Exploring the Potential of Analogy Instruction to Support Students' Spelling Development

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential influence of analogy instruction on students' spelling behavior. Analogy instruction helps students learn how to use common rimes (i. e., -ent, -ight, -at) strategically to identify and spell unfamiliar words. Instruction was conducted in a second-grade classroom and integrated into the reading/language arts program. We selected 9 students of varying ability and examined their writing samples and oral reading miscues with the goal of qualitatively analyzing their responses to the analogy instruction. Results indicated that all 9 students increased their use of an analogy spelling strategy over the course of the school year. Our findings suggest that analogy instruction can be integrated successfully into a rich reading language arts curriculum that can support students' reading and writing development simultaneously.