SPELLING SPELLING STRATEGIESSTRATEGIESSPELLING SPELLING

STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES

Year 7Year 7

Some suggestions

• 1. Break it into sounds: (d-i-a-r-y)• 2. Break it into syllables: (di-a-ry, bus-in-

ess)• 3. Break it into affixes: (dis+satisfy)• 4. Use a mnemonic: (necessary = one collar

and two sleeves)• 5. Refer to words in same family:(muscle, muscular)• 6. Say it as it sounds: (Wednesday)• 7. Words within words: (parliament = parl I AM

ent)• 8. Refer to etymology: (bi+cycle)• 9. Use analogy: (bright, light, night)• 10. Use a key word: (horrible/drinkable)• 11. Learn by sight: (look, cover,

write, check)• 12. Apply spelling rules:

COMMON SPELLING RULES

Spelling Strategy:Double consonants

• It is usual for a short vowel to take a double consonant after it, if a further syllable follows, as below:

• short vowel long vowels don’t!

• Written write, writing• Latter later• Bit, bitten bite• Holly holy• Dinner dine, dining• submit, submitted• Commit, committed • NB – commitment!

Date set: 28th February 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 7th March

Spellings1. written2. writing3. latter4. submit5. submitted6. commit7. committed8. commitment9. wrapped10.dining

Date set: 28th February 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 7th March

Spelling Strategy: Double consonants

• Prefixes such as un, dis and ir only have a double consonant if the root word starts with the same consonant as the prefix. These prefixes mean ‘not’ or the ‘opposite of’.*Use ir- before words starting with r…not relevant = irrelevant

• Relevant irrelevant

• Regular irregular

• Satisfy dissatisfy

• Necessary unnecessary

• Noticed unnoticed

Date set: 7th March 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 14th March

Spellings1. dissatisfy2. dissimilar3. disorder4. unnoticed5. unnecessary6. unpopular7. disrespectful8. irregular9. irrelevant10. irresponsible

Date set: 7th March 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 14th March

Spelling Strategy: Doubling consonants

• Occur, prefer , refer, take a double rr after stressed syllables, but keep a single r after unstressed ones:

• preferred, referred, occurred, • preference, reference

Date set: 14th March 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 21st March

Spellings1. preferred 2. referred 3. occurred4. preference 5. reference6. beginning7. admitted8. forgotten9. forbidden10. patrolled

Date set: 14th March 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 21st March

Spelling Strategy: Prefixes: il-, im-

• Another 2 prefixes meaning "not" or "the opposite of".• The spelling of this prefix often matches the first letter

of the root word. This sometimes results in a double letter.

• So, the opposite of legal is "illegal" instead of "inlegal“

• The pattern is like this: *Use il- before words starting with l…not legible = illegible.    *Use im- before words starting with m and p. So:    not mature = immature     not perfect = imperfect.

Date set: 21st March 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 28th March

Spellings1. illegible2. illegal3. illogical4. illiterate5. immature6. impolite7. imperfect8. impossible9. immortal10. immobile

Date set: 21st March 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 28th March

Spelling Strategy: Adding a suffix to words ending in silent e

• Drop a silent ‘e’ before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel. Examples: hope + ing = hoping,

believe + able = believable

• If a word ends with a silent ‘e’, do not drop the ‘e’ when adding a suffix that begins with a consonant. Examples: care + less = careless,

safe + ty = safety, arrange + ment = arrangement. 

Date set: 28th March 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 4th April

Spellings1. hoping2. believable3. caring4. exciting5. arrival6. hating7. careless8. safety9. arrangement10.peaceful

Date set: 28th March 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 4th April

Spelling Strategy: Adding suffixes to words ending -ce and

-ge• Where the base word ends in -ce or -ge, then

you keep the silent e before -able and -ous.    • So:

enforce + able=   enforceable• notice + able =   noticeable• service + able=   serviceable• courage + ous=   courageous• outrage + ous=   outrageous

Date set: 4th April 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 11th April

Spellings1. enforceable2. noticeable3. serviceable4. irreplaceable5. traceable6. courageous7. outrageous8. manageable9. changeable10. advantageous

Date set: 4th April 2011

Tested in class: week beginning 11th April