Spelling

Theme One (Nature's Fury)

• Short Vowels
• Frequently Misspelled Words
• The Long /a/, /e/, and /i/ Sounds
• The Long /o/, /oo/, and /yoo/ Sounds

Short Vowels

1. bunk
2. staff
3. dock
4. slept
5. mist
6. bunch
7. swift
8. stuck
9. breath*
10. tough*
11. fond
12. crush
13. grasp
14. dwell
15. fund
16. ditch
17. split
18. swept
19. deaf*
20. rough*

Frequently Misspelled Words

1. enough
2. caught
3. brought
4. thought
5. every
6. ninety
7. their
8. they're
9. there
10. there's
11. know
12. knew
13. o'clock
14. we're
15. people

The Long /a/, /e/, and /i/ Sounds

1. speech
2. claim
3. strike
4. stray
5. fade
6. sign
7. leaf
8. thigh
9. thief*
10. height*
11. mild
12. waist
13. sway
14. beast
15. stain
16. fleet
17. stride
18. praise
19. slight
20. niece*

The Long /o/, /oo/, and /yoo/ Sounds

1. thrown
2. stole
3. clue
4. dew
5. choose
6. rule
7. boast
8. cruise
9. stroll
10. route
11. mood
12. loaf
13. growth
14. youth
15. slope
16. bruise
17. loose
18. rude
19. flow
20. flute

Show Theme Four

Theme Four (Person to Person)

• VCCCV Pattern
• Frequently Misspelled Words
• VV Pattern
• Words with -ed or -ing
• Words with Suffixes -ly, -ness, -ment, -ful, -less

VCCCV Pattern

V stands for vowel and C stands for consonant. This pattern deals with two-syllable words that have three consonants together, and the syllables are divided within those consonants.

They are divided into syllables on either side of two of the consonants which cannot be separated. One, either the two consonants make one sound, as gh does in laughter. So, laughter is divided into syllables as laugh/ter (VCC/CV). Two, the two consonants form a cluster where both consonants are pronounced when the word is said aloud, as pl are in complain. So, complain is divided into syllables as com/plain (VC/CCV).

Some of the one sound consonants are: gh and ph, which both make the f sound, th, ch. Note that gh is used in the middle or ends of words, like laugh. When it is used at the beginning of a word, like ghost, then they make a g sound.

Some of the consonant clusters are: tr, dr, pl, pr, rt, st, and nd. Here are some examples of common words that use these consonant clusters: truck, drive, play, price, art, stain, and sand.

Show Theme Five

Theme Five (One Land, Many Trails)

• Words with a Prefix or a Suffix (un-, dis-, in-, re-; -ion)
• Frequently Misspelled Words
• Unstressed Syllables (including Final /ij/, /iv/, and /is/)
• Final /n/ or /en/, /cher/, /zher/
• Changing Final y to i

Changing Final y to i

1. liberties
2. victories
3. countries
4. spied
5. enemies
6. armies
7. scariest
8. dirtier
9. happiness
10. abilities
11. pitied
12. ladies
13. busier
14. duties
15. lilies
16. worthiness
17. tiniest
18. emptiness
19. replies
20. dizziness

Final /n/ or /en/, /cher/, /zher/

1. mountain
2. treasure
3. culture
4. fountain
5. creature
6. captain
7. future
8. adventure
9. moisture
10. surgeon*
11. lecture
12. curtain
13. pasture
14. measure
15. vulture
16. feature
17. furniture
18. pleasure
19. mixture
20. luncheon*

Unstressed Syllables (including Final /ij/, /iv/, and /is/)

1. dozen
2. voyage
3. forbid
4. native
5. language
6. destroy
7. notice
8. distance
9. carrot
10. knowledge*
11. captive
12. spinach
13. solid
14. justice
15. ashamed
16. program
17. message
18. respond
19. service
20. relative

words ending with /ij/: voyage, language, knowledge*, message
words ending with /iv/: native, captive, relative
words ending with /is/: notice, justice, service

Frequently Misspelled Words

1. while
2. whole
3. anyway
4. anyone
5. anything
6. favorite
7. once
8. suppose
9. everybody
10. everyone
11. really
12. morning
13. also
14. always
15. first

Words with a Prefix or a Suffix (un-, dis-, in-, re-; -ion)

1. unable
2. discover
3. report
4. disaster
5. unaware
6. remind
7. televise
8. television
9. inspect
10. inspection
11. react
12. reaction
13. tense
14. tension
15. correct
16. correction
17. promote
18. promotion
19. express
20. expression

Show Theme Six

Theme Six (Animal Encounters)

• More Words with Prefixes
• Frequently Misspelled Words
• Three-Syllable Words
• Suffixes -ent, -ant, -able, -ible

Suffixes -ent, -ant, -able, -ible

1. fashionable
2. comfortable
3. different
4. suitable
5. merchant
6. profitable
7. student
8. possible
9. resident
10. terrible
11. absent
12. vacant
13. servant
14. valuable
15. accident
16. horrible
17. honorable
18. reasonable
19. remarkable
20. laughable

Three-Syllable Words

1. dangerous
2. history
3. vacation
4. popular
5. favorite
6. memory
7. personal
8. educate
9. regular
10. continue
11. potato
12. natural
13. sensitive
14. energy
15. emotion
16. period
17. property
18. condition
19. imagine
20. attention

Frequently Misspelled Words

1. heard
2. your
3. you're
4. field
5. buy
6. friend
7. guess
8. cousin
9. build
10. family
11. can't
12. cannot
13. didn't
14. haven't
15. don't

Notes:

• heard, not herd - I heard the herd of cattle coming over the ridge.
• your is the possessive pronoun - Is that your pencil?
• you're is the contraction of you and are - You're coming with us, aren't you?
• buy is a homophone of by and bye - He said, "Bye," as he went by us on his way to buy a new clarinet reed.
• can't is a contraction of can and not, while cannot is a compound word made up of can and not
• didn't, haven't, and don't are contractions of did not, have not, and do not, respectively

More Words with Prefixes

1. propose
2. convince
3. concern
4. enforce
5. compare
6. excuse
7. conduct
8. preserve
9. contain
10. excite
11. extend
12. prefix
13. engage
14. pronoun
15. consist
16. enclose
17. consent
18. proverb
19. complete
20. exchange

• com- is a prefix meaning with or together (To compress a mass is to press it together.)
• con- is the form of the prefix com- that is used before the consonants c, d, g, j, n, q, s, t, and v
• en- is a prefix meaning: 1) to put into or to put on (Enthrone means to put on a throne.); 2) to make (Enrich means to make rich.); 3) in or into (Entangle means to tangle in.)
• ex- is a prefix seen in words that come from Latin or Greek, meaning out, from, out of, or beyond (To exhale is to breathe out. To exceed is to go beyond a limit. It is also a prefix meaning former or earlier, written with a hypen (An ex-judge is a former judge.)
• pre- is a prefix meaning before (A prewar period is a period before a war.)
• pro- is a prefix meaning for or in favor of (A prolabor speech is a speech in favor of labor unions.)

(Definitions are from Webster's New World Dictionary, Revised Basic School Edition.)