Clark Barrow

Spelling Stages

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Homophone: "One of two or more words, such as night and knight, that are pronounced the same but different in meaning, origin, and sometimes spelling" (Pcket, 2002, p. 664).

A homophone and a homograph are different. A homograph is a word that is spelled like another word but has different meanings (Gillet, Timple, & Crawford, 2004). Examples of homographs are read (present tense) and read (past tense). Readers need to learn to pronounce homophones correctly and should learn how to spell them correctly. The "context of the passage helps" (p. 268).

Teachers may introduce beginning readers to homophones through readers such as "The King Who Rained" and by using sight cards with pairs of homophones. Learning homophones can be especially challenging for English Language Learners. Children may also learn in groups by identifying and categorizing homophones by using illustrations in books such as Amelia Bedelia (Parrish, 1996, 1997, as cited in Giambo & Szecsi, 2005, Linguistics Centers section, para. 1).

Giambo, D., & Szecsi, T. (2005). Opening up to the issues: Preparing preservice teachers to work effectively with English language learners. Childhood Education, 82(2), 107+.

Gillet, J. W., Temple, C., & Crawford, A. N. (2004). Understanding reading problems: Assessment and instruction (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Picket, J. P. (Executive Ed.). (2002). American heritage college dictionary (4th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.