It’s fun to pretend that magical spells can be cast. Wouldn’t it be great if you could spell words correctly by magic too? But you can’t, so here are four big rules to learn:
This booklet is a brief introduction to ABLE Spelling. If you would like more information, ask your teacher.
How do you feel about spelling? Confidence Confusion Enjoyment Frustration Curiosity Annoyance To become a more powerful spelling sorcerer, it helps to have a positive attitude. Be positive: “I am ABLE to spell.” Use all your senses
Listen to the sounds
Look carefully
Copy exactly
Air writing
Taste the word
Smell the word
(trace the letters in the air)
(eat Alphabetti Spaghetti?)
(OK, not all the senses)
You are taught the letter sounds when you are learning to read. Phonics can help you with spelling too. These characters could help you to remember some important ideas.
Vowels aeiou Vowel owl
Consonants bcdfghjklmnp qrstvwxyz
Special Letters
Magic e
Beatboxing robot
Friendly r
Mysterious y
Short vowel sounds Imagine you have bent over and hurt your back. What short, grunty sounds would you make?
a Active cat
e Wet elephant
i Skipping pig
o Watch dog
u Lucky duck
oo Woody Woodpecker
Long vowel sounds Imagine your back suddenly feels better. What long surprised sounds would you make?
ay Baby snail
ee Breeding eagle
ie Lively lion
oe Lonely Goat
oo you Smooth Newt
Other vowel sounds
air Rare bear
ar AH! Shark!
ear
or War horse
Ear to hear
er ER! A bug!
ow OW!
oi OI!
Other Top Tips
ex ter min ate bright brought straight
Count the syllables
Great Hairy Twit words
One-man-band a
o
u
y
Silent letters bghklnptuw
The Tigger-tiger rule hopping written
hoping writing
Learning doesn’t happen by accident, it is a decision you make.
Homophones Sound the same. Look different. Have different meanings.
Are and our are called near homophones because nearly sound the same They should sound different (our should sound like hour). However, the way we say them makes them sound the same and they get muddled.
Mnemonics Say: ne – mon – ics (It starts with a silent m) Mnemonics are memory tricks we can use to help us remember something.
Start with a root word and add more letters to the beginning and end. Can you think of any more examples?
Singular (1) and Plural (more than 1)
car
box
story
child
mouse
cars
boxes
stories
children
mice
Verb Tenses Past
Present
Future
He drove. He has driven.
He drives. He is driving.
He will drive. He will be driving.
Word Family Trees