Have you ever had the experience of teaching your students a phonics pattern - but then they don't apply it to their writing?

For example, let's say that you've been working on consonant blends for a week or two. During writing time, you notice that one of your kids has spelled "stop" as "sop," without including the blend.

What's up with that?!

In this article, we'll explore why this happens, as well as what teachers can do about it.

Why do students misspell words in their writing when they've already been taught those words or phonics patterns?

Before we discuss fixing the problem, it's important to acknowledge why this is happening. 

First and foremost, it's not happening because you're doing something wrong as a teacher!

Here are two reasons why your students aren't (yet!) applying all of their phonics knowledge to their writing:

1. Students can read words with a given phonics pattern before they can consistently spell those words correctly. Learning to spell words takes longer, and it also requires lots of time and practice.

2. Writing is "cognitively taxing" for young children. Think about all they're trying to do when they write: come up with ideas, put ideas into coherent sentences, remember the sentences as they're writing, correctly form letters, use capitalization and punctuation correctly...AND spell words! It's a lot. So it's no wonder that their phonics knowledge doesn't always successfully transfer to their writing.

How can I get my students to apply their phonics learning to their writing?

Although it can be challenging, it is possible to help students apply their phonics knowledge to their writing more consistently. Here are some tips to help.

1. Provide opportunities for students to look over their writing and find specific spelling patterns. For example, if you've been talking about short vowels, can they find 2 words with short vowels in a story they wrote? Just the act of discussing how phonics patterns relate to their writing can spark the realization in students that they should be thinking about this while they're writing.
2. Instead of teaching each phonics pattern in complete isolation, have students to compare and contrast words. For example, if students are learning long o spelled with silent e, have them practice some of these words AND some words with short o. This helps them understand when to apply a new phonics pattern (and when not to).
3. Frequently review spelling patterns that you've already covered. For example, if you taught consonant blends a month ago and are now working on long vowel spelling patterns, have students practice words that have long vowels AND blends. 
4. When you ask students to edit their own writing, have them read through their writing looking only for spelling mistakes. You might have them read once for capitalization, once for punctuation, and once for spelling. This helps them focus on just one "feature" at a time.
5. Show students how to use the “try it both ways” strategy for spelling words. If they're not sure how to spell a word, have them write it on a sticky note first (before putting it in their writing). They can write the word 2+ different ways and then decide which way looks right. For example, if a child is not sure how to spell “feel,” she might write “feal” and “feel” on the sticky note before adding the correct spelling to her piece of writing. This is especially effective with sounds that have multiple spelling pattern options, like vowel teams!

These 5 strategies can absolutely make a difference in your students' writing. However, phonics programs provide the essential foundation for your students to thoroughly master phonics skills.

From Sounds to Spelling is a science-based phonics program for Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students. It's currently used by several thousand teachers, reading interventionist, tutors, homeschooling parents, and other educators. To learn more about the program, click here.