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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

 

 

 

By Susan Darst Williams • www.AfterSchoolTreats.com • Writing © 2010

 

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