Spelling

03 November 2017

This week, the children have a list of spellings to learn. These words are all from the Year 3/4 spelling list and so the children should already know them. We’ve been looking at them in class this week, coming up with ways of remembering them. This might include saying them in a certain way, looking for words hidden inside, following spelling rules or just something very silly which sticks in our heads.

peculiar = Don’t trust peculiar people because they peck (pec) you (u) and they’re liars (liar).

separate
different
peculiar
favourite
accidentally
actually
disappear
occasionally
interest
weight
calendar
possession

In their homework books, the children should note down a way of helping them to remember each word – this might be one we’ve come up with in class, or one of their own.

03 November 2017

13 October 2017

This week’s spellings are all words with the prefix ‘dis-’ which has a negative or reversing force. We have used our spelling investigation to inform our list for this week. It may be useful to look at the root word and understand how the prefix changes its meaning.

There will be a spelling test on Thursday 19 October.

13 October 2017

The spellings this week are a review of the five long vowel sounds which we’ve studied this half-term. Children will be tested on eight words.

Children should spend time practising the spellings they got wrong in previous tests as well as re-familiarising themselves with the previous lists.

13 October 2017

This week’s spelling is an activity based around –tious and -cious endings. There will be a test next week (Thursday 19 October) which will focus on both -fer endings and -tious and -cious.

Next week, we’ll focus on words ending in -tious and -cious. Here are some words which end in these sounds. Work out the root word for each of them and think about how this can help you to decide whether the spelling is with a ‘t’ or a ‘c’.

vicious, precious, conscious, delicious, malicious, suspicious, ambitious, cautious, fictitious, infectious, nutritious

In your book, I might see:

• the words listed next to their root word: ambitious >>> ambition (some are harder than others)
• practice of the root words, using the tips at the back of your book
• an explanation of how to turn a root word into one with a -tious ending and why it is a t not a c

13 October 2017

As it is the last week of this half-term, instead of being given a list of words to learn, you should revise all the rules we have focused on so far this year. You will be tested on these rules on Friday 20 October.

Evidence your revision on this page of your homework book.

So far this year, we have learnt about these three rules:

• ough – this letter string can be tricky because is makes many different sounds. For example, in the word plough, the ‘ough’ letter string makes a different sound to what it makes in the word tough.
• Double up – double up for a short vowel is a common rule in the English language. For example, the word butter has a double t because the u is a short vowel sound. Remember that there are exceptions to all spelling rules.
• -able or -ible – Our most recent spelling focus, choosing the correct suffix (-able or -ible) can be hard. We decided that in most cases, if you can see a root word and you are able to do it, use able (eg forgivable). If not, use ible (eg edible)

06 October 2017

This week, we’re focussing on the ew phoneme and its alternative spellings: boot, blue, move, few.

06 October 2017

This week’s spelling activity is an investigation. You need to find words that begin with the prefix ‘dis’. For example: disappear.

The prefix ‘dis’ is a negative or reversing force! How many words can you find? Can you spot any patterns? Can you show your words in a creative way?

We’ll discuss our investigation on Friday 13 October.

05 October 2017

The children have spellings to practise this week.

All of the spellings this week have ‘fer endings and we’re learning how to add a suffix to these words. There will be no test on Friday but you need to practise adding suffixes to these words correctly. Sometimes you need to double the ‘r’ and sometimes you don’t.

All children should be practising their spellings in their homework book, using the techniques suggested at the back which we also use in class.

• refer
• prefer
• transfer

• ed
• ing
• ence
• al

29 September 2017

This week’s spellings are all words where you need to drop the ‘e’ for an ‘ing’. If you’re not sure what any of them mean, find out. We may ask children to spell similar words that follow the same pattern. There are some easy words and some tricky words this week so make sure you continue to practise little and often.

Learn this pattern in preparation for the test on Friday 06 October.