In this conversation Dr Tessa Daffern explains why an instructional approach for spelling should include phonological, orthographical and morphological word forms. Effective spelling instruction should be explicit and occur frequently from the early years of school.

Dr Tessa Daffern has contributed to education in many capacities for over 20 years: as a classroom teacher in schools, teaching and learning specialist, literacy coordinator, academic, and education consultant. Tessa is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Wollongong and has previously held positions at the University of Canberra and Charles Sturt University. Tessa's research is driven by her passion for English language education and for empowering teachers and undergraduate teacher education students to develop contemporary understandings that can inform their teaching of language and literacy. Tessa’s PhD examined the teaching and learning of spelling and writing in Australian school contexts.

Further reading and resources:

Spelling in the primary years

https://youtu.be/MWEgQ6WxaxI

The Unique Role of Early Spelling in the Prediction of Later Literacy Performance

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10888438.2019.1573242

Progress in Reading Instruction Requires a Better Understanding of the English Spelling System

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963721418773749?journalCode=cdpa

Does spelling instruction make students better spellers, readers, and writers? A meta-analytic review

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11145-014-9517-0

What Happens When a Teacher Uses Metalanguage to Teach Spelling?

https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/trtr.1528

Literacy and numeracy website (NSWDoE intranet)

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/literacy-and-numeracy