Which spelling stage is characterized by thinking about visual appearance of words?

The stage characterized by thinking about the visual appearance of words is the transitional spelling stage. During this phase, children are beginning to recognize that words have patterns and are not just a string of letters that sound a certain way. They start experimenting with spelling by incorporating their understanding of phonetic patterns, as well as how words look and sound.

At this stage, students may combine phonetic spelling with visual cues, leading to the recognition of common prefixes, suffixes, and spelling patterns. They often mix correct and incorrect spellings but are moving toward mastery of standard spelling conventions. This understanding of a word’s visual form, along with its phonetic sound, lays the groundwork for more advanced spelling skills as they continue to develop their literacy and writing abilities.