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Where should we find words to learn? There are many places, of course, but we should always start from our own writing. What words do we use the most? Are we sure we are spelling them correctly? How do we know for sure?
Below you will find a number of other locations where we might begin to build our bank of words.
Below you will find a number of other locations where we might begin to build our bank of words.
Must Know Words - There are also words that we must know as we get older. They may not be in the most frequently used words, but they are words that we should not be making mistakes on in our writing.
Frequently Used Words Quiz - There are certain words that we use all the time. They are the words that make up almost every sentence that we say and write. Take the quiz below to see how many of these words you can come up with in 12 minutes. Here is a hint that might help. Say some sentences in your head, or out loud - what are the words that link everything together?
You will find the game at Sporcle: Commonest English Words, or by clicking on the picture below.
Frequently Misspelled Words - Along with our frequently used words, there are also words that are often misspelled. These words are a lot trickier than the words we looked at before, but might make good words for our spelling practice. What do these words have in common that makes them hard to spell?
Numbers - It is important that we know how to spell the numbers that we use. In many languages, the names for numbers follow a pattern that make it very easy to remember.
How many words do you need to know to write the numbers from 1 to 1,000,000 in English? How many do you need to know in Chinese?
Dictionaries - There are many different dictionaries online and in print. For us, it is important that we are using something that will help us find the meaning of the words we are looking for, at a level that we can understand. Here is a link to the dictionary from Britannica Kids and Kids.Wordsmyth - both are just fine. We also have dictionaries in the class as well as specialized dictionaries for things like Math, Synonyms (aka a Thesaurus) and Rhyming Words.
Unit Specific Words - As we go through the year, we will find words related to our Units of Inquiry that are important for us to know to help us understand our units. As we find new words related to our themes, we can add them to our word bucket and word wall (Padlet) below:
Numbers - It is important that we know how to spell the numbers that we use. In many languages, the names for numbers follow a pattern that make it very easy to remember.
How many words do you need to know to write the numbers from 1 to 1,000,000 in English? How many do you need to know in Chinese?
Dictionaries - There are many different dictionaries online and in print. For us, it is important that we are using something that will help us find the meaning of the words we are looking for, at a level that we can understand. Here is a link to the dictionary from Britannica Kids and Kids.Wordsmyth - both are just fine. We also have dictionaries in the class as well as specialized dictionaries for things like Math, Synonyms (aka a Thesaurus) and Rhyming Words.
Unit Specific Words - As we go through the year, we will find words related to our Units of Inquiry that are important for us to know to help us understand our units. As we find new words related to our themes, we can add them to our word bucket and word wall (Padlet) below:
How can we build words? What is important when building words? What does it even mean to "build" a word? Below you will find several learning engagements that can help us to do just that.
Dun Dun Dun - Why is it spelled "done" and not "dun"? Why are "there" "their" and "they're" spelled differently when they sound exactly the same? It's because English is a language of MEANING and not a language of SOUND. This can obviously create a lot of confusion, but we can figure it out by looking for words that are part of the same family.
Why is done spelled done and not dun?
Use the linked page in the title to practice some simple word building, or use the blank copy to build your own words
Word Families - What's in? What's out? How do we figure out if a words are part of the same family. Look at the different lists of words below. What do they have in common? What is different? Try to figure out if they are in the same family, or if they are cousins, or if they just do not belong.
How would you sort these words?
unloved, lovely, love, hug, loved, clover, loving, glove, loves, kiss
undone, redo, doing, did, undone, made, undoing, remake, done
plea, ease, unpleasant, unpleasantly, pleas, pleasing, peas, pleasurable, east, displease
playfully, replay, playful, player, opponent, teammate, plaid, ballplayer, playmate, playing
What is a Morpheme? - A morpheme is a part of a word that can not be broken down any further. These parts are called prefixes, suffixes, and bases. Many of the words we use are a combination of these parts. For example, we used the word done. Done has a base and a suffix. We can write a word sum like this:
do + ne → done
What are some simple morphemes we can combine together to make new words? What do each of these morphemes mean? How can they change the meaning of the word?
As you create new words, continue to add bases, prefixes and suffixes to our Padlet below.
Suffixes - You will notice, that some of our bases and some of our suffixes do not fit as well together as others. When we had our example of do + ne → done everything fit together very nicely. What if we wanted to build on a word like swim. For example:
swim + ing → swiming
We already know that is not correct. The word is spelled swimming.
What changes do we have to some of our suffixes / bases to make the words correct? Why do you think we have to make these changes? Can you find other words that follow a similar pattern?
Multiple Suffixes - Continuing with our work on suffixes from before....
What if we were to add more than one suffix to a word? What patterns do we see? What changes do we have to make?
Prefixes - We can also add prefixes to the start of a base. Just like with our suffixes, this can change the meaning of a word. Often, with a prefix, the change in meaning is more apparent.
What are some Prefixes that we can add to our list? How do the meanings of words change when we add certain prefixes? What patterns do you see? Are there any changes that we need to make?
Building Complex Words - Continuing with our work on Prefixes and Suffixes.... can we continue to make more complex words by adding prefixes and multiple suffixes. Use the blank sheet to try and make more complex words. See which words follow your rules and which ones do not. Be careful not to get carried away. Just because a prefix, suffix or base exist, does not mean that they can be combined together.
anti + dis + establish + ment + arian + ism → antidisestablismentarianism
Bound Bases - You probably won't find these words in many dictionaries...
spec ject struct fract duce mote mit sci hap aud mar(e) hum(e)
... but you probably do see these graphemes in the middle of many different words.
What do we think the meaning of these bound bases are? What words can be made from these bound bases that share a similar meaning?
Why is done spelled done and not dun?
Use the linked page in the title to practice some simple word building, or use the blank copy to build your own words
Word Families - What's in? What's out? How do we figure out if a words are part of the same family. Look at the different lists of words below. What do they have in common? What is different? Try to figure out if they are in the same family, or if they are cousins, or if they just do not belong.
How would you sort these words?
unloved, lovely, love, hug, loved, clover, loving, glove, loves, kiss
undone, redo, doing, did, undone, made, undoing, remake, done
plea, ease, unpleasant, unpleasantly, pleas, pleasing, peas, pleasurable, east, displease
playfully, replay, playful, player, opponent, teammate, plaid, ballplayer, playmate, playing
What is a Morpheme? - A morpheme is a part of a word that can not be broken down any further. These parts are called prefixes, suffixes, and bases. Many of the words we use are a combination of these parts. For example, we used the word done. Done has a base and a suffix. We can write a word sum like this:
do + ne → done
What are some simple morphemes we can combine together to make new words? What do each of these morphemes mean? How can they change the meaning of the word?
As you create new words, continue to add bases, prefixes and suffixes to our Padlet below.
Suffixes - You will notice, that some of our bases and some of our suffixes do not fit as well together as others. When we had our example of do + ne → done everything fit together very nicely. What if we wanted to build on a word like swim. For example:
swim + ing → swiming
We already know that is not correct. The word is spelled swimming.
What changes do we have to some of our suffixes / bases to make the words correct? Why do you think we have to make these changes? Can you find other words that follow a similar pattern?
Multiple Suffixes - Continuing with our work on suffixes from before....
What if we were to add more than one suffix to a word? What patterns do we see? What changes do we have to make?
Prefixes - We can also add prefixes to the start of a base. Just like with our suffixes, this can change the meaning of a word. Often, with a prefix, the change in meaning is more apparent.
What are some Prefixes that we can add to our list? How do the meanings of words change when we add certain prefixes? What patterns do you see? Are there any changes that we need to make?
Building Complex Words - Continuing with our work on Prefixes and Suffixes.... can we continue to make more complex words by adding prefixes and multiple suffixes. Use the blank sheet to try and make more complex words. See which words follow your rules and which ones do not. Be careful not to get carried away. Just because a prefix, suffix or base exist, does not mean that they can be combined together.
anti + dis + establish + ment + arian + ism → antidisestablismentarianism
Bound Bases - You probably won't find these words in many dictionaries...
spec ject struct fract duce mote mit sci hap aud mar(e) hum(e)
... but you probably do see these graphemes in the middle of many different words.
What do we think the meaning of these bound bases are? What words can be made from these bound bases that share a similar meaning?
As You discover new affixes and bases, continue to add them to the Padlet below. If there are "rules" that we think are true, write them down on the Padlet as well. Give examples of where these rules are true and make sure to change the rules if they do not work.
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What is a Phoneme - Phonemes are units of speech sounds. If you've ever looked in a dictionary and seen some crazy symbols next to the word you are looking up, you may have wondered...
What do those symbols mean? How do we know if a word has a long e sound or a short e sound? How do we know if the sound is voiced or unvoiced? How do we know where to place our tongue, or our teeth, or our lips? Is there anything that these symbols can do to help us? Using the Phonemic Chart - The chart above can be very helpful when we are trying to learn new words. Each of the sounds in the English language are shown. There are 20 vowel sounds and 24 consonant sounds in total. The chart shows the symbol for each of the sounds as well as a word where you might here that sound. What other words could replace the ones in each box? Are there parts of words with different spellings that make the same sound? |
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Secret Code - Once you know a little bit about how to use the chart, you can begin to write words using their phonemes. When you write a phoneme it is important for you to put a slash on each side -- kind of like this: /k/
That way others will know that you're spelling out the sounds (phonemes) and not the letters (graphemes). Here is an example: <cat> /kæt/ What words can you write using the Phonemic Chart? To hear the sounds from the phonemic chart, click on the symbols on the chart to the left. Remember that some of the sounds may sound a bit different to what you hear on this particular chart. Sounds can vary slightly depending on where the person speaking is from (their accent) and the word that is being spoken. |
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Combining Graphemes and Phonemes - How does it all fit together? Below are charts that show which consonant sounds and vowel sounds there are in the English language. More so, the charts also show phonemes with graphemes and examples of words that have those graphemes. You can see that certain sounds can only be made by one grapheme, while other sounds can be made by many different graphemes.
Continue to add to our class words by finding examples of other words with different phoneme and grapheme combinations. Are all possible examples listed below?
Continue to add to our class words by finding examples of other words with different phoneme and grapheme combinations. Are all possible examples listed below?
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Simple Word Matrix - Look at the pictures above. What do you see? How does the word building that we have done relate to the pictures? A word matrix can be simple, like the ones above, but even with the simple ones, we can create so many different words from what we see.
Take the word <joy> for example - How many words can you make using just the prefixes and suffixes that have been given?
Record your answers by using creating word sums:
en + joy → enjoy
en + joy + able→ enjoyable
en + joy + ed→ enjoyed
en + joy + ing→ enjoying
joy + able→ joyable
Does every combination work? Have I made any mistakes in getting things started? Do we have to make any changes to our prefixes, suffixes and bases so that the words work? Have we come up with any new rules?
Take the word <joy> for example - How many words can you make using just the prefixes and suffixes that have been given?
Record your answers by using creating word sums:
en + joy → enjoy
en + joy + able→ enjoyable
en + joy + ed→ enjoyed
en + joy + ing→ enjoying
joy + able→ joyable
Does every combination work? Have I made any mistakes in getting things started? Do we have to make any changes to our prefixes, suffixes and bases so that the words work? Have we come up with any new rules?
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Complex Word Matrix - a word matrix might not be so simple. They may have bound bases, or a large number of prefixes and suffixes that only work in certain combinations. Try to build words using a matrix above to see how many combinations and new words can be created.
Create your own Word Matrix - using the link provided, you can create your own word matrix from the word sums you created. It's okay if you are not able to get every combination available - start simple. Here is an example of one that I created for the bound base <rupt>:
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You can see that I made 10 different word sums to create my word matrix. However, there are many more word sums that can be create using that matrix and there are even more prefixes and suffixes that we can add to this bound base.
Word Searcher - using the link provided, you can search for words, or letter combinations within words. There are also lots of secret codes you can use to make your searches more specific. Remember though, just because a word has <re> in it, does not mean that the <re> is a prefix. Just because a word has <rupt> does not mean that the word has a bound base meaning "to break." It is great to be able to look for certain spelling patterns within words, but remember that we are first and foremost looking for meaning.
Etymology Online - speaking of meaning, this is the final link on the page. At Etymology online, you can find the meaning of certain words, or parts of words, as well as where they come from, how old they are and how they have changed over time. This is more than a dictionary or a thesaurus, it is a place to find the living history of the English language.
Using the site, try to find different words we have learned to find out how they connect.
Word Searcher - using the link provided, you can search for words, or letter combinations within words. There are also lots of secret codes you can use to make your searches more specific. Remember though, just because a word has <re> in it, does not mean that the <re> is a prefix. Just because a word has <rupt> does not mean that the word has a bound base meaning "to break." It is great to be able to look for certain spelling patterns within words, but remember that we are first and foremost looking for meaning.
Etymology Online - speaking of meaning, this is the final link on the page. At Etymology online, you can find the meaning of certain words, or parts of words, as well as where they come from, how old they are and how they have changed over time. This is more than a dictionary or a thesaurus, it is a place to find the living history of the English language.
Using the site, try to find different words we have learned to find out how they connect.
Below, you will find a list of the activities that we may do each week. These activities are meant to help you practice and learn more about your words. Again, make sure that you have spelled your words correctly the first time. If you are practicing them incorrectly, it will make it harder for you to learn.
Words in Words - Write down your spelling word, circle any other words you find within it, and write them next to your word.
Words in Words - Write down your spelling word, circle any other words you find within it, and write them next to your word.
Adding My Words - Write your word, and then count what number each letter is in the alphabet (a=1, b=2, etc.). Write down each number and then add them up to get a total value for your word.
Rainbow Writing - Write your spelling words, making sure to leave space between the letters. Trace around the letters with several different colours to create a rainbow effect.
Word Story - Write your words into a short story. Make sure that they make sense, the story makes sense and you underline your words.
Acrostic Poem - Write an acrostic poem for each of your spelling words. Write the word down the page, with one letter per line. Then write words or short phrases that describe your main word that start with the letters in the word.
Air and Back Write - Write out each of your words in the air and then on someone else's back. See if they can guess what word you're trying to write.
Backwards Writing - Harder than it looks. Get a mirror and try and write those words completely backward.
Backwards Writing - Harder than it looks. Get a mirror and try and write those words completely backward.
Code Words - Make a code to hide what your words are, then write out each of the words in your code. See if the other people in the class can guess what your word is.
Consonant Circles - Write your spelling words and then circle the consonants. As an added challenge, try to circle the consonants as they appear on the THRASS chart.
Consonant Circles - Write your spelling words and then circle the consonants. As an added challenge, try to circle the consonants as they appear on the THRASS chart.
Draw your Words - Fold a piece of a4 paper to make a space for your drawings. Write your spelling word on top, and then draw a picture that describes that word.
Hidden Words - Draw a picture of something and then hide your words within the picture.
Letter Writing - Write your words into the content of a letter (or e-mail). Make sure that your words make sense within the letter and that you use proper format when writing.
Letter Writing - Write your words into the content of a letter (or e-mail). Make sure that your words make sense within the letter and that you use proper format when writing.
Concentration - Write each word on two separate cards, mix them all up and then turn them upside down. The classic game. Try and match up the two cards by turning one over at a time. If they match up, you remove the cards, if they don't, turn it back upside down and try again.
Morse Code - Classic morse code. Write out each of your words using the dots and dashes of morse code.
Other Handed - Try your hand at being a south paw, or a righty for the day. Anyone in the class ambidextrous?
Morse Code - Classic morse code. Write out each of your words using the dots and dashes of morse code.
Other Handed - Try your hand at being a south paw, or a righty for the day. Anyone in the class ambidextrous?
Word Boxes - Create boxes around your words to show how individual letters form. Which ones dip below the line? Which ones stay on top and extend up?
Rhyming Words - Write a little rhyme to describe what your word is all about. Or, write a list of words that rhyme with your words.
Rhyming Words - Write a little rhyme to describe what your word is all about. Or, write a list of words that rhyme with your words.
Words in a Sentence - Classic. Take your word, then write it in a sentence that helps to describe the word.
Silly Sentences - Write a silly sentence for each of your words.
Upper and Lower Case - Write your words in UPPER CASE and then all in lower case.
Vowel Circle - Write your spelling words and then circle the vowels.
Upper and Lower Case - Write your words in UPPER CASE and then all in lower case.
Vowel Circle - Write your spelling words and then circle the vowels.
