Starspell 2001

BY MARIA MORIARTY

Catherine Moorhouse in her book Helping Adults to Spell makes the comment, "Spelling is not a virtue; it is a convention which has developed over a long period of time". The teaching and learning of the convention of correct spelling can present particular challenges. A learner who wishes to acquire or enhance her skill will need to work in a variety of ways, e.g., reading, copying, studying word lists, writing and proofreading her written work.

Starspell 2001, a software package produced by Fisher-Marriot in the U.K., is designed to incorporate many of these areas of work to help the learner acquire and develop skill in spelling. Both content and overall design make it suitable for use by adult learners, as part of a general program of literacy development or by a motivated independent learner who wishes to improve her spelling.

The "Starspell Approach" to spelling, as described by the producers of the software, is "... the balanced co-existence of code, pattern and word parts." The program includes material intended to teach the "code" that links sounds to letter symbols, to help the learner acquire a bank of visually memorized words and letter strings and to understand the role of word parts, e.g., the 'ed' ending, the 'g' in sign and signal. (Starspell 2001 Spelling Guide p.7)

Starspell 2001 has 3 main components: Spell, the main learning activity; Games; and Records & Worksheets. The program is customizable so you can alter the look and sound for individual learners. Tasks can be made simpler or more difficult and features such as a keyboard on the screen can be added to help the learner. The word lists provided have a graded progression from 'one letter one sound' lists to 'prefixes, suffixes, roots'. In addition users can create and add their own word lists.

SPELL
Starspell 2001 uses the Look-Say-Cover- Write-Check approach to spelling. The target words can also be heard separately and in a sentence.

• A word is shown on the screen - Look
• The word is spoken - Say
• The word is shown in a sentence at the bottom of the screen
• The word disappears from the screen - Cover
• The learner types the word - Write
• If the word is spelled correctly the learner moves to the next word in that list - Check

If the word is spelled incorrectly letters that do not belong are highlighted and deposited in a garbage can, accompanied by an amusing sound effect. Incorrectly placed letters are highlighted and then placed in their correct places. Missing letters are brought in, the word is re-built and the correct form is shown. Learners have unlimited opportunities to spell the word correctly and each attempt is recorded. The 'target time' feature can be used to increase difficulty.

GAMES
There are 2 games: Starguess and Starpick. In Starguess the player 'guesses' the word missing from the sentence presented. In Starpick the player has to click and select randomly scattered letters in correct sequence to spell the word.

RECORDS & WORKSHEETS
All work done in Starspell 2001 is recorded and includes successes and attempts. A record of work for each student can be printed. Worksheets using the context sentences, minus the target word, can be printed for further spelling practice.

Continued next page