Embedding Spelling Practice Across All Subjects in Primary Schools: Supporting Literacy Beyond English Lessons
What if every subject in school could help children become better spellers?
By embedding spelling practice across all subjects in primary schools, teachers can reinforce literacy in ways that feel meaningful and memorable. This cross-curricular spelling approach not only builds confidence with words but also helps pupils see spelling as a natural part of everyday learning – not just something that happens in English lessons.
In this blog, we’ll explore creative strategies for spelling beyond English lessons, offering fresh ideas for reinforcing spelling in all subjects.
Why Spelling Shouldn’t Be Limited to English Lessons
Literacy underpins success across the curriculum. Whether a pupil is writing about a science investigation, describing a country in geography, or solving a worded maths problem, accurate spelling helps them communicate clearly.
Despite this, spelling practice often ends when an English lesson does. By embedding spelling practice throughout the day, boosting literacy outcomes becomes part of the everyday routine.
1. Spelling in Maths: Language Through Numbers
While Maths may seem like an unlikely place for word work, it offers plenty of opportunities to practise spelling in primary subjects.
Ideas to try:
- Word of the Week Wall: Display subject-specific vocabulary like triangle, fraction, or estimate. Encourage pupils to spell and define them during starters or plenaries.
- Spelling Sums: Create activities where children solve a sum, then spell the corresponding word (e.g. 7 x 6 = 42 → spell forty-two).
- Maths Vocabulary Quizzes: Include mini-spelling challenges that review key terms alongside their mathematical meanings.
2. Spelling in Science: Observation and Description
Science is full of fascinating and tricky words, many of which are multisyllabic and rooted in Latin or Greek. Embedding spelling practice here will help children become confident in communicating scientific information.
Ideas to try:
- Labelling Diagrams: After investigations, ask pupils to label diagrams using correct scientific vocabulary.
- Spelling with Prefixes and Suffixes: Highlight recurring patterns like -tion (e.g. evaporation) or re- (e.g. recycle) and build spelling games around them.
- Science Spelling Stations: Set up a station during topic work where pupils complete quick spelling tasks linked to current units, for examplw: building word pyramids or solving word jumbles.
3. Spelling in Geography and History: Vocabulary in Context
Subjects like Geography and History offer rich narrative contexts where spelling becomes meaningful.
Ideas to try:
- Topic Word Banks: Create a shared class word bank each term. In Geography, children might learn to spell words like ocean, map, or country. In History, useful words could include castle, king, or timeline.
- Spelling Story Maps: Ask pupils to create illustrated maps or timelines using accurate spelling of key place names, historical figures, or terms.
- Spelling Scavenger Hunts: Hide topic-related words around the classroom. Invite students to find and correctly spell each word before using them in a sentence or short paragraph.
4. Spelling in PE: Active Learning for Active Minds
Yes, even PE can support cross-curricular spelling! Movement-based learning can enhance memory, especially for kinaesthetic learners.
Ideas to try:
- Spell-and-Step Games: Create a hopscotch or stepping-stone path where each step represents a letter. Call out a PE word (for example: balance) and invite pupils to jump on the necessary letters to spell each word.
- Team Challenges: In relay races, add a station where pupils pick a subject-specific word card and spell it correctly before returning to their team.
- Vocabulary Warm-Ups: Start PE lessons by revisiting simple words like run, jump, stretch, or balance and build both movement skills and vocabulary at the same time.
5. Embedding Spelling Practice into Displays and Routines
It’s not just lesson content – routines and environments can reinforce spelling too.
Quick wins:
- Interactive Displays: Turn word walls into interactive stations where pupils sort, correct, or use displayed words.
- Daily Spelling Shout-outs: Choose a subject each day (e.g. Science Spelling Wednesday) and learn a new word in morning registration.
- Cross-Curricular Spelling Journals: Encourage pupils to collect and practise spellings from all subjects in one notebook.
Final Thoughts: A Whole-School Commitment to Literacy
Taking a whole-school approach to spelling creates a culture where staff feel confident reinforcing spelling in all subjects. It normalises word learning across the timetable, helps learners transfer their knowledge, and emphasises that spelling isn’t a standalone skill.
By making small tweaks to lessons, routines, and displays, educators can embed spelling meaningfully throughout the day – supporting literacy while enriching subject knowledge.
A Simple Next Step
Want to embed cross-curricular spelling in your school? Spellzone offers a flexible platform that helps pupils learn and revisit key vocabulary in an engaging, personalised way.
Start a free trial today to see how easily spelling can become part of everyday learning.
04 Jun 2025
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