The most comprehensive and reliable road map to English orthography that I know of is the Real Spelling resources. However, an important point that is often hard for people to see from the start is that Real Spelling resources are a reference teachers can use to help them understand and teach how English spelling works. When schools where I work purchase the Real Spelling resources, they are not committing to some “Program” to follow. They are just working at their commitment to the first two principles I often cite in WordWorks resources:

 

1. Students have a right to accurate instruction about how their writing system works.

 

2. Teachers have a right to resources and training that help them understand and teach the details of how their writing system works.

 

During our workshops we work with a wide variety of resources that provide road maps of to guide understanding of English spelling. Certainly Real Spelling offers the main foundation of content. The word matrix is Melvyn’s own design. His resources also help us see how to use the word sum, but that is a long established linguistic tool, as are the slash brackets to signal phonological representations.  We used various dictionaries (typical and etymological dictionaries), Neil Ramsden’s Word Searcher and my own Word Works resources.

 

Whatever reference we use should be assessed critically. Our sessions show that dictionaries often make spectacular mistakes that we can correct. If you have been watching Melvyn’s podcasts you have seen that he delights most when young children find errors in his resources. I’ve even had the treat of correcting Melvyn on his presentation of a spelling or two.

 

Since the content of this instruction of the written word is the written word itself, we get to test statements about spellings by getting evidence from the system. When <-tion> is listed as a suffix in a dictionary, but it can’t produce a word in which this element is added to a base or stem, the spellings of words demonstrate the dictionary’s error - not an expert’s opinion.

 

It’s important to see Real Spelling as just one (albeit a rather spectacular!) resource a team of learners can use to guide the process of making sense of how English spelling works. As teachers start investigating the existing patterns in spelling with the help of Real Spelling and other resources, it takes little time before students notice interesting links and patterns that teachers have not seen. When that happens, the teacher gets to model being a mature learner / problem-solver and harness their students’ observations to see what can be learned from them.

 

Teachers have the responsibility of doing the groundwork to prepare for teaching particular patterns – but they do not have the responsibility of knowing the answer to every question that arises. They do, however, get to model how a mature learner addresses questions to which they do not know the answer.

 

For me, this is the core of the instruction of the written word that is supported by the resources I introduce to teachers. Many teachers are just beginning the joyful task of investigating the well organized structures of English spelling system. This endeavour is not just a way of helping children become more successful readers and writers. By showing students that English spelling is a highly ordered system they can learn to problem solve - and then learning right along with them - we get to help students become more mature and independent critical thinkers. Once students start noticing patterns, asking questions and finding answers about the spelling and meaning of words, they won’t stop.