Spelling

16 September 2016

We are looking at adding suffixes to verbs to create new words. Usually, this is fairly simple. However, there are some things we need to remember:

1. Double up for a short vowel sound  – running, not runing.
2. Verbs ending in ‘e’ follow the “drop the ‘e’ for ‘ing'”, so the ‘e’ is removed before adding ‘-ed’ or ‘-ing’ – hoping not hopeing.
3. Some verbs don’t follow the rules for the past tense – built not builded.
4. You need to decide if you should add -s or -es to make a plural or a third person singular verb. Handy trick: If you add a syllable it is usually –es – foxes not foxs.

As your child will be learning the rules of adding suffixes rather than the spellings of individual words, I will test you on any word which follows these rules.

I will test you on Friday 23 September.

Here is a table which may help you begin practising your spellings:

16 September 2016

This week’s spelling activity focuses on words ending in ‘-ible‘ and ‘-able‘ and being able to recognise which one to use.

The children need to find out words with these endings and create the word families for them.

adorable – adorably – adoration – adore – adored – adoring

There will be not test on Friday 23 September as we’ll be learning about these words throughout the week. Next week, the children will be given a list of words with these spelling patterns and they’ll be tested on them on Friday 30 September.

09 September 2016

This week’s spellings have been chosen by the children from a list of spellings they should know already. We’ve been working on practising their chosen spellings throughout the week and used all sorts of techniques to help us to learn them.

In their homework books, the children should show that they’re using these techniques in order to learn their spellings and they will be tested on ten of them in class on Friday by a friend (as we’ve all got different ones).

Don’t forget, homework books will be collected in on Thursday so, if you want to practise on Thursday evening, make sure you write them down!

09 September 2016

In a change from last year, spellings will be tested fortnightly, not weekly.  This means there won’t be a test next week. Instead, you should spend more time not just practising the words but looking for other words which have the same sound in them. Sometimes, you will have spelling challenges do to to help your children deepen their learning of these and other words which fit the ‘sound’ or spelling rule .

Because of this extra time and practice, when it comes to the tests, the children won’t just be tested on the words in the initial list. I will choose some of the words from the list and some other words which fit the theme (the children will have been exposed to these extra words in class learning). Also, in future tests, some of the words from previous tests will be recapped to check that children are remembering what they have learnt.

The spellings this week do not follow a rule or pattern. Instead, I will just test the children on these words related to our topic:

world
continent
country
city
compass
where
were
England
atlas
globe

Take a look at the sheet inside your Homework book called Can you become a master of spelling? This has lots of different strategies for learning words. Find a few which work for your child.

09 September 2016

In a change to past practice, children will no longer be given a list of words to learn each week before being tested on the Friday. Instead, we will focus on the same spelling rule for two weeks. This will allow children more time to learn, and retain, the spellings. One week, children will be given a task or activity to complete. The next, they will be given a list of words that follow the rule.

This week’s spelling activity is due on THURSDAY 15 September 2016.

Sort these words according to the sound the ‘ough’ letter string makes when you say the word.

For example, when you say ‘enough’, the ‘ough’ letter string makes an ‘uff’ sound.

09 September 2016

In a change from last year, spellings will be tested fortnightly, not weekly. This means there won’t be a test next week. Instead, you should spend more time not just practising the words but looking for other words which have the same sound in them. Sometimes, you will have spelling challenges do to to help your children deepen their learning of these and other words which fit the ‘sound’ or spelling rule .

Because of this extra time and practice, when it comes to the tests, the children won’t just be tested on the words in the initial list. I will choose some of the words from the list and some other words which fit the theme (the children will have been exposed to these extra words in class learning). Also, in future tests, some of the words from previous tests will be recapped to check that children are remembering what they have learnt. Children in Year 2 will be tested on ten words.

For the next few weeks, we’ll spend time recapping the different vowel sounds and their alternative sounds.

This week, it’s the long ‘a’ sound which can be written in different ways: play, rain, grey, plate, eight.

Here are the words your children should learn:

• shake
• mistake
• train
• Spain
• spray
• Monday
• they
• grey

Take a look at the sheet inside your Homework book called Can you become a master of spelling? This has lots of different strategies for learning words. Find a few which work for your child.

If you have any questions, please ask.

Have a happy and healthy holiday

It’s the summer holidays at last, so there are no homework or spelling activities. Enjoy the holidays instead!

Does your child spend less time outdoors than prison inmates? A survey suggests three-quarters of children do, as the time spent playing in parks, woods and fields has shrunk dramatically due to lack of green spaces, digital technology and parents’ fears.

Research shows that playing outdoors promotes social skills, improves vision, reduces stress, increases attention span and provides vitamin D.

15 July 2016

This week’s spellings are all individualised. Children have looked back through their test books and chosen ten words that they have previously spelled incorrectly. Each child has identified these words because they struggle to spell them or don’t feel confident when trying to use these words in their writing.

Children should learn their words in preparation for their final spelling test on Thursday 21 July.

15 July 2016

The spellings this week are for the whole class. The focus is on words that use a double consonant for a short vowel sound. However, a range of the suffixes we’ve learned this year are also recapped. The spelling test will be on Thursday morning.

15 July 2016

These are the last spellings of the year! They focus on certain rules we have learnt:  -ed, -ing, -er, -s and -es endings.

All children in Year 1 have the same spellings.

look
looked
looking
looks
box
boxes
sing
singer