The Importance of Temporary Spelling

During the process of writing, students are taught if they don’t know how to spell a word, they should give it their best shot, or use enough letters to temporarily hold the idea until they come back and edit the piece. This is called temporary spelling. This is done so as not to ruin the flow of the writing. This enables students to focus on the higher-order thinking involved in the composing process. Also, young children are able to write before they have mastered conventional forms of spelling. And as described many placed in this book, editing for spelling as well as grammar and punctuation is step four of the five-step writing process.