Because teachers and students deserve resources that explain why words are spelled the way they are.
Spell With Confidence combines the power of phonology, orthography, morphology, and etymology into one easy-to-use resource. It’s built on more than 50 years of global research* – thousands of studies across multiple languages – showing that structured, explicit instruction helps all learners, especially those who struggle.
Spell With Confidence encompasses the essential components of the following curriculums; studies, and models, including phonemic awareness, phonics, morphology, orthography, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Welcome to Spelliosity, where spelling meets curiosity!
Spelliosity isn’t just a program – it’s a mindset. We believe spelling should be explicitly taught in a systematic, engaging way that sparks curiosity and helps students understand why words are spelled the way they are. Teachers and students deserve instruction that reveals the logic of English spelling – not just a list of rules to memorize.
Our flagship product, Spell With Confidence, is rooted in rigorous research and was written by Shari Kudsia, a seasoned educator with 25+ years of experience in elementary education. Shari holds official certification from the Academy of Orton Gillingham Practitioners & Educators (AOGPE) at both the Classroom Educator and Associate levels. She has facilitated Top Ten Tools and the Basics of Decoding and Spelling for the International Dyslexia Association and is a current board member of this incredible charity. Shari co-presented at the Literacy and Language Educator Conference for two consecutive years, sharing her expertise in Structured Literacy. Over the past eight years, she has integrated Structured Literacy methodologies based on the Science of Reading research into her primary classrooms, seeing profound improvements in the learning journeys of all her students, not only those who often tend to struggle.
Spell With Confidence is designed with the diverse needs of students in mind, offering two tailored word lists in each lesson to suit varying levels of spelling proficiency. Word List A helps students master simple spelling patterns, while Word List B challenges those ready for more advanced words, including those with suffixing changes. All lessons emphasize orthography, morphology, and etymology.
Empowering students with the tools they need to succeed, Spelliosity is inspired by the Science of Reading and enriched by insights from leading voices in linguistics. We’re your partner in making spelling instruction both effective and engaging.
Shari Kudsia | Author
Curriculums incorporating the science of reading
(not an exhaustive list)
Strand B in the new Ontario Language Curriculum
The Common Core (United States)
* Research highlights
The research of Brennan Chandler, PhD
Dr. Pam Kastner’s Literacy Collection
Should We Teach Spelling by Timothy Shanahan
The National Reading Panel
Reading Matters by Mark Seidenberg
* Models
The Active View of Reading
Scarborough’s Reading Rope
Below, you’ll find our Pacing Guide along with a sample language block. Download a pdf copy of the Pacing Guide here.
Pacing Guide – Grades 1 to 2
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On-going
- Model proper letter formation at all times.
- Revisit Interesting Words often. Make connections to vocabulary in content areas (e.g., science).
- Keep building the habit of spotting bases in words during every unit (e.g., “What’s the base in centimetre?”).
- Return often to the idea that meaning is the foundation of English spelling.
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Fall
- Review the Alphabetic Principle through letter sorts: nasals, phoneme pairs – voiced vs voiceless, vowels vs consonants.
- Build an understanding of phonemes, graphemes, and short vowels.
- Build an understanding of morphemes: bases, affixes.
- Play a lot of Facey to build linguistic vocabulary: phoneme, grapheme, digraph, trigraph, base, prefix, suffix, initial-medial-final positions of graphemes, “default grapheme,” vowel suffix versus consonant suffix, etc.
- Explicit teaching of short vowel patterns: CVC, FLOSZ.
- Introduce marker <e>.
- Practice segmenting each phoneme in a word and representing it with a previously learned grapheme.
- Introduce lesson routines by modelling Spelling on Arm, beginning with FLOSZ Word List A. Use frequent modelling and shared practice.
- Focus on teaching Interesting Words that spark your student’s interest. Mix and match as needed to support their learning. If students re-encounter an Interesting Word in a future lesson, that’s okay – it just means more meaningful practice.
- Model simple word sums: those without suffixing changes.
- Orally break bases into syllables, expressing each syllable.
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Winter
- Explicitly teach the how-to of writing word sums.
- Start lessons: Word List A with a lot of modelling.
- Increase focus on vocabulary and base/affix awareness.
- Explore some Word List B activities orally for exposure.
- Encourage sentence writing using Interesting Words.
- Begin with whole-group instruction using Word List A, followed by small-group instruction for the Word List B group while Word List A students work independently.
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Spring
- Continue with Word List A/B, selecting lessons based on student interest or following the order provided.
- Continue practicing grapheme recognition and spelling strategies.
- Ask students to reflect on how affixes impact the meaning of the words they build.
- Strengthen retention by applying spelling words within writing and content-area instruction.
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Pacing guide – Grades 3 to 4
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On-going
- Model proper letter formation at all times.
- Revisit Interesting Words often.
- Make connections to vocabulary in content areas (e.g., science).
- Keep building the habit of spotting bases in words during every unit (e.g., “What’s the base in centimetre?”).
- Return often to the idea that meaning is the foundation of English spelling.
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Fall
Ensure your students have a solid grasp of the foundational concepts from the Grades 1-2 Fall phase.
- Play Facey regularly to strengthen linguistic vocabulary and understanding of how affixes influence the meaning of a base.
- Practice suffixing conventions: doubling, replacing <e>, change <y> to <i>. See Learning Tasks in Teacher Toolkit.
- Introduce lesson routines by modelling how to spell out words by their graphemes (Spelling on Arm or a more discreet action like finger tapping) and morphemes. Begin with FLOSZ Word List B and do a lot of modelling and shared practice.
- Model writing routines with Interesting Words.
- Focus on teaching Interesting Words that spark your student’s interest. Mix and match as needed to support their learning. If students reencounter an Interesting Word in a future lesson, that’s okay – it just means more meaningful practice.
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Model and provide a lot of shared practice on how to use a matrix and write word sums.
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Winter
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Spring
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