Invented Spelling: Developmental Patterns in Kindergarten Children and Guidelines for Early Literacy Intervention.

Types and distributions of spelling patterns were identified in the invented spelling samples of 100 children in the second semester of their kindergarten year. Invented spellings were studied because they provide a valid measure of children's phonemic awareness in print-a skill that is highly correlated with reading success in the early stages of literacy acquisition. The subjects' spelling errors were used to develop a taxonomy of 10 invented spelling patterns and 21 response types that characterized the children's most frequently occurring spellings of graphemes targeted for analysis in 12 words. The acquisition of spelling patterns was examined by dividing the children into three groups based on the phonemic accuracy of their spellings on a pre-readirng instrument. A developmental ordering of spelling patterns is presented and relationships among phonological awareness, spelling, and reading are discussed as they are relevant to speech-language pathologists treating children who are at risk for reading disabilities.