Start with some mental stretches, then hit the floor and give me 20!
Twenty correctly spelled words, that is.
The Warm Up: Spelling Terms to Know
Consonant — All the letters
in the alphabet that are not
vowels
Letter Blends — A special
sound made by the
combination of 2 or more
letters
Suffix — A unit of letters
such as "ing," "ness," or "ed"
that are attached to a base
word to modify its meaning,
part of speech, or tense
will=willing
ready=readiness
wait=waited
"br," "ch," or "ow"
Prefix — A unit of letters
such as "un," "in," or "mis"
that are attached to the
beginning of a base word to
change its meaning.
able=unable
spell=misspell
Base Word — A word that
stands on its own and has
meaning but can also be
modified with suffixes and
prefixes to make new words.
(some teachers call it a “root
word”…same thing!)
Syllable — Words are made
up of chunks of sounds or
syllables. Each "beat" is one
syllable. To figure out the
number of syllables, clap
your hands for each "beat" in
a word.
1 "cat" and "break"
2: "broken" and "diner"
3: "Internet"
Vowel — The letters A, E, I,
O, U, and sometimes Y,
which make the most
prominent sound in a
syllable.
sane + in=insane.
fix + ing=fixing
…and now for the work out: Spelling Rules to Learn…
A. Brown 2011
1. Plurals: Turning one into many
Generally, when making a word plural, just add an "s."


apple = apples
cat = cats
The exceptions are:
Words ending in "y" — if there's a consonant before the letter "y," change the "y" to
an "ie" before adding an "s":
o
o
candy = candies
lady = ladies
Exception to this exception:
If there is a vowel before the "y," just add an "s":
o
monkey = monkeys
Words ending in "s," "ch," "sh," or "x" — add an "es" to these words:




fox = foxes
dress = dresses
wish = wishes
latch = latches
Words ending in "f" or "fe" — generally, the plural of these words will change the f to v
then add "es":


life = lives
leaf = leaves
To check if the word in question is an exception, say it out loud. If it still has the /f/ sound
when plural, it keeps the "f" when spelled:


safe = safes
chef = chefs
A. Brown 2011
2. The Apostrophe Mark
Words get an apostrophe for TWO reasons:
…To show ownership, use an apostrophe and the letter "s."


Billy's toy — The toy belongs to Billy, so the apostrophe goes after his name.
The girls' house — The house belongs to all the girls, so the apostrophe goes after
"girls." It does NOT get another "s."
Exception: if the plural form of a word doesn't end in "s," as in women, then add the
"s": women's rights.
…To show that two words have been combined to make a contraction and letters have been
left out, put an apostrophe where the letters were removed:



it's = it is
haven't = have not
she will = she'll
3. Ending words with "ick" or "ic"
When a word ends with an "ick" sound, it will be spelled "ick" if the word has 1 syllable:

trick, pick, stick
Spell it "ic" if it has 2 or more syllables:

clinic, sarcastic, panic
Exceptions are almost all cases of compound words (two words combined to form one
word), such as:
o
candlestick or seasick
If you can separate an "ick" word into two separate smaller words, then it is probably
an exception.
A. Brown 2011
4. Adding suffixes to words ending in "e" and "y"
When adding a suffix to a word, there are a few simple patterns that will help.
Words ending in a silent "e"
When the suffix begins with a vowel, drop the "e":


like = liking
noise = noisy
Exception: When the word ends with a "ce" or "ge," keep the "e" when you're adding "able"
or "ous" to the word:


service = serviceable
courage = courageous
When the suffix begins with a consonant, keep the "e":



like = likeness
noise = noiseless
use = useful
Words ending in "y"
When there is a consonant before the "y," change the "y" to an "i" before adding a suffix:


beauty = beautiful
worry = worrisome
Exception: When the suffix starts with an "i" keep the "y":


worry = worrying
cry = crying
When there is a vowel before the "y", don't change the "y"; just add the suffix:



say = saying
turkey = turkeys
enjoy = enjoyment
A. Brown 2011
5. Adding suffixes to words ending with a consonant: The
rules of doubling
If the word is one syllable long and ends in a consonant with one vowel before it, double the last letter:



bed = bedding
drop = dropped
hot = hottest
If the word is one syllable long and ends in a consonant with two vowels before it, then you don't double:



feel = feeling
real = realist
void = voided
If the word is one syllable long and ends with two consonants in a row, do not double the final consonant:



back = backing
wash = washer
crush = crushed
For words with two or more syllables, figure out if the last syllable is stressed. You can do this by saying
the word out loud to see what part of the word you naturally emphasize most. If the last syllable is stressed,
then it follows the same rule as for single-syllable words. If the last syllable is not stressed, don't double the
final consonant.
6. "I" before "E"
When a word contains a long e sound that's spelled with an "i" and an "e" it almost always follows this
classic rule: “I before E except after C…”
But there are exceptions when the vowel sound created is a long a:
sounding like A as in neighbor or weigh.”
“I before E except after C, or when
A. Brown 2011