Second Student Survey

      This week I have constantly had at least 4 students absent each day. For the past three days, I have been trying to give each student a post-assessment. All but one student has taken the assessment. Today, I gave my second student survey. I have four students who have yet to take it. Ha ha! I think having students absent is just part of the action research journey.

     As I said above, I gave my students another survey. Based on the short responses I received on the first survey, I gave my students more instructions and directions when filling out the survey. However, I was clear not to give them ideas or suggestions. Overall, the students did not a much better job of answering my questions by adding more details. They were not perfect, but much more beneficial to me than the original survey. Below you will find some student responses I found interesting as well as my commentary.

First question: What strategies do you use to spell words when you write?

• Student #3 said"I put my hand under my chin and say the word out" - This student's group has been working on syllables. I am very impressed he wrote down this strategy as he has been struggling with syllables. I have been working with him on it.
• Student #8 said "I know how to spell a word because I sound them out and read." He is the first student to make the connection among reading and spelling. According to Reed (2012), “[p]roficiency in spelling actually supports reading” (p. 5). This student is a strong reader and enjoys reading. Student #21 falls into the same category. He scored 100% on both the pre- and post-assessments. In fact, I am always having to tell this student to put down his book and listen to my instruction. Ha ha. Ness (2010) states researchers “now understand the synchrony among reading, writing, and spelling development; the way in which a student spells a word provides important information about how the student reads words” (p. 114). When I think about my class as a whole I do see my stronger readers as my stronger spellers. I want to dive further into this topic to see what kind of data I have to support this theory.
• Student #17 said, "I sound out the words. I also think how the word is spelled and I write it." She is trying to pull spelling from her memory. She is thinking of spelling as rote memorization.

Second question: When you don't know how to spell a word, what do you do?

• Every student but one mentioned sounding out the word. Student #7 has been professionally tested and literally does not hear sounds phonetically.
• Student #4 said, "sound out the word, spelling carefully so I don't mess up" - This student puts a lot of pressure on himself to do well. He is upset when he gets a grade lower than an A.
• Student #11 said, "When I don't know how to spell a word I sound it out and then break it into smaller words so its easier to remember." I found this response interesting as it leans towards the implication that spelling is memorization.

Third question: What spelling patterns have you studied?

Here are some of their responses based on their spelling groups.

• Pink Group: aw, au, oddball, ou, ow
• Blue Group: past, present, nothing, -ing, -ed
• Orange Group: magic e, 1st, 2nd, VCCV, oddball, VC/V, V/CV
• Yellow Group: silent g, h, k; pre-, mis-, dis-

Articles cited:

Ness, M. K. (2010). Examining one class of third-grade spellers: The diagnostic potential of students' spelling. Reading Horizons, 50(2), 113-130.

Reed, D. K. (2012). Why teach spelling?. Center On Instruction.