Educators Report Resurgence In Focus On Spelling

The Boston Globe (1/10, Matchan) reports that "spelling, which suffered a precipitous drop in status during the last few years, has become popular again," noting that "once-ubiquitous elementary school textbooks known as 'spellers" have been as scarce, in recent years, as double vowels. E-mail programs and smartphones fix our spelling mistakes, and texters ignore them altogether." Despite this technological shift, "spelling textbooks, ejected from classrooms some 20 years ago to make way for more creative methods of studying words, are becoming popular again."