ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide an underlying pedagogy which can be adapted to meet the wide variety of spelling needs within their classrooms. It demonstrates some key principles about children's spelling development and practical guidelines for teaching spelling based on the findings of a three-year study in three London primary schools. The project looked at teachers teaching spelling and children learning to spell. The broad range of competences that children need to acquire as spellers means that teaching spelling involves much more than handing out word lists and intervening in children's writing. Teachers can develop a whole-class approach to the use of Look-Say-Cover-Write-Check system. Teachers can establish regular routines for proofreading in the classroom by encouraging self-checking for meaning, accuracy of spelling and punctuation. This can involve regular spelling partners and setting up an editing table in the classroom where resources for checking spelling are kept and where children can check their spellings alone and with others.
