What are the stages of spelling development?

As preschool and early elementary school children discover the intricacies of printed English,
they go through several stages of spelling development. Gentry (1982), building on Read's
research, describes five stages: precommunicative, semiphonetic, phonetic, transitional, and
correct.

Precommunicative stage
The child uses symbols from the alphabet but shows no knowledge of letter-sound
correspondences. The child may also lack knowledge of the entire alphabet, the
distinction between upper- and lower-case letters, and the left-to-right direction of
English orthography.

Semiphonetic stage
The child begins to understand letter-sound correspondence that sounds are assigned to
letters. At this stage, the child often employs rudimentary logic, using single letters, for
example, to represent words, sounds, and syllables (e.g., U for you).

Phonetic stage
The child uses a letter or group of letters to represent every speech sound that they hear in
a word. Although some of their choices do not conform to conventional English spelling,
they are systematic and easily understood. Examples are KOM for come and EN for in.

Transitional stage
The speller begins to assimilate the conventional alternative for representing sounds,
moving from a dependence on phonology (sound) for representing words to a reliance on
visual representation and an understanding of the structure of words. Some examples are
EGUL for eagle and HIGHEKED for hiked.

Correct stage
The speller knows the English orthographic system and its basic rules. The correct speller
fundamentally understands how to deal with such things as prefixes and suffixes, silent
consonants, alternative spellings, and irregular spellings. A large number of learned
words are accumulated, and the speller recognizes incorrect forms. The child's
generalizations about spelling and knowledge of exceptions are usually correct.

English Phonemes, Spellings, Example Words, and

Phoneme Spelling(s) and Example Words

Meaningful Names
Long A; Fonzie's greeting
Crying baby; baby lamb; home
a (flat)
alone
b (ball)
Beating heart; drum
c (cake), k (key), ck (back)
Nutcracker; golf shot; camera
d (door)
Knocking; dribbling ball
e (me), ee (feet), ea (leap), y (baby)
Long E; shriek
Rocking chair; creaky door; hard
e (pet), ea (head)
of hearing
Angry cat; clothes brush; electric
f (fix), ph (phone)
fan; soda fizz
g (gas)
Croaking frog, gulping soda
Out of breath; warm breath; tired
h (hot)
dog
i (I), i_e (bite), igh (light), y (sky)
Long I
Crying puppy; icky sticky; baby
i (sit)
pig
Scrub brush; wood rasp; jump
j (jet), dge (edge), g[e, i, y] (gem)
rope
l (lamp)
Flying saucer; mixer
Mmm mmm good; delicious
m (my)
sound
n (no), kn (knock)
Mosquito; motorboat
o (okay), o_e (bone), oa (soap), ow (low) Long O; Oh, I see
Say ah; doctor sound; cool drink;
o (hot)
yawn
Popcorn; water drip; stone skip;
p (pie)
soap bubbles
qu (quick)
Coffee pot; typewriter
r (road), wr (wrong), er (her), ir (sir), ur Chain saw; angry lion; robot;
(fur)
growling dog
s (say), c[e, i, y] (cent)
Flat tire; hair spray; sizzling

/t/

t (time)

/U/

u (future), u_e (use), ew (few)

bacon
Ticking clock; timer; automatic
sprinkler
Long U
I dunno; mother bear; punch in
the stomach; foghorn
Electric shaver; airplane; vacuum
Lariat; fly rod; washing machine

x (box, exam)

Soda can; grease gun

/u/
/v/
/w/
/ks/ or
/gz/
/y/
/z/
/OO/
/oo/
/oi/
/ou/
/aw/
/ar/
/sh/
/hw/
/ch/
/th/ or
/th/
/ng/
/zh/

y (yes)
Sticky mess
z (zoo), s (nose)
Buzzing bee; arc welder; zipper
oo (boot), u (truth), u_e (rude), ew (chew) Ghost; howling wolf; owl
oo (book), u (put)
Lifting weights; chin-up bar
oi (soil), oy (toy)
Seal; squeaky gate; spring
ou (out), ow (cow)
It hurts; inoculation; sting
aw (saw), au (caught), a[l] (tall)
Poor thing; crow
Spinning tire; grinding gears;
ar (car)
gargle
sh (ship), ti (nation), ci (special)
Be quiet; watering the lawn
wh (white)
Blow out the candle
ch (chest), tch (catch)
Old train; antique car; chipmunk
Peeling tape; angry goose; wet
th (thick, this)
shoes
ng (sing), n (think)
Gong; string bass
s (measure)
Sawing wood; sander

Conventions of Print
The term conventions of print refers to the understanding that when the English language is
written down, it is transcribed in a standard, uniform manner so that words and ideas
communicated through writing are consistently and easily understood by all readers.
Conventions of print include the following:

Directionality: English is written and read from left to right and from top to bottom.
Punctuation communicates meaning and expression to readers.
Space: Writers use space to separate ideas, indicate when readers should pause for
thought, and to separate words so that they are easily read.
Case: Letters come in two forms, uppercase and lower case. Case can provide additional
meaning to readers about the beginning of new ideas and indicates to the reader whether
a noun is describing a specific person, place, or thing.
Grammar: Written language subscribes to the rules affecting the form words can take
including verb tense, plurals, possessives, and modifiers like adverbs and adjectives.
Usage: Writers understand how incomplete sentences, run-on sentences, and improper
use of pronouns can impede effective communication of ideas.
Spelling: Words are spelled according to convention so that they are easily read by others
to facilitate effective communication.