Spelling generalisations and SSP
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Do you have your instruction, resources and assessment in place in your systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) program? Your next step could be to add spelling generalisations.
Teaching spelling generalisations supports students to gain a greater understanding of how written English works. This will help their development towards spelling accuracy. Learning about spelling generalisations will also support their reading due to the reciprocal nature of reading and writing.
Learning objectives
At the end of this topic, you will understand:
- what makes English an opaque language
- how to support students to apply spelling generalisations
- how to incorporate spelling generalisations into your SSP lessons.
Download resources for this topic or view Australian Curriculum links.
1. Spotlight on spelling generalisations
25 minutes reading and viewing
Having knowledge of spelling generalisations will help your students to develop a deeper understanding of the alphabetic code and how it works.
The following infographic shows how elements of phonics knowledge and skills build on each other to help with spelling accuracy. Spelling generalisations are a key part of this process.
Spelling generalisations are most effectively taught as part of your SSP lessons using explicit instruction. This allows students to:
- develop their knowledge in a structured and sequential way
- apply their knowledge to both reading and spelling.
Cognitive load theory supports teaching spelling using an explicit instruction approach, so students are not overloaded as they learn.
What is an opaque language?
Spelling can be more difficult in some languages than in others, depending on whether a language is transparent or opaque.
In a transparent language each written symbol represents one sound. This one-to-one correspondence makes learning to read and write relatively easy.
In an opaque language this is not the case. An opaque language has:
- some symbols that represent more than one sound
- some sounds that are represented by more than one symbol.
English is an example of an opaque language. It has a complex symbol-to-sound correspondence system. This complexity has developed over time as various languages have influenced the English language.
This 7-minute article by Jocelyn Seamer discusses the opaque nature of the English language, and provides tips on teaching complex code.
How can spelling generalisations support students’ spelling and reading?
Because of the opaqueness of English, students need to be explicitly taught spelling generalisations so that they can understand how the English writing system works. This knowledge leads to a more in-depth understanding of the alphabetic code and how it applies to reading and spelling.
Spelling generalisations can be used to show patterns in our spelling system. This helps students to group or 'chunk' similar concepts in their memory, which helps them to master the English spelling system.
Identifying and storing spelling patterns in long-term memory reduces cognitive load for students. This is because they do not need to remember how individual words are spelt. Instead, they can retrieve their knowledge of spelling generalisations to make informed choices about:
- letter patterns that make the sounds in words they are spelling
- applying sounds to letter patterns in words they are reading.
This 5-minute read explains the benefits of teaching spelling patterns, and provides tips on how to do this.
Which spelling generalisations should I teach and why?
Spelling generalisations are included in instruction for one of three main reasons.
1. To explain how the position of a sound in a word influences which letter pattern is used to make that sound. For example:
- an /oi/ sound is usually represented by oi at the start or in the middle of a one-syllable word, as in ‘oil’ and ‘spoil’
- an /oi/ sound is usually represented by oy at the end of a word, as in ‘toy’ and ‘boy’.
2. To explain how adjacent letters in a word influence the sound that a letter or letters represent. For example:
- the letter g will usually make a /g/ sound when followed by a, o, u or a consonant, as in ‘gang’, ‘got’ and ‘give’
- the letter g will usually make a /j/ sound when followed by e, i or y, as in ‘gentle’, ‘giant’ and ‘gym’.
3. To introduce multiple sounds for one letter pattern. This is best done by beginning with the most common sound, through to the least common sound, so students know which sound is the most likely one when there are several to choose from. For example, the letters ea represent various sounds including:
- /ē/ as in ‘heat’, the long e sound, which is the most common sound
- /e/ as in ‘head’, the short e sound, which is a less common sound
- /ā/ as in ‘steak’, the long a sound, which is the least common sound.
This document outlines spelling generalisations that you can use in your SSP instruction. These spelling generalisations align with the Literacy Hub phonics progression.
Where do spelling generalisations fit within an explicit instruction lesson structure?
Spelling generalisations are most effectively taught in your phonics lessons using explicit instruction. The steps to follow for an explicit instruction approach to your phonics lessons are:
- introduce and model a new spelling generalisation ('I do')
- give students practice applying the spelling generalisation with teacher guidance ('We do')
- give students opportunities to independently apply their knowledge of the spelling generalisation ('You do').
This 5-minute read outlines why spelling is most effectively taught explicitly and systematically.
These sample lesson slides demonstrate how to structure an explicit instruction lesson on spelling generalisations.
How do I introduce spelling generalisations into instruction? ('I do')
During the ‘I do’ part of an SSP lesson, you can explicitly teach spelling generalisations as you teach a new letter–sound correspondence. For example, when teaching the letter–sound correspondence for ck, demonstrate that ck makes a /k/ sound. Then, teach the spelling generalisation related to this letter–sound correspondence by explaining that the /k/ sound is usually represented by ck at the end of a one-syllable word when it follows a short vowel, as in ‘back’, ‘sock’ and ‘brick’.
Having this extra layer of knowledge helps students with both their reading and spelling.
- When reading a word with ck at the end, students can be confident that the vowel before ck has a short sound.
- When spelling a word, students will segment the sounds in the word. When they hear the /k/ sound at the end of the word, and this sound comes after a short vowel sound, students can confidently choose the letters ck to represent the /k/ sound.
How do I support students to apply spelling generalisations? (‘We do’, ‘You do’)
Students can apply their knowledge of spelling generalisations during guided practice (‘We do’) and independent practice (‘You do’) within your phonics lessons. This application happens in both reading and spelling.
Applying knowledge of spelling generalisations also occurs during daily reviews.
Spelling generalisations are reviewed using questioning techniques. For example, when reviewing the digraph ai, you can:
- show the ai digraph
- ask students to say the sound that it makes (the long a sound, /ā/)
- prompt students to review the spelling generalisation associated with this letter–sound correspondence by asking: When do we use ai?
- check that the students respond accurately by saying: In the middle and sometimes at the start of a word.
This allows students to practise retrieval of the spelling generalisation you have taught them.
This can be followed up in the word-level section of a review, so students can practise applying the generalisation. For example, you can give students the words 'rainbow’, 'aimless' and 'frail' to read and/or spell.