Spelling Word Lists (age 9+)
Spell words from the statutory word list for Years 5 and 6, including words with irregular or uncommon spelling patterns that must be learned individually
What a learner can do afterwards
- Spell high-frequency words from the Y5-6 list accurately in dictated sentences, e.g. accommodate, committee, correspond, exaggerate, immediately, necessary
- Use look-cover-write-check and mnemonic strategies to learn words with tricky patterns such as 'separate' (a rat in separate), 'rhythm' (rhythm helps your two hips move)
- Identify and self-correct misspellings of statutory list words when proof-reading extended writing
The lesson
Some words refuse to follow the usual sound-it-out rules. Words like accommodate, necessary, and rhythm have odd double letters or silent patterns. You can't hear your way to the right spelling, so you learn these words one at a time, by sight and by memory.
Rhythm has no normal vowel, which trips a lot of people up. The mnemonic Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move gives you the first letter of each word: r-h-y-t-h-m.
Use look-cover-write-check. Look closely at the word, cover it up, write it from memory, then check it against the original. If it's wrong, say why before you try again.
Statutory list words don't follow the usual sound rules, so learn each one by sight, with a mnemonic if it helps, and check your writing for them.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.