Dear Reader,

I've heard this more times than I can count:

“Does spelling really matter anymore? We have spellcheck!”

Believe me, I get it. Our students have spellcheck, predictive text, speech-to-text, Grammarly, and (dare I say it??) AI. 🤖

So why spend precious instructional time teaching them how to spell?

Because spelling is about MUCH more than getting words right on paper.

As you probably already know, reading and spelling are actually two sides of the same coin.

When students learn to spell a word, they have to pay close attention to the sounds in that word and connect those sounds to the letters that represent them.

Those sound-spelling connections are also part of how words become securely stored in memory through orthographic mapping. When this happens, students don't have to laboriously sound them out every time they encounter them. Instead, they recognize them instantly.

That is what really matters for reading fluency.

If too many words require conscious decoding, reading stays slow and effortful. When more words become automatically recognizable, students have more attention available for the whole point of reading: understanding what the text actually says.

So spelling practice isn't separate from reading instruction.

Spelling supports word recognition → word recognition supports fluency → fluency supports comprehension.

And then there's writing. ✍️

This is something I see constantly with my dyslexic students. They have fantastic ideas. They can tell me exactly what they want to say. BUT when they have to put those ideas onto paper, spelling takes SO much effort that everything slows down.

They either give up in frustration, or they:

• simplify their vocabulary;
• shorten their sentences; or
• write the fewest number of words possible! 😭

🗝️ Here's the key idea: Just like handwriting, spelling has to be sufficiently automatic before it can be functional.

When a student has to stop and think about every word they put on paper, they have no cognitive energy left over for expressing their ideas—and that's what writing is all about!

Don't get me wrong, spellcheck can certainly help. I'm a huge supporter of assistive technology for students who need it!

But technology helps students compensate for spelling difficulties. It doesn't make spelling knowledge unnecessary.

So the short answer is, yes, spelling still matters! 😊

It's critical for both reading fluency and written expression, which is why explicit spelling instruction is still important.

However, I don't mean memorizing a list of 20 random words for Friday's test (and then forgetting them by Monday!).

I want students listening for sounds, manipulating them, connecting them to letters, noticing spelling patterns, and then retrieving those spellings from memory.

One of my favorite ways to do that is with my Word Wheels.

Students change one sound or spelling at a time as they work their way around the wheel, so they're constantly thinking about what's happening inside the word, not just copying it. Bonus: it's the most fun way of word chaining I've every tried! My students ❤️ them!

And for those pesky high-frequency words with unexpected spellings, I use my Red/Heart Word Boom Cards. Students hear, build, spell, and eventually use the words in their own sentences.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we live in an age that has so much helpful technology. But I'd still like our kids to know how words work. 😉

Happy teaching!

P.S. I'm curious: Do you still hear people say spelling doesn't matter anymore? Hit reply and tell me. I'd love to know what you're hearing in your schools!

LET'S CONNECT

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