Literacy News

Last year the Literacy Curriculum team reflected on our current practice in relation to the teaching and learning of spelling. After great reflection we decided our biggest need was to find a structure that would allow us to implement a balanced, whole school approach to teaching spelling in the classroom. We decided upon SMART Spelling, developed by Michelle Hutchison as a sensible way to teach spelling.

SMART Spelling is an approach that shows primary school teachers how to teach spelling well.  There is a clear Foundation – 6 scope and sequence that is well established in many schools.  Teachers start by teaching the meaning of words to expand vocabulary and then break words into syllables, sounds and letter patterns (graphs, digraphs and trigraphs) following a simple routine that is in the SMART Spelling course.

Teachers are trained in the course and have a copy of the SMART Spelling manual to implement this approach successfully.

In a SMART Spelling classroom, students are explicitly taught spelling patterns, one at a time.  Teachers choose a range of words (from simple to complex) from a suggested list in the manual.  Students are then guided to choose from that list, to meet different needs.  Personal words are also a focus in SMART Spelling. Teachers use their strong professional knowledge they gain in the course to give meaningful feedback to students about their spelling in writing, teaching at the point of need. 

 The core of SMART Spelling in the classroom involves the use of the SMART sequence:

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