S7 E7 - Why Your Spelling Approach Might Be Working Against You (Part 1)

About this episode

Jocelyn discusses the impact of spelling on students' writing abilities and the importance of strong spelling instruction.

Spelling is not a side quest. When it isn’t automatic, it quietly steals the working memory students need for ideas, sentence craft, and clear argument, especially in upper primary and the early secondary years. If you are seeing capable students write small, play it safe with vocabulary, or avoid writing altogether, word-level knowledge may be the hidden barrier you cannot afford to ignore. Jocelyn focuses on Years 3 to 8 and lays out what the research says strong spelling instruction shoul...

People in this episode

Host: Jocelyn Seamer

Topics covered

• spelling instruction
• working memory
• upper primary education
• secondary education
• word-level knowledge

Keywords

• spelling
• working memory
• education
• upper primary
• secondary years
• writing skills
• vocabulary

More episodes of The Structured Literacy Podcast

• S7 E11 - What Does It Really Take to Make School Improvement Last? · April 25, 2026 · 24 min
• S7 E10 - How to Evaluate Spelling Instruction · April 19, 2026 · 25 min
• S7 E9 - Why We Should Keep the Early in Early Childhood · March 28, 2026 · 32 min
• S7 E8 - Why Your Spelling Approach Might Be Working Against You (Part 2) · March 21, 2026 · 23 min
• S7 E6 - Practical Steps When Grouping for Phonics · March 7, 2026 · 27 min
• S7 E5 - What Does the Research Actually Say About Grouping Students for Phonics? · February 28, 2026 · 24 min