Hot Topic, spelling, testing and grading
Spelling and a little bit about testing
The national curriculum in England includes spelling lists for each year group as well as spelling rules and patterns to be learned in each year. At Taddington this will mean:
♦ Weekly spellings based on a pattern or rule from the Y1-Y6 programme of study (for example: words with –igh)
♦ Pupils will be tested ( we like to call it a 'quiz') twice on the same spellings (weekly)
♦ 10-15 minute teaching slots during the week to learn and practise spelling rules and patterns ( in KS1 this is in addition to daily phonics and writing sessions where spelling is also taught)
♦ Pupils will also be taught useful strategies to help with spelling.
♦ Each child having a spelling zapper or word book in class to help them learn words from the year group list (common words such as certain, favourite)
♦ 10 -15 minute slots during the week to work with a spelling partner. • The ‘zapper' will have nine words which pupils need to learn and they practise in different ways and test each other until they have spelled the word correctly four times.
Incorrect spellings of words from written work are also addressed and included in practice and in a low stakes quiz.
What this means for home learning.
Excuse me...they only have to learn 4??
We send home a list of 10 words for a very good reason. We expect that parents will be interested to understand all of the spellings from the list that children can already spell and those that they can not.We expect that this will promote discussion around all of the words on this list. In school we call this formative assessment. Through questioning and discussion we hope this will focus parent and learner attention on words that need to be learnt without children having to spend time completing spellings that they can already do or overwhelming children who are not yet ready to face all the words on the list at that point. The spelling score is in many ways irrelevant* ( read below to find out why)
* the score is relevant when the teacher gives precise feedback, teaching is adjusted and words identified as a focus on zappers or in word books.
The score... testsing....?
It is well known that the impact of formal testing of children's ability can be questionable.Whilst many debate the role and purpose of assessment, high-stakes tests clearly still have a place in the system. They capture something about where a child is at in their learning (assessment of learning) as well as help us as educators consider ways of helping them move forward in their learning (assessment for learning). However, given the evidence around
the positive effects of using testing to deepen and advance learning, we carry out on going assessments within a low stakes context.
The key here being that the research Alex Quigley (Education Endowment Foundation). and our own experience tells us that the process of trying to remember something ( retrieval practice) actually aids retention. So in short whilst the preparation for the 'test' at home helps with the children learning valuable study skills, the emphasis is on the quiz aiding a process of retrieval. Retrieval = retention.
The discussions that will take place at home with all of the words is a form of retrieval practice. Retrieval practice of words that are taught at school . Retrieval practice of earlier phonological patterns learnt. Retrieval practice of words that they should have encountered in their reading.
What Dylan Wiliam Says About Grading Student Work
At the 2019 Formative Assessment National Conference, the expert panel discussion (consisting of formative assessment experts Dylan Wiliam, Susan Brookhart, Jay McTighe, and Tom Guskey) focused on one very contentious issue: GRADING.
When teachers pair grades with comments, common sense would tell us that this is a richer form of feedback. But the panels work in schools has shown us that most students focus entirely on the grade and fail to read or process teacher comment. This leads us to question Should we be giving a score on the spelling quiz? What do you think?
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