Writing and spelling are closely linked. If you don't know how to spell, writing can be more difficult than it should be. Becoming a good speller is important to your development as a writer.

Spelling can be hard, if you're not sure how you are going to learn and remember the words. The following tips will help to make studying spelling words a whole lot easier.

1. Look at the word
2. Say the word.
3. Try to memorize the letters in the word.
4. Write the word from memory. (You can write the word more than once)
5. Check to see if you were right.

Here are some more tips you should know and try:

1. Words that rhyme are usually spelled in a similar way. For example: cake, make, bake all have the phonogram 'ake' at the end.

2. Write down a word you're trying to spell if it's a word you've seen in books a lot, writing it down will help. By writing it down you will spot when certain letters are just not right.

3. Keep your dictionary on hand and use it.

4. Find out how many syllables are in the word and remember that each syllable contains a vowel.

5. Use mnemonics, for example, for the word "tear" you could use the mnemonic

T--Tara's
e--eye's
a--are
r-red

You could also use parts of the word you do know to help you remember the rest of the word for example, the word "tame" has "am" in the middle.

6. Try to sound out each letter you hear in the word. Write them down as you sound them out.

7. Find a friend or adult and do a dictate and spell game. During dictate and spell your friend or an adult calls a word. You write it down the way you think it should be spelled, when you are finished the friend or adult looks at what you have written and tells you if it's correct or not. If it is not correct you are allowed to correct it immediately.

8. Play word bingo with all the words you have difficulty spelling. You can create these cards on construction paper or whatever paper you choose and play this game with a friend.

9. Make your own dictionary and write down all the words you have trouble spelling. Make the dictionary even more effective by writing down the meaning of the words.

10. Record the spelling of the words on a tape recorder or your computer and listen to them over and over again. You can write the word as you listen to them repeatedly.

If you use the tips listed above spelling should become a whole lot easier. It won't happen overnight. The best way to quickly become a super speller is to read a lot. You will see some words so often that you will just know how to spell them. Finally, even adults forget how to spell words sometimes and need to check their dictionary, so be patient with yourself.

Simone Mary is a teacher, writer and artist. For more study tips and to get a free copy of the eBook GET ON THE HONOR ROLL-TEST AND EXAM TAKING TIPS THAT WORK visit http://www.thereadingandwritingshop.com