Our Spelling Lists:

Unit 1: Short a and i words

unit 2: Short e, o, and u words

unit 3: Vowel-Consonant-Silent e Words

Unit 5: More Vowel-Consonant-Silent e Words

Unit 6: Words with Consonant Clusters

Unit 7: Words with Double Consonants

Unit 9: Words Spelled with Consonant Digraphs (ch, sh, th, wh, or -tch)

Unit 10: Long a Words using ai & ay Vowel Teams

Unit 11: Vowel Sound in “Cow” (ow/ou Vowel Teams)

Unit 12: Long e Spellings

Unit 13: Review

Unit 14: Short and Long Vowel Sounds

Unit 15: Words/Syllables Ending with –ck, –k, or –ke

Unit 16: R-controlled Vowels (/ar/)

Unit 17: Words that end with –nd, -ng, or -nk

Unit 18: Long O Spellings

Unit 19: Review

Unit 20: Words That End with -er

Unit 21: Contractions

Unit 22: Y at the End of Multi-syllable Words (Y= long e)

Unit 23: Words That End with –ed or –ing

Unit 24: Review

Unit 25: The Vowel Sound in Moon and Book (OO/ oo)

Unit 26: More Long I Spellings

Unit 27: Review

Unit 28: R-controlled Vowels (or, -ore)

Unit 29: Homophones

We're Working on Unit __ this week.

Ideas to Support What Your Child is Learning in Spelling:

Spelling Tips for Children and Parents
Practice Tips
Spelling Games

Spelling Tips for Children and Parents

(adapted from ww.math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org)

The English language is confusing. Here are some helpful spelling rules, but, keep in mind, there are exceptions to every rule!

I Before E

Perhaps the best known spelling rule is, I before E, except after C; or when sounded like 'A' as in neighbor or weigh. Children have been learning this little rhyme, also known as a mnemonic device, for decades. Some exceptions to this rule are: either, foreign, height, and weird. Words with 'cien' as in science and ancient are also exceptions.

-Able and -Ible

Knowing whether to end a word with -able or -ible can be hard to memorize. Instead of having to memorize each individual word, the following rule usually works: -able words are complete without this ending; -ible words are usually incomplete when you remove the suffix. For example, the word negligible; if you remove ible from the end, 'neglig' is not a word!

The Silent E

Silent E helps vowels to say their names is another common adage. This means that the words which have a long vowel sound, followed by a consonant, usually end with a silent E. This helps children remember word endings. Examples that help children understand are rate and rat, as well as hate and hat.

Walking Vowels

When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking. This helps children remember which vowel goes first when there are two in a row. For example, tea is not tae because the vowel sounds like 'eee.'

Spelling Practice Tips

Trace, copy and recall

Make a chart like this with 3 or four spelling words you want to learn:

Sample trace, copy and recall chart

Then fold over the "recall" part so that only the first two columns show:

Sample chart with recall column folded back

Then,

Say the word to yourself.
Trace it in the first column, saying the letters or sounds as you trace. Say the word again.
Go to the second column, say the word, and write it the same way.
While the word is fresh in your mind, flip the paper over and say the word and spell it out — the same way, saying each letter (because, after all, practice makes permanent).
After you've done all the words this way a few times, start doing them two or three at a time.

Reverse chaining by letter

Say the word. Then write it, saying each letter (be enthusiastic and expressive)
- W - O - R - D
Skip a line and say it and write it again — minus the last letter. Say the last letter, but don't write it.
- W - O - R - ____
Skip a line and say it and write it again — minus the last two letters. Say them, but don't write them.
- W - O - ___ ____
Do that until you're only writing one letter.
Go back to the top. Read the word, then spell it out loud.
Fold the page over so you can't see the whole word. Say the word, spell it, and add that last letter.
Fold the page back again. Say the word, spell it, and add the last two letters.
Keep going until you spell the whole word.
GO BACK AND CHECK — make sure you didn't leave out a letter.

Reverse chaining by syllable

This is harder, for longer words.

Say the word. Then write it, saying each letter (be enthusiastic and expressive)
- S-E-P-A-R-A-T-E
Skip a line and say it and write it again — minus the last syllable. Say the last syllable and spell it out loud, but don't write it.
- S-E-P-A-_________
Continue until you aren't writing anything — but still say the spelling out loud.
Go back to the top. Read the word, then spell it out loud.
Fold the page over so you can't see the whole word. Say the word, spell it, and add the last syllable.
Fold the page back again. Say the word, spell it, and add the last two syllables.
Continue until you spell the whole word.
GO BACK AND CHECK — make sure you didn't leave out any letters.
- should
- shoul__
- shou__ __
- sho __ __ __
- sh__ __ __ __
- s __ __ __ __ __
- __ __ __ __ __ __

Highlighting the tricky parts

Use different color pens, pencils or markers, and index cards. Write the words and highlight the 'tricky part' or write it with a different color than the rest. Make a mental picture of that card, read the word aloud, then spell it aloud, saying the . So, you'd write:

sepArate

When you write the whole word, think about the hard part, what it looks like or sounds like. So, while you're writing "separate," you might be thinking "sep-AY-rate" and/or visualizing that bold, red A .

Practice using the words in short phrases

If separate is the word, see if you can think of 5 different phrases with the word and write them out. For example: 1. separate rooms, 2. separate cars, 3. separate houses, 4. separate the pages 5. I'll separate you if you don't behave.

Alternatively, try to use all of your spelling words in the same story. Get silly — have fun with the words!

Spelling Games

(from www.logan.k12.ia.us)

All in the Family:

Students are given a word and asked to think of words in the same family, such as play-plays, played, playful, replay, player, etc. Give each player the word, set the timer. How many words does each player come up with in a certain time limit?

Compound Staircase:

The last small word in the compound word becomes the first small word in the next compound word. Sunlight-Lighthouse-Housework-Workshop

Letter Fill:

Provide the first and last letter and let children make as many words as possible by completing the middle letters. b __ __ d

Hop To It:

Help your child to write the spelling words on sheets of paper, one word per sheet. (Sheets of computer paper or grocery bags torn apart with words printed in colorful marker would be good for this activity.) Arrange the sheets in a cluster in the floor, words facing up. The sheets should be spaced to allow your child to jump or hop comfortably from one to another. Explain that you will make up a sentence, leaving out a word and have your child should jump to the sheet and spell the word that best completes the sentence. After the word has been "landed" on and spelled correctly, your child can pick up and hold onto the sheet. Continue in this way until your child has collected all of the words. Reverse roles: the parent hops and the child composes the sentence!

Rhyming Ping-Pong:

Play in pairs. The object is to name as many rhyming words as possible within a given time. The player who calls out the last word when the time expires is the winner. For example, the first player says play, second player says stay, first player says hey, second says weigh, etc.

Hocus-Pocus: Play in pairs, with children inventing two-word rhyming phrases within a given time; for example, night-flight, fat-cat, golden-holden, great-mate. The player who calls out the last rhyming phrase when the time expires is the winner.

Concentration:

Two players compete. First, make a set of word cards: half of the cards have a common prefix or suffix written on them, such as re-, non-, -er, -ment; the other cards have base words that can be combined with affixes to create real words you want your child to be able to spell such as rebuild, nonstop, teacher, or entertainment. Of course, not all stems will combine with all the affixes to make real words. Shuffle the cards together and lay them face down in horizontal and vertical rows; the more cards, the more challenging the game is. Players take turns turning over a specified number of cards, like four or six at a time; if any two cards turned over can be combined into a real word, the player removes and keeps those two cards. The player with most pairs at the end wins.