Annotated Bibliographies

Lehua Writing Project
Annotated Bibliographies
Cecilia Woodbury
Summer 2011


Research Question:
What literacy skills must a child possess to spell words phonetically?

Bibliographies

1.

Al Otaiba, S., Puranik, C. S., Rouby, D., Greulich, L., Sidler, J. F., & Lee, J. (2010). Predicting kindergarteners' end-of-year spelling ability based on their reading, alphabetic, vocabulary, and phonological awareness skills, as well as prior literacy experiences. Learning Disability Quarterly, 33 (3), 171-183. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

The authors, professors and doctoral students at the College of Education, and the Florida Center for Reading Research, used the overlapping waves model (Rittles,Johnson & Seiger, 1999; Seiger, 1996). to provide a theoretical framework for their study. The overlapping waves model states that students learn to spell using a variety of strategies based upon their knowledge of alphabetics, word knowledge, and prior literacy experiences. Their study, involved 9 schools and 29 kindergarten classrooms that served an economically and ethnically diverse population, examined a combination of home literacy, parents education, demographic factors and conventional literacy skills at the beginning and end of the school year to predict end-of-kindergarten spelling achievement. Their study suggested that young children, regardless of their prior literacy experiences, need explicit spelling instruction that shows them how to use their present knowledge of the English language, its alphabetic principle and syllable structure. This study provides important implications for literacy instruction of young children.

2.
Ritchey, K.D. (2008). Learning to write, progress-monitoring tools for beginning and at-risk writers. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39 (2), 22-26. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Kristen D. Ritchey,  Assistant Professor at University of Delaware School of Education ,states that an analysis of what young children are able to write can provide valuable information about their alphabetic skills, phonological awareness, beginning word reading and emergent writing skills. Her study examined 60 kindergarten students, enrolled in full day kindergarten in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. She used data from four instruments that assessed beginning writing skills in students in the spring of their kindergarten year. She found that children in kindergarten apply and integrate their alphabetic knowledge and phonological skills as they write. The four assessments used in Ritcheys study can be used by teachers to inform their writing instruction.

3.

Silva, C. C., & Martins, M. (2003). Relations between children's invented spelling and the development of phonological awareness. Educational Psychology, 23 (1), 3. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Silva and Martin, researchers from Instituto Superior de Psicolgia Aplicada in Portugal, hypothesize that when children with prephonetic spellings undergo a training program intended to induce them to move to early phonemic spellings, their phonological skills evolve faster in comparison with those children who have not received any form of training. Their study participants were 30 Portuguese kindergarten children with an average age of 5 years 6 months who had not received any formal instruction in reading and writing. Silva and Martin conducted an experimental study in which children were given a pretest and posttest to evaluate invented spelling and phonological skills. Between the two tests the experimental group received phonological awareness training. Silva and Martins found that the children who received the training showed significant improvements in the results of all their phonemic tests.

4.
Poskiparta E., Niemi P., & Vauras M. (1999) Who benefits from training in linguistic awareness in the first grade, and what components show training effects? Journal of Learning Disabilities, 32 (5), 437-446,456. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

The authors, researchers at the University of Turku in Finland, theorized that students with varying cognitive levels, could benefit from training in linguistic awareness to improve their reading and spelling skills. The study was conducted in Turku Finland on 240 children with varying cognitive levels, entering first grade in the fall. All students were at the same level of phonological awareness. A control and experimental group were selected. Students were given a pretest and posttest. The experimental group received training between the tests in four areas; clarification of self image, rhymes and nursery rhymes, word and syllable awareness and phonemic awareness. The researchers concluded that regardless of the students cognitive levels linguistic training improves reading and spelling skills.

5.
Bear D. R., & Templeton S. (1998) Explorations in developmental spelling: foundations for learning and teaching phonics, spelling and vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 52  (3), 222-242. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Bear and Templeton, both professors at the College of Education at the University of Reno, use data from research collectively referred to as the “Virginia studies” out of the University of Virginia to illustrate how children learn to read and write words. They believe that development in spelling reflects a student’s growing knowledge about letters and sounds, letter patterns and syllable patterns, and how meaning is directly represented through spelling. The article explores the six stages of  developmental writing that researchers theorize learners pass through. Bear and Templeton emphasize the use of word study in  reading and writing instruction. They believe it is essential to balance authentic reading and writing with purposeful word study in successful literacy instruction.