Welcome to the Year Five Spelling Page

Accurate spelling is a pivotal part of life and so it is important that we practise these on a regular basis. Below are some different activities you can try at home, as well as links to other important pages.

Remember: Perseverance is key

Strategies for learning spellings:

Auditory strategies involving the ear and mouth

The English language has 42 sounds but only 26 letters in the alphabet, so the sound a letter makes depends on other letters around it. Therefore it is important to think about using other strategies. There are ways in which you can use sound to help you spell.

• Listen to the word. Break it into syllables and then identify the phonemes in each syllable (e.g. Sep-tem-ber).
• When letters or parts of words are silent, say the words in an exaggerated way (e.g.  k-nife, bus-i-ness).
• Giving a word a rhythm helps.
• Analogy is using words already known (e.g.  could, would, should).

Visual strategies involving the eye and hand

• Use a highlighter pen to draw your attention to the part of the word you need to learn.
• Look for words within words (e.g. ‘get’ in vegetable, ‘lie’ in believe).
• Use the Look, say, cover, write, check strategy.
• Try writing the word down in two or three different pens, in joined handwriting. The movement will help to fix the spelling in your memory.
• Group together words that may not sound alike but have a shared pattern (boot / foot).

Learning strategies based on mind and method

• Learning about the structure of words can help spelling. For example, find the root of a word and check whether it changes when prefixes or suffixes are added (e.g. smiling: root = smile, take away the 'e' then + ing).
• Mnemonics are a useful memory aid (e.g.  Big elephants can always use small elephants).
• Word origins (etymology) are useful in learning spellings. Etymological dictionaries give the origins of groups of words. This information will help to identify the letter or combination of letters to use.
• Homophones often cause difficulties. Learn them with other words that look the same rather than sound the same (e.g. there, here, where).
• Try a spelling rule (e.g. short vowel and single consonant, double the consonant when adding ing - hop/hopping).

Fun Ways to Learn

Paint It! - use a paintbrush and paint to spell words.

Reverse Chalk Writing (aka Water Writing) Use chalk to cover the chalkboard and have your child use a paintbrush dipped in water to write their words over it. 
 

Type It! - Type your spellings on a keypad.

Pavement painting- go outside and spell your words using sidewalk chalk. Just taking the spelling practice outside makes it more fun.

Trace - Ask an adult to write the word out and then trace it. 

Shaving Cream -  Make a thin layer of shaving cream on a tray and use a paintbrush or better yet a fingertip to spell out the words. 

Coffee Filters & Markers - let your child write the words using markers on coffee filters. Once you are all done, hand them a spray bottle of water and let them turn their spelling practice into art!

Other Hand - if you are right handed write your words using your left hand, if you are left handed write words using your right hand.

Window Writing - use Crayola Window Markers and write words on windows or sliding glass doors. They wash off easily and writing on windows or doors is so much more fun than boring old paper.
 

Scrabble Spelling - use scrabble pieces to build words. Work out the scrabble amount for each word.

Shower Spelling - Write your spellings on the glass screen in the shower.

Sing -Sing each letter of your spellings

Rap - Rap your spellings