Spelling
A Deck of Spelling Rules
Today's
Snack: Have a double-decker
sandwich! Use three pieces of bread, not two. Lay one piece of bread on the
cutting board or plate. Top with one piece of meat or cheese, and a blob of
mayo or mustard. Then put a piece of bread on top of that. THEN place another
piece of meat and cheese, and some spread if you wish. Top it all off with a
third piece of bread. That's a double-decker! Enjoy with a single glass of milk.
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Supplies:
Print out this Treat on cardstock | scissors or paper-cutter
Hole-puncher | circular binder clip
Print out a copy of these spelling
rules onto cardstock paper. Each one lists a spelling rule, and then uses an
example in green ink.
You can cut them out uniformly using a paper-cutter,
or let the students cut them out into card form. Try to make the cards the same
size so that they will stack up nicely in a deck.
With a hole-puncher, punch out a
hole in the upper left-hand corner of each card in your new spelling rules deck.
Then string the deck onto a circular
binder clip.
Voila! Now you have an
easy-to-carry-around deck of spelling rules and you can study the rules of
spelling in your spare time. You WILL, won't you?
i before e
except after c
(except in words
where it sounds like "a,"
like neighbor and weigh)
receive
Silent final e
makes the vowel
say its name
rate (rat), hope (hop)
Silent final e
changes the
c or g sound
to s or j
chance, charge
Silent final e
is dropped when you
add a suffix that
starts with a vowel
nerve - nervous
ease - easy
serve - service
Double the
final consonant
in a word with
one syllable
will, off, glass, roll,
egg
Vowels i and o
can say their long sounds
only if followed
by two consonants
find, old
The sound al
written alone is all,
but with another syllable
is written al
also, almost
Till and full
added to one or more syllables
are written til and ful
until, beautiful
j can be written dge
only after
a vowel with
its short sound
badge, ledge,
bridge, lodge, budge
Some words
have a no job e --
the e doesn't
change the
pronunciation
house, come, promise
The sound er
can be spelled
five ways
and has to be
memorized
her, first, nurse, work,
early
ei
says
the long a
sound
veil, rein, vein,
their (refers to they;
hear the "a" sound?)
Every syllable
in English
needs a vowel,
so we put in
a silent e
sometimes
lit tle, mus cle,
twin kle
English words
don't end in i
so we use y
cry
(ski isn't an
English word)
A plural of
a word that ends in y
takes off the y
and adds ies
cry - cries
baby -- babies
To change
a word that ends in y
to another form of that word,
change the y to an i
and use an ending of
es, ed, er or est
dry to dries,
dried, drier, driest
Double the consonant
before the ing suffix
if the vowel sound
in the first syllable
is SHORT
skip ping, hop
ping,
mud dy
Double the consonant
before a suffix
that begins with a vowel
if the accent is on
the last syllable
oc cur - occurrence
ex cel - excellence
for got -- forgotten
Keep the last consonant
single if the
accent is on
the first syllable,
and you're adding a suffix
label - labeling
Double the
last consonant
if the accent is on
the second syllable
before the suffix
repel - repellent
q always goes with a u
when the sound is kw
quick, queen
c sounds like an s
when it is followed by
e, i or y
cent, city
If c is followed by
some other letter,
or is at the end of a word,
it sounds like a k
cat, music
g can sound like j
only if it is followed by
e, i or y
but e, i or y don't always
make g sound like a j
gel, gist, gym
but get, gift, girl
g can only
sound like a j
after e, i or y
gel, gin, gyroscope,
pigeon, religious,
energy
vowels a, e, o and u
usually have
their long sound
at the end
of a syllable
na vy, me, si
lent, mu sic
ti, si and ci
in the middle
of a word
are pronounced sh
nation, tension, social
In English,
we don't end words
with u, v or q
Exception: impromptu
Foreign words:
Zulu, Aviv, Iraq
