This document discusses the Spelling Mastery program which combines phonemic, whole-word, and morphemic spelling approaches. It focuses on the morphemic approach which teaches spelling patterns using prefixes, suffixes, and base words/roots. Students learn to combine morphographs to spell multisyllabic words. The program has shown success, with students improving their spelling test results above the national average.

1. SPELLING
MASTERY
Combining phonemic,
whole-word and
morphemic spelling
approaches in order to
make spelling make sense.

3. SRA, Direct Instruction
Spelling Mastery
• Delivered in small, explicit steps
• Group and individual responses
• Oral delivery and response solidifies
learning
• Efficient error correction strategies
• Cumulative review

4. The Approaches
Phonemic Approach
Auditory
Phonics
Syllables
Individual Sounds
Whole-Word Approach
Common Words
High Frequency Words
Homonyms
Difficult Words
Morphemic Approach
Prefixes
Suffixes
Base Words & Roots
Patterns

5. The Phonemic Approach
• Generalise the spellings of many words and
word parts that follow regular spelling
patterns
• Build a solid foundation of basic spelling
knowledge
Examples:
Phonemic Approach
cot
Auditory
joy
Phonics
pick
Syllables
Individual Sounds
behind

6. The Whole-Word Approach
• Spell common, high-frequency words which
are irregular in their letter sounds
• Commit potentially troublesome words to
memory
Whole-Word Approach
Common Words
High Frequency Words
Homonyms
Difficult Words
Examples:
who
friend
meet/meat
than/then

7. The Morphemic Approach
• Spell meaningful prefixes, suffixes and word bases
• Combine words and word parts to form multisyllabic
words using a small number of predictable patterns.
Morphemic Approach
Prefixes
Suffixes
Base Words & Roots
Patterns
• All words are made up of
morphographs
• Morphographs are base words,
prefixes and suffixes
• A morphograph is the smallest
part of a word that has meaning
and adds to the meaning of the
whole word

8. Morphographs in Action
misspell
mis + spell
wrong + spell
misspell = to spell it wrong
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unrefreshing
un + re + fresh + ing
not + again + fresh+ when you do something
unrefreshing = not making something fresh again
Morphemic Approach
Prefixes
Suffixes
Base Words & Roots
Patterns

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Some Morphographs
re = again
ing = when you do something
un = not
est = the most
less = without
mis = wrong
ness = that which is
able = able to be
ed = in the past
pre = before
er = more; one who
ly = how something is
de = away from
ful = full of
en = to make
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age = that which is
al = related to
ish = sort of
em = to cause to be
dis = opposite
con = with
es = out, away from
pro = for, before
ive = that which is, having the
power of
ment = result of doing
something
Morphemic Approach
ion = state or quality
Prefixes
Suffixes
ous = the quality of
Base Words & Roots
Patterns

10. The Morphemic Approach
Whilst people are familiar with
the concepts of prefixes,
suffixes and base words, our
instruction rarely capitalises on
these features that make
spelling considerably easier
and more logical than it
otherwise seems.
Morphemic Approach
Prefixes
Suffixes
Base Words & Roots
Patterns

11. Combining Morphographs
In the morphemic approach, students learn
regular spelling patterns that they can apply
to a great number of words in order to spell
them accurately.
•
When do you drop the final ‘e’ from a word?
When the next morphograph begins with a vowel
eg. like + able = likable
•When do you double the final consonant in a short
word? When the word ends ‘cvc’ and the next
morphograph begins with a vowel.
Morphemic Approach
Prefixes
eg. swim + ing = swimming
Suffixes
Base Words & Roots
Patterns

12. Morphographs in Action
Learn these seven morphographs:
re, dis, un, cover, use, ed, and able
You can now spell, read and decode over 25 words:
recover, recoverable, recovered,
unrecoverable, unrecovered, reuse, reusable,
reused, coverable, covered, uncover,
uncoverable, uncovered, discover,
discoverable, discovered, undiscoverable,
undiscovered, disuse, disused, used,
usable, unused, disable, disabled, etc. Morphemic Approach
Prefixes
Suffixes
Base Words & Roots
Patterns

13. The Evidence
Looking at the NAPLAN data for the steady cohort
of KDHS students from year 5 in 2011 to year 7 in
2013 who completed Spelling Mastery Level C,
these students
improved their spelling result by
over the national mean.
This is an incredible achievement for students who
have underperformed in spelling throughout their
entire school lives.
Morphemic Approach
Prefixes
Suffixes
Base Words & Roots
Patterns

15. Thank You
Phonemic Approach
Auditory
Phonics
Syllables
Individual Sounds
Whole-Word Approach
Common Words
High Frequency Words
Homonyms
Difficult Words
Morphemic Approach
Prefixes
Suffixes
Base Words & Roots
Patterns