Segmenting in S.M.A.R.T. Spelling
Segmenting is the foundation of skilled spelling—and for students living with dyslexia, it’s the skill that needs the most structure, repetition, and support.
At its core, segmenting means breaking a word into individual sounds (phonemes), then matching each sound to a spelling choice (grapheme). For skilled spellers, this process becomes automatic. For struggling spellers, we need to slow it down, make it visible, practise often and guide them to think about each decision they make.
S.M.A.R.T. stands for:
- Segmenting – breaking words into syllables and sounds
- Morphemes – recognising base words, prefixes, and suffixes
- A E I O U Ә– Vowel Choices – focusing on vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u and unstressed vowels like schwa)
- Rules – applying common spelling rules
- Tricky Words – using bridging strategies and repetition to build memory for words that don’t follow regular patterns
How we practise segmenting
We use a blank cracker template with letter placeholders and give students guided practice using words they’ve already been explicitly taught. This means we’re not testing memory—we’re practising the process.
Here’s what that looks like:
- Dictate a word from the student’s wordlist (e.g. “pit”).
- Ask them to slow down—rushing leads to guessing.
- The student sounds out the word carefully: /p/ /i/ /t/.
- For each sound, they ask:
“What are my options for spelling this sound?” - They write in their choice.
- If unsure, they leave it blank or underline it.
- Mistakes are fine—what matters is the thinking process.
Once the word is built, we check it together:
- If correct, we ask: “Why is that right?”
- The student explains:
“P is always spelt with ‘p’. I know ‘i’ is the short vowel sound, and ‘t’ is the regular spelling for the /t/ sound.”
This helps build metacognitive awareness—they’re not just spelling by instinct; they’re thinking it through.
Wordlists (Blue and Green Levels) are pre-organised lists of words aligned with S.M.A.R.T. strategies. Blue lists focus on short vowels and simple suffixes. Green lists introduce blends and long vowels.
How to Use It:
Select words based on what the student has already been explicitly taught.
Use one word at a time in segmenting practice — either with crackers or verbally.
Guide students through sounding it out, writing it down, and thinking through their choices (with prompting if needed).
Why:
The list isn’t a test — it’s a resource. Using taught words ensures practice reinforces what’s known. It builds confidence and supports fluency without causing overload.
Sound-to-Spelling Reference Charts show the possible ways to spell each sound in English (e.g. /k/ = c, k, ck, ch).
How to Use It:
After a student has segmented a word but is unsure how to spell one of the sounds, have them refer to the chart.
Ask guiding questions: “What sound are you stuck on?” → “What are your spelling choices?” → “Which of those makes the most sense here?”
Don’t tell them the answer — lead them to a decision.
Why:
This builds spelling reasoning. Instead of guessing or relying on memory, the student learns to consult a tool and make logical choices. Over time, these choices become internalised.
How to Structure a Segmenting Session
Allow 3-5 minutes in every session as part of your regular review.
- Choose 1–3 words (depending on the student) from the appropriate level wordlist.
- For each word:
- Say it aloud.
- The student repeats it slowly and clearly.
- Use counters or other tools to support the segmenting.
- The student uses a cracker template to segment it.
- Write one sound per space.
- Leave a space blank or mark it if the student is unsure
- Use the reference chart for unknown parts.
- Discuss: “Which strategy would help solve this part?”
- End with a review: “Which part was tricky? What did you do to figure it out?”
Choosing the Right Words: Instructional Guidance
Use only what’s been taught.
Avoid complex vowel patterns, suffixes, or spelling rules the student hasn’t seen before. This is about confidence and consolidation.
Start with known words if needed.
When teaching the segmenting routine, use words the student already knows how to spell. The goal is to learn the method, not assess knowledge.
Don’t test—teach.
If they get it wrong, that’s fine. Walk them through it. This is where strategy learning happens.
Build complexity slowly.
Start with CVC words. Then introduce blends, then longer vowels, then multisyllables — in line with their teaching point.
Why errors are part of the process
It’s important to let students get things wrong in a low-pressure, no-consequences setting. This builds self-correction skills and helps students learn to recognise when something “doesn’t look right.”
Rather than jumping in with the answer, we step back, ask questions, and walk them through possible choices. They learn to backtrack, reflect, and improve their decisions. That’s the skill we want them to internalise.
Tools for supporting segmenting skills
- 1-minute phonemic awareness drills (Kilpatrick)
- Oral sound manipulation routines (e.g. Heggerty)
- Explicit letter-sound correspondence mapping
- Handwriting automation (so writing doesn’t overload working memory)
Segmenting is the gateway to spelling—and for many students, it’s the missing link. S.M.A.R.T. Spelling gives them a structured, repeatable, success-focused way to build this skill until it becomes automatic.
Syllabification – When and How to Teach It
Syllabification is an important part of spelling, but many students simply aren’t ready for it when they begin intervention.
Breaking words into syllables, understanding vowel behaviour, and applying spelling rules across syllables can be too complex for students who are still struggling to hear and spell individual sounds.
That’s why in S.M.A.R.T. Spelling, we don’t teach syllables first—we wait.
Students start with Segmenting—sound by sound, one phoneme at a time. They build confidence and fluency with short, regular words before any syllable work is introduced.
This is built into the structure of the Literacy Support Kit (LSK). The first 30 teaching points (TP1–TP30) only use one-syllable words, allowing students to develop essential spelling skills without the extra cognitive load of syllabification. This simplified scope makes real progress possible for students who would otherwise stall early.
Why many programs introduce syllables too soon
Most Tier 3 literacy interventions introduce syllabification very early—sometimes within the first few weeks. For students who are ready, this can be helpful. But for many, especially those living with dyslexia, this jump happens before they’ve mastered sound-level spelling.
When syllables are introduced too early, students often:
- Struggle to apply the rules consistently
- Become confused by overlapping concepts
- Lose confidence as spelling becomes more about rules than logic
They get stuck, not because they can’t learn syllables, but because the cognitive load is too high too soon. This is a common reason why spelling stalls in intervention programs. What was meant to help becomes another barrier. That’s why the Literacy Support Kit is structured differently: it allows students to build a strong, one-syllable foundation first before syllables are introduced. This keeps the path forward open for more students, not just those who progress quickly.
When they’re ready, start simple
When the student is confidently spelling one-syllable words, we begin introducing what a syllable is:
“A syllable is a pulse in a word. Every syllable has at least one vowel”
We can feel that pulse in different ways:
- Clapping, tapping, or chin drops
- Humming the word and feeling the pulse come through your nose—one nasal buzz for each syllable
- Saying the word into a kazoo—it vibrates once per syllable, giving a fun, physical way to experience syllables
We also explain why every syllable must contain a vowel, using a simple comparison between vowels and consonants:
Vowels are sounds we make with our mouth open and our voice turned on. Consonants block or restrict airflow, and sometimes we don’t even use our voice. Try saying a word or syllable without opening your mouth or turning your voice on… You can’t! That’s why every syllable has a vowel sound. And in spelling: every syllable must include at least one written vowel to represent that sound.
These explanations should always be sensitive to the student’s level. They are not scripts—they’re examples. For some students, each concept (e.g. vowels, consonants, syllables) may need to be introduced in its own dedicated lesson. For others, you may revisit these concepts many times in different ways.
Students who are non-verbal or who struggle with speech can still learn syllabification through:
- Modelling (teacher says the word)
- Pointing to a number to show how many syllables
- Tapping for each syllable they hear
- Using physical methods like humming or kazooing to show what they notice
The goal is to make syllables feelable, visible, and predictable—not abstract or overwhelming.
Example: Spelling the word lemon
Let’s say we dictate the word lemon to a student.
They sound it out and write:
l – e – m – n
This is a very common attempt. They’ve correctly heard the sounds /l/, /e/, /m/, /n/—but they’ve missed a vowel.
Instead of correcting it straight away, we guide them to reflect:
Teacher: “How many syllables in lemon?”
Student: “Two.”
Teacher: “So, how many vowels do you need?”
This questioning helps them discover the problem and begin reasoning through their choices. They may not know the missing vowel yet, but they now know it needs to be there.
At this point, they might:
- Look up options on the student vowel reference chart
- Make their best guess
- Be told the missing vowel by the teacher (especially if it’s a schwa or irregular)
If the teacher supplies the missing vowel, the word can be added to their Tricky Words list, and they continue to revisit it with the correct spelling. But the process has still reinforced the principle: every syllable needs a vowel—both in speech and in writing.
What if they spot the pattern themselves?
Some students may correctly hear and identify the vowel in each syllable. For example, they might notice that the second syllable in lemon ends in a consonant, so the vowel is short—this is a closed syllable. Others might hear a long vowel and realise that it appears in an open syllable (ending in a vowel). These observations form the foundation for a deeper understanding of syllable types and vowel behaviour.
This is the goal—not memorising rules, but learning to analyse words and apply thinking strategies to spelling.
Details about teaching each S.M.A.R.T. Spelling element
S.M.A.R.T. Overview
An overview of the how and why of the S.M.A.R.T. Spelling system.
Segmenting
Sound it out and break it into syllables. Leave a blank for the sound you don’t know.
Morphemes
Can you find the base? Does it have a prefix or a suffix that you know?
A.E.I.O.U.ə
What vowel can you hear? Short? Long? Other?
Rules
Is there a spelling rule I need to apply?
Tricky
Is it a tricky word? What’s my strategy for remembering it?
Contact Us
For more details on the Literacy Support Kit or how it can complement other literacy programs, please contact us with your questions.