KEY WORD ASSOCIATION
The vast majority of English words can be broken down into components which are found in other words that students can (most often) already spell. Each of these components or 'chunks' are linked to a 'Key Word' (ie. 'au' as in 'auto').
As students practise a list of words, each part of the word is sounded out, and the relevant 'Key Words' are also presented, strengthening the association. When a student has difficulty spelling a word, the 'Key Words' become clues to working out the correct spelling.
Students gain confidence from being able to spell "any" word with a little help from the 'Keys'. This confidence and students' increased awareness of how words are constructed translates to better literacy outcomes.

Prior Student Knowledge Required:
Prior to playing the Literacy Intervention Programme students should at least know the alphabet, including both the long and short sounds of each letter. They must be able to use a keyboard and mouse (or equivalent pointing device or assitive technologies).

Technology Required:
To play the Literacy Intervention Programme you will need a computer or similar device (excluding iPads as they are unable to play Shockwave and Flash content).
Your computer will need to be able to play sound (headphones are recommended to prevent distraction in the classroom).
An internet connection is required. Initial loading time will vary from under 10 seconds at fast broadband speeds, to around 90 seconds at 256K. Approximately 5-10MB of data will be downloaded during an average 10-60 minute session.
The Adobe Shockwave player is required to run the programme through your internet browser (the site has been tested successfully under Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera).
Alternatively, you can download our App which runs the Literacy Intervention Programme directly from the web, without going through a browser. (App currently available for Windows only. Mac App coming soon.)

THE SPELLING CENTRE - Basic Pedagogy
Computer software and web-based programmes are ideal for teaching spelling because they can provide immediate feedback, and as much repetition as is required by the individual student.
The Spelling Centre programmes engage students in multisensory, self-paced learning and provide additional motivation in the form of inbuilt arcade game rewards.
Spelling words are taught in meaningful sentence context, illustrated by engaging photographs. Words and sentences are voiced in a clear Australian accent.

The Spelling Centre programmes are designed with the needs of struggling spellers at heart, and are primarily focussed on learning rather than testing.
Students are not given a 'score', and are not daunted by the prospect of having to compete with their more able classmates.
Even as the spelling modules gradually become more difficult, students are always given additional help when needed.

The Spelling Centre is not concerned with teaching proper phonetic terminology like "split diagraph". We prefer to use "Magic E" because it is more engaging for beginning and struggling spellers.

Visual learning of correct spellings is facilitated by clear presentation, and 'look-cover-write-check' style activities.
Very importantly, learners are never exposed to misspelled words anywhere in The Spelling Centre. Viewing incorrect spellings can hinder assimilation of the correct letter sequence.
Students are encouraged to pay attention to common 'chunks' (phonemic and morphemic letter combinations) within words.

Another useful spelling behaviour encouraged by The Spelling Centre is that of sounding-out words (aloud or in one's mind) as you write them. Each spelling word is broken into its phoneme-grapheme 'chunks' and is 'sounded-out'.
The Literacy Intervention Programmes uses "Key Word Association", linking each common phoneme-grapheme 'chunk' with a specific 'Key Word' to aid learning.

Our aim is to assist as many students as possible to achieve a basic level of spelling proficiency, by producing easy-to-use accessible tools that improve literacy outcomes.