Teaching as inquiry 2015

Can the game based learning program Vocabulary Spelling City improve spelling? Is the program worth having school wide? Does it make a difference having own device and access at home?

From observations, samples and data collected from testing, it was identified that some students needed to work on spelling. 

What am I trying to achieve?
To improve spelling
To see if having own device gives more access and raises spelling
How are we going to achieve this?
Allow access to spelling anytime anywhere using Spelling City.

As a BYOD class I wanted to use something that gave them anytime anywhere learning. In  the I past have used resources that a colleague gave-but these are paper based and meant access mainly in class. I could also have just posted weekly spellings on our class blog or sent them via e-mail or through smart share, this would have given them access anytime, anywhere. However, this is just substitution of being given each week in homework sheets. Also this still had an emphasis of learning spellings through formal, rote, memorization learning. 

"Recent research suggests that students should actively explore words, comparing and contrasting them in order to discover patterns and principles, and that teachers should play an important role in this exploration" (Henderson, 1985; Templeton, 1991; Zutell, 1994). "This is in contrast to the perception that formal spelling instruction is a process of drudgery and brute memorization, involving low-level, rather dull exercises"(Templeton, 1992) —" a perception based on some of the poorly organized spelling programs of the past."

 "Psychologists once believed that children learned to spell by using rote visual memory to string letters together like beads on a necklace. But that thinking has changed in the last 20 years. "Researchers have discovered that a child's memory for words is not entirely or even principally rote." (Moats, 2015)

Why Spelling City?
Games like formats are very effective in reinforcing memory for words and spelling patterns. (Brown, 2008)

I had previously and still use Studdyladder to improve spelling through games based activities and the children were motivated by competition and visual learning, and for learning some of the rules, conventions of spelling. Although, it didn't allow me to input my own lists. Spelling City allows me to create lists and import others lists. At first we used the free version on-line and with the APP and children could access their spellings anytime anywhere and practice them with limited activities. However, through usage, observation and conversations with my buddy, it soon became obvious that the paid version would offer more. This allowed me to; differentiate instruction through individualized or group lists, track student progress on activities, assignments, time on task and test scores. It also gave access to more games which allowed for further word study and more language experiences; building vocabulary, writing, phonics, language skills. 

"A mix of rich language experiences helps to expose us to words and appreciate their meaning" (Hackman, 2008) 

"Learning to spell is both conceptual and associative; children  must learn concepts about language structure at several levels and remember specific letter sequences. Learning to spell is learning about words, from all their interesting angles."

"The correlation between spelling and reading comprehension is high because both depend on a common denominator: proficiency with language. The more deeply and thoroughly a student knows a word, the more likely he or she is to recognize it, spell it, define it, and use it appropriately in speech and writing." -- Joshi, Treiman, Carreker and Moats, 2011)

Spelling City allows for instructional sound activities that do not emphasize rote memorization but that involve students in examining words from a variety of perspectives. 

Buddy observations and discussions.
From early buddy observations and conversations it soon became evident that it would be beneficial to have the paid version as I was questioned how I could track achievement and data, and how could more opportunities be given to use words in context and explore words. It was also identified that headphones were needed to enhance the experience and maintain focus.

"Thank you for inviting me into your room today to see your spelling. The children were all engaged and quietly working away. They each had spelling lists entered that were an appropriate level. I spoke to a few children who let me know that they thought spelling city was helping them to concentrate on learning new words more than writing them on paper or calling them out did.

You and I discussed the ease of use as a teacher, and how it was easy to individualize, and to see which words children were having problems with. We had also talked previously about how homework can be set from anywhere, even when the teacher is sick - always a bonus.

We discussed the next steps which may include allowing children to enter their own words. It looks like a great programme and I am interested to see how the overall spelling improvement goes."

What have found so far?
Initially I was going to have a group who learnt spellings in a more formal way so comparisons could be made, but the children all wanted to use Spelling City and didn't think it was fair. 

To try and collect some quantitative data on spelling improvement, the class were tested on the essential spelling word lists prior to using Spelling City and after an eight week period. However, this only gave a number 'out of', so the South Australian spelling assessment was also given as this gave a spelling age, so any improvement could be seen.

Spelling Test Results

The above results indicate that spelling has improved with all. However, spellings should probably improve over time however learnt. What the results indicate is that the more time spent on Spelling City the more improvement there was and that those with BYOD devices spent more time on Spelling City and their spellings improved further.

PMI of Inquiry

Positive	Minus	Interesting
Students’ motivation and engagement. Frees up time Good for visual and auditory learners. Teacher doesn't have to spend time marking. Students instantly know what they need to work on without waiting for the teacher. Review lists allow for working on ones got wrong. Games allow for learning about words; their context and meaning, syllables in words, suffixes, prefixes, type of word. Allows for differentiated instruction-can assign different lists, games to different students, different levels. Search for pre-made lists on subjects.	Not all activities/tasks can be done on the I pad. Need access at home to device and internet. American voice, children may be confused by different letter/word sounds. Lack of collaborative working on spellings in class. Still need to say words rather than just see and hear.	Less parent involvement both a positive and minus; parents often don’t have time and possibly not sure how to work on spellings, so Spelling city accommodates this, however, some parents commented that liked to have time with child and do spellings together.

What the children think

What next?

From buddy conversations have started to do review lists, which have just been introduced on spelling city, which create lists of spellings that the children need to work on, have got wrong. These conversations also highlighted that it would be good for students to create their own lists, I will introduce this feature in Spelling City as it allows for student ownership. Although I will still have control and access to results, and will review it.This may add time rather than save it. Also have found to implement the program successfully there is a need to place activities in order and to have a start and end date for completion of assignments and gathering results.  Possible need to have more access time outside of school and more parents on board. As for whole school use, I would recommend premium access from year 3 up. As discussed above it offers the study of words from all angles and a rich language experience in a fun motivating, engaging game environment. Rather than in a formal, rote memorization way of learning spellings. Providing there is accessibility and cost coverage. This is about $2.00 per child.