The Ten Minute Spelling Tests are administered aurally, encouraging pupils to listen carefully and helping them to prepare for the aural spelling component of the new English grammar, punctuation and spelling test. Ten Minute Spelling Tests are easy to use and are designed to take some of the pain out of delivering spelling tests. Pupils are provided with a strip of 'words of the week' to learn, which in most cases would be given out as homework. The 'spelling test' then takes the form of dictated sentences or paragraphs read aloud on the audio CD. This also helps with pupils understanding of words as they are set within a context. The pupil worksheets feature exactly the same sentences or paragraphs with gaps for the target words, which the pupils then fill in. All the target words are matched to the Primary Framework and 'Letters and sounds'. Using the results of the tests, teachers can build a clear profile of the pupils' spelling levels and in this way monitor progress. This ties in well with the current move towards Assessment for Learning and on-going assessment of pupils' progress (APP).
Author Biography
Andrew Brodie was a head teacher for twelve years after many successful years in the primary classroom. He began writing his best selling educational books in 1992 and since then has established himself as a name that teachers have come to trust. He is still very much involved in education and continues to teach on a regular basis.
