The Waterfall
Spelling Words
Ask your parents, “Do you know a vowel is short, unless there’s a reason it’s long?” What
did they say? If they have never heard of the CVC phonics rule, tell them about it. Then share
that there are 5 ways a vowel can be made to say its long vowel sound. Remember? They are as
follows:
1. Magic E – Tell your parents about the Magic E and his cousins the Magic I and Magic Y! The
Magic E is so powerful that it can jump over one consonant and make the vowel say its name!
The Magic I and Y have the same magic powers. (time, lady, babies, adventure)
2. Vowel Pairs – When a word contains a vowel pair, the first vowel usually says its name while
the second vowel says nothing! (rain, eat, day, toe, glue, pie, boat)
3. Vowel on a Clap - A vowel on a “clap” (syllable) is usually long. Make sure your parents
understand that every clap must have one vowel sound. This rule helps us divide multi-syllabic
words into smaller chunks, or claps, for effective decoding.  (pro/gram, hip/po/pot/a/mus,
bra/vest, )
4. Short words ending in a vowel are often long – ie. He, she, be, A, I….
5. No Reason – A vowel can be long for no reason although it doesn’t happen very often and
only in one syllable ( clap) words. (blind, kind)
This week is all about the Magic E!
1.
smoke
2.
huge
3.
save
4.
life
5.
wide
6.
come
7.
mine
8.
grade
9.
smile
10.
note
11.
cube
12.
love
13.
stove
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
safe
tune
vote
spoke
drive
shake
theme
escape
slope
niece
surprise
telescope
Take the Phonics Challenge
Can you match these “Phonics Rules” to this week's spelling words? Show me. Write each word
and highlight in a different color each phonics rule you find. (Like we do in class)
Bossy R, Jail Vowel Pair, Untouchables, C followed by and e, i, or y says /s/, g followed by and e,
i, or y says /j/, O = short u sound.
Other Spelling Activities
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7.
8.
Highlight the vowel spelling in each word. I.e. bean, tape, program, babies, blind, gym
Explain the phonics rule(s) in each word. For example,
bean = The long e sound is made by a vowel pair where the first vowel says its name
and the second is silent. (Ea can also be a jail vowel pair when saying the short e sound,
but it’s not in this word.)
tape = The long a is created by the power of the Magic e
program = The long o sound in the first clap happens because a vowel on a clap
(syllable) is usually long. Also, the short a sound in the second clap comes from a
consonant blend-vowel-consonant spelling pattern which most often leaves a vowel
saying its short sound.
babies = The long a sound in the first clap is because a vowel on a clap is usually long.
Some people see the long a because of the Magic i. The long e sound in the second
clap is from the copy cat y saying the e sound. Also, to make the word “baby” plural,
we need to change the y to an i and add es.
blind = The long i sound is long for “no reason in a one syllable word”.
gym = The short i sound is made from a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern where the
vowel sound is most often short. Also, a “g” followed by an e, i, or y says j. Finally, y
often copies the vowel I and is long or short as the I would have been in the word ….
I believe these are the best ways to really study spelling. Parents, if you don’t know
many phonics rules, your child would probably love to teach you!
Use a dictionary and write each spelling word in syllables. Ie. Back/pack or so/fa.
This is also a third grade skill.
Rainbow write each word using at least three colors.
Make flash cards and play school.
Write the spelling word and then a synonym (similar meaning word). Also, a third
grade skill.
Write the spelling word and then an antonym (opposite meaning word). Again, a third
grade skill.
Write a silly story using all the words. Use proper punctuation and your child will be
practicing another third
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Write each spelling word and then categorize it as a noun, verb, adjective, pronoun,
adverb, or compound word. Yep, another 3rd grade skill.
Alphabetize the spelling words. *Third grade skill.
Write each spelling word and then look them up in the dictionary. On either side of
each spelling word, write the guide words of the page. *Third grade skill.
Write the spelling words and then look each up in the dictionary. Then write the
phonetic spelling of the word found in the ( ) of the entry. *Third grade skill.
Write each spelling word and then add a prefix, suffix, or both to alter the meaning
of the word. *Third grade skill.
Use the spelling words in similes using the words “like” or “as”. *Third grade skill.
Write a tongue twister or twisters using all the words.
Create a word search of the spelling words.
Make a crossword puzzle using the spelling words.
Cut the words from a newspaper or magazine and make a word collage.
Take or give a spelling test. Grade it.
Write each spelling word and its meaning from the dictionary. Is it a multi-meaning
word? How many definitions does it have? Is the word used as a noun, verb,
adjective, adverb, or several of these? *All third grade skills.
Use www.puzzlemaker.com or a similar site to make crossword, word search, etc. to
print, complete, and use as evidence of study in your folder.