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Spelling for Life: Uncovering the simplicity and science of spelling
*New Edition, comprising many extra chapters and updates*
A recent survey of 200 teachers asking the question 'spelling is...?' resulted in the following 'difficult', 'complex', 'confusing', 'random', 'confounding'. Spelling for Life offers lucid, accessible tools which help to reveal that, when explicitly and systematically taught, spelling is scientific, law-abiding and even elegant.
It explains that spelling is the manipulation of symbols according to agreed-upon patterns that produce predictable results. Spelling errors also fall into sets of predictable patterns. Success in spelling is not a product of intelligence. Many people struggle to spell due to coping strategies developed in place of explicit instruction. What gives spelling its 'complex' veneer is the fact that different ways of thinking are required at different levels from word to word. Some words can be spelt as they sound, others have to be visually memorized and some rely on knowledge of core rules about word-structure. A lot of words require more than one strand of knowledge. This book makes clear which strand needs to be applied in different situations
Often students who can read and express themselves competently nevertheless find spelling difficult. False assumptions about spelling, such as believing the English language is complex and/or irregular, damage confidence and lead to reluctance to even attempt to spell correctly.
Spelling For Life enables teachers and students
Using a synthesis of theory, research and teaching experience, the fascinating nature of English spelling is systematically teased out. The examples and exercises offer an encouraging, accessible way to implement the programme of study and strive to reveal the beauty of spelling. Aided by example lessons, progressive assessments, unique tools and extensive practice lists, this highly acclaimed overview of spelling succeeds in developing critical thinking and confidence when reading and spelling. It can be used in conjunction with any established phonics program.
A recent survey of 200 teachers asking the question 'spelling is...?' resulted in the following 'difficult', 'complex', 'confusing', 'random', 'confounding'. Spelling for Life offers lucid, accessible tools which help to reveal that, when explicitly and systematically taught, spelling is scientific, law-abiding and even elegant.
It explains that spelling is the manipulation of symbols according to agreed-upon patterns that produce predictable results. Spelling errors also fall into sets of predictable patterns. Success in spelling is not a product of intelligence. Many people struggle to spell due to coping strategies developed in place of explicit instruction. What gives spelling its 'complex' veneer is the fact that different ways of thinking are required at different levels from word to word. Some words can be spelt as they sound, others have to be visually memorized and some rely on knowledge of core rules about word-structure. A lot of words require more than one strand of knowledge. This book makes clear which strand needs to be applied in different situations
Often students who can read and express themselves competently nevertheless find spelling difficult. False assumptions about spelling, such as believing the English language is complex and/or irregular, damage confidence and lead to reluctance to even attempt to spell correctly.
Spelling For Life enables teachers and students
Using a synthesis of theory, research and teaching experience, the fascinating nature of English spelling is systematically teased out. The examples and exercises offer an encouraging, accessible way to implement the programme of study and strive to reveal the beauty of spelling. Aided by example lessons, progressive assessments, unique tools and extensive practice lists, this highly acclaimed overview of spelling succeeds in developing critical thinking and confidence when reading and spelling. It can be used in conjunction with any established phonics program.
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
Lyn Stone
117 books39 followersLyn's foray into book-length fiction began in the early '90s, and she signed her first contract with Harlequin Historicals on Valentine's Day, 1996. "Flowers, candy, kisses, and a book sale, too! There will never be another day quite like that one!" she says.
"I always loved to write and even got excited about doing reports and term papers. I neglected other homework just to make that short story for English class as riveting as I possibly could."
Even so, she never really considered writing as a career until much later. Instead, Lyn studied art and worked in Europe while she visited the places she now writes about in her historicals. At that time, she was painting those sights and selling pictures.
While working at Boeing as an illustrator, she had the idea of trying to freelance book covers. Since she liked to paint faces and figures, romance novels seemed a logical choice. However, the field of cover art is highly competitive and she discovered it would take a great deal of research and preparation.
While studying the market on covers, she became firmly hooked on the contents of the books and decided to try writing instead. "Definitely one of my better decisions," she admits. She is still an avid romance reader and manages to read an average of four per week in addition to one or two books outside the genre.
Lyn feels a special affinity for England and Scotland with their wonderful castles and intriguing history. The American South and Southwest are her favorite settings for contemporary adventures.
She and her husband, Allen, both natives of Georgia, live in North Alabama near their two children and four grandchildren. "The family contributes to my research," Lyn says.
"They buy me books, clip articles, sketch costumes, and sometimes act out scenes. Even the grandchildren serve as inspiration for the younger characters."
"I always loved to write and even got excited about doing reports and term papers. I neglected other homework just to make that short story for English class as riveting as I possibly could."
Even so, she never really considered writing as a career until much later. Instead, Lyn studied art and worked in Europe while she visited the places she now writes about in her historicals. At that time, she was painting those sights and selling pictures.
While working at Boeing as an illustrator, she had the idea of trying to freelance book covers. Since she liked to paint faces and figures, romance novels seemed a logical choice. However, the field of cover art is highly competitive and she discovered it would take a great deal of research and preparation.
While studying the market on covers, she became firmly hooked on the contents of the books and decided to try writing instead. "Definitely one of my better decisions," she admits. She is still an avid romance reader and manages to read an average of four per week in addition to one or two books outside the genre.
Lyn feels a special affinity for England and Scotland with their wonderful castles and intriguing history. The American South and Southwest are her favorite settings for contemporary adventures.
She and her husband, Allen, both natives of Georgia, live in North Alabama near their two children and four grandchildren. "The family contributes to my research," Lyn says.
"They buy me books, clip articles, sketch costumes, and sometimes act out scenes. Even the grandchildren serve as inspiration for the younger characters."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 4, 2026
I liked this a lot more than the author's Reading for Life: High Quality Literacy Instruction for All. They are so different in structure and style it is misleading for them to use similar titles suggesting they are a quasi-series.
Stone is a consultant with her own literacy private practice, not a classroom educator, and I think that shows in the relative lack of a scope & sequence, with the result that it often feels like a disconnected set of activities requiring a fair amount of work to piece together into an executable plan. Which is to say, I feel like the biggest failing of the book (and really why I don't mark it 4-stars) is that it needed a better editor to pull it all together.
For instance, Chapter 3, "Broken rules and word stories" is the first real chapter after setting the stage. It tells us that while the rest of the book is going to cover "rules" we want students to understand there are exceptions that appear to break the core rules but there are 7 major "word stories" for why they break the rules. It even provides some Direct Instruction (yay!). The exercise is "let's brainstorm some words that break the rules" but also says "this exercise can be done as soon as students start reading and writing words". I mean...no? A Reception student who has learned s-a-t-p-i-n and can read "pat" and "sat" isn't going to be able to brainstorm anything and certainly isn't going to fill out the accompanying worksheet that we're supposed to distribute. So...how does this lesson actually fit into a year-long program of teaching reading & spelling? Do we run it once a week? Multiple times a term?
Same for Chapter 6, "Mnemonics". Sure, mnemonics can be useful. The first one given is the spelling for "necessary". Eh, so this early chapter obviously isn't intended for Reception students but somewhere later on? But it comes before Chapter 7 on "Counting Syllables"? Surely that one should have come first? And "Chapter 10", "The difference between vowels and consonants" is even more foundational and says "No reading or writing is required. These principles are fundamental to literacy, and "because they require no reading or writing, can be taught from pre-school onwards." ... so maybe this should have been Chapter 1 and not Chapter 10, well after introducing homophones?
Some lessons give a "skill required" others are silent. Chapter 13, "Illegal letters" says the skill required is "Middle primary: dictionary use and higher-order vocabulary is necessary here." Chapter 16, "Final Silent E, Jobs 1-3" says we need to have completed Chapter 13 before tackling this. But surely children need to know about Silent-E before middle primary?! Middle primary is ages 7-10 in Victoria (where the author is based). And the scope & sequence provided in Chapter 29 actually tells us to introduce "illegal letters" and "Silent-E" in Foundation (i.e. ages 5-6).
So, all in all, it feels very muddled and confused.
Which takes me to final editing complaint: the suggested scope & sequence doesn't provide actual, proper cross-references to the text. For instance Unit 10 simply says "Introduce the rule and practice with target words from units of study". What is the rule? If you look in the Table of Contents you won't find any obvious candidates. So then turn to the Index, look up rule and find it is on pages 60-62. It's not a deal breaker or anything -- I can use the Index obviously -- but this really should have been better linked up and feels indicative of the overall not-quite-there editing of otherwise good content.
As a more idiosyncratic whinge: this book, along with several other spelling programs I've read, doesn't give students (or their teachers) any guidance whatsoever on using/teaching the spelling of the /k/ sound. Which is basically always going to be the first spelling issue any student hits? They're going to be taught says /k/ in the first week or two and then later that same term they're going to learn also says /k/. And probably even also says /k/. And then you'll do some dictation where you say "Can you get the ball?" or "He skips to the flag." or "Kip sits at the desk." and they write "kan you get the ball?" and "he scips to the flag" and "cip sits at the desck" and....what do you say exactly when they inevitably say "why"?
Even if you want to say (as I've seen one spelling program do): "There are multiple spellings that represent the sound /k/, and there is no way to know which one to use. The goal of [ed: program redacted] is to teach accurate rules that prevent confusion, so it is vital to tell students which phonogram they should use during spelling analysis" ... then at least say that?
Stone is a consultant with her own literacy private practice, not a classroom educator, and I think that shows in the relative lack of a scope & sequence, with the result that it often feels like a disconnected set of activities requiring a fair amount of work to piece together into an executable plan. Which is to say, I feel like the biggest failing of the book (and really why I don't mark it 4-stars) is that it needed a better editor to pull it all together.
For instance, Chapter 3, "Broken rules and word stories" is the first real chapter after setting the stage. It tells us that while the rest of the book is going to cover "rules" we want students to understand there are exceptions that appear to break the core rules but there are 7 major "word stories" for why they break the rules. It even provides some Direct Instruction (yay!). The exercise is "let's brainstorm some words that break the rules" but also says "this exercise can be done as soon as students start reading and writing words". I mean...no? A Reception student who has learned s-a-t-p-i-n and can read "pat" and "sat" isn't going to be able to brainstorm anything and certainly isn't going to fill out the accompanying worksheet that we're supposed to distribute. So...how does this lesson actually fit into a year-long program of teaching reading & spelling? Do we run it once a week? Multiple times a term?
Same for Chapter 6, "Mnemonics". Sure, mnemonics can be useful. The first one given is the spelling for "necessary". Eh, so this early chapter obviously isn't intended for Reception students but somewhere later on? But it comes before Chapter 7 on "Counting Syllables"? Surely that one should have come first? And "Chapter 10", "The difference between vowels and consonants" is even more foundational and says "No reading or writing is required. These principles are fundamental to literacy, and "because they require no reading or writing, can be taught from pre-school onwards." ... so maybe this should have been Chapter 1 and not Chapter 10, well after introducing homophones?
Some lessons give a "skill required" others are silent. Chapter 13, "Illegal letters" says the skill required is "Middle primary: dictionary use and higher-order vocabulary is necessary here." Chapter 16, "Final Silent E, Jobs 1-3" says we need to have completed Chapter 13 before tackling this. But surely children need to know about Silent-E before middle primary?! Middle primary is ages 7-10 in Victoria (where the author is based). And the scope & sequence provided in Chapter 29 actually tells us to introduce "illegal letters" and "Silent-E" in Foundation (i.e. ages 5-6).
So, all in all, it feels very muddled and confused.
Which takes me to final editing complaint: the suggested scope & sequence doesn't provide actual, proper cross-references to the text. For instance Unit 10 simply says "Introduce the rule and practice with target words from units of study". What is the rule? If you look in the Table of Contents you won't find any obvious candidates. So then turn to the Index, look up rule and find it is on pages 60-62. It's not a deal breaker or anything -- I can use the Index obviously -- but this really should have been better linked up and feels indicative of the overall not-quite-there editing of otherwise good content.
As a more idiosyncratic whinge: this book, along with several other spelling programs I've read, doesn't give students (or their teachers) any guidance whatsoever on using/teaching the spelling of the /k/ sound. Which is basically always going to be the first spelling issue any student hits? They're going to be taught says /k/ in the first week or two and then later that same term they're going to learn also says /k/. And probably even also says /k/. And then you'll do some dictation where you say "Can you get the ball?" or "He skips to the flag." or "Kip sits at the desk." and they write "kan you get the ball?" and "he scips to the flag" and "cip sits at the desck" and....what do you say exactly when they inevitably say "why"?
Even if you want to say (as I've seen one spelling program do): "There are multiple spellings that represent the sound /k/, and there is no way to know which one to use. The goal of [ed: program redacted] is to teach accurate rules that prevent confusion, so it is vital to tell students which phonogram they should use during spelling analysis" ... then at least say that?
June 23, 2018
“Those who are natural spellers don’t spell well by accident. They have learned certain things. This book is an attempt to focus on those things”
I’ll tell you what; a severely delayed plane in an airport with zero entertainment makes for excellent professional reading time.
I was one of the many children educated in the era of “Don’t worry, the students will learn how to spell through diffusion...”. Now, I like to think that I came out of this relatively unscathed. I am lucky enough to have a good visual memory and looked for rules in my spelling myself. I could see patterns and I used this to my advantage. But I know many who were let down by this system in a big way. Many of my family members and close friends struggled and continue to struggle with spelling. Sometimes this means that they avoid using certain words simply because they are unsure of the spelling.
Regardless of your spelling knowledge and ability there is no denying that it’s important. Spelling denotes your capacity to communicate effectively with the world around you. If you are confident in your ability to spell then you are more confident in you ability to communicate with others.
This textbook is a very practical and straightforward approach to teaching spelling. This is the main reason why I rated it so highly. It gives educators the strategies and language required to explicitly teach spelling rules; from homophones through to which base words should double their final consonant when adding a suffix. It contains lesson plans, scripts and worksheets to use in the classroom across most year levels. I will be using this heavily next semester in my spelling program. I have found, even with just implementing a couple of these lessons this term, that my students yearn for rules. They want to know how to tell if a word is spelt correctly or not. This program will give them this knowledge so that they can become confident communicators in the future.
Recommended to literacy educators
Format: paperback
Rating: 5/5 Stars
2018: 23/40 books
I’ll tell you what; a severely delayed plane in an airport with zero entertainment makes for excellent professional reading time.
I was one of the many children educated in the era of “Don’t worry, the students will learn how to spell through diffusion...”. Now, I like to think that I came out of this relatively unscathed. I am lucky enough to have a good visual memory and looked for rules in my spelling myself. I could see patterns and I used this to my advantage. But I know many who were let down by this system in a big way. Many of my family members and close friends struggled and continue to struggle with spelling. Sometimes this means that they avoid using certain words simply because they are unsure of the spelling.
Regardless of your spelling knowledge and ability there is no denying that it’s important. Spelling denotes your capacity to communicate effectively with the world around you. If you are confident in your ability to spell then you are more confident in you ability to communicate with others.
This textbook is a very practical and straightforward approach to teaching spelling. This is the main reason why I rated it so highly. It gives educators the strategies and language required to explicitly teach spelling rules; from homophones through to which base words should double their final consonant when adding a suffix. It contains lesson plans, scripts and worksheets to use in the classroom across most year levels. I will be using this heavily next semester in my spelling program. I have found, even with just implementing a couple of these lessons this term, that my students yearn for rules. They want to know how to tell if a word is spelt correctly or not. This program will give them this knowledge so that they can become confident communicators in the future.
Recommended to literacy educators
Format: paperback
Rating: 5/5 Stars
2018: 23/40 books
January 18, 2024
Great foothold for beginning teachers. A fantastic set of musings and resource for delivering spelling lessons.
Not only does Lyn discuss the complexities of the English language she provides example lessons that demystify spelling lessons and how spelling and fluency is learnt.
Not only does Lyn discuss the complexities of the English language she provides example lessons that demystify spelling lessons and how spelling and fluency is learnt.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews