Stages of Invented Spelling

Stages of Invented Spelling

Graves (1983) describes five general stages of invented spelling. In Stage 1, the child emphasizes the initial consonant of a word (such as the g in grass) and writes the letter G. In Stage 2, the child emphasizes the initial and final consonants (such as g and s in grass) and writes GS. In Stage 3, the child emphasizes initial, final, and interior consonants (such as g, r, and s in grass) and writes GRS. In Stage 4, the child emphasizes initial, final, and interior consonants, and the vowel place holder (the vowel may be incorrect, but it is in the correct position) and writes GRES. In Stage 5, the child uses "the full spelling of the word, with final components from visual memory systems and better vowel discrimination" (Graves, 1983, p. 185) and writes GRASS.

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