Your child is now learning spellings for weekly spelling tests. This booklet provides advice for parents to help you support your child at home. Website: www.lindleyinfantsch.org.uk
Spelling lists The spelling lists used at Lindley CE Infant School have been designed to support our phonics lessons in school. Each list has a phonic focus i.e. a way of spelling a particular sound (phoneme). Some phonemes can be written in more than one way (different graphemes) e.g. the /ai/ phoneme can be spelt as ai (rain), ay (day) or a_e (made). Children are introduced to different spelling patterns (graphemes) in phonic lessons and this is reinforced through spelling practice and tests. Some words in the tests are CVC words (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) e.g. dog. To spell these words correctly children have to listen carefully for the sounds in the word, and write them down in the order in which they are heard e.g. d-o-g. This is a skill the children have been practising since they began phonics in the Early Years Foundation Stage. In addition, each test includes two high frequency tricky words. These are words which are not phonetically regular i.e. they cannot be sounded out. An example of a tricky word is was the phonetic spelling would be woz. The correct spelling of a tricky word has to be learnt and remembered. This takes lots of practice! NB Some high frequency tricky words are repeated on more than one list to revise and reinforce the correct spelling. Spelling books Your child has two spelling books a home spelling book and a spelling test book. The home spelling book is for you to keep at home. This is a book specifically provided for spelling test practice. The home spelling book stays at home and does not need to be sent to school at all. The spelling test book is sent home with your child s weekly spelling list glued inside. The spelling test book needs to be returned to school on the day of the test. After the test has been marked, a new set of spellings will be glued on the following page. Please do not use the spelling test book to practise in. Each class completes spelling tests on different days. Please see the inside cover of your child s spelling test book to find out on which day the test will take place.
Spelling tests The test is usually given to a group of children. The words are read out by the adult in a random order - it is therefore useful if you practise in this way at home. The test is marked immediately, the new spelling list for the following week s test is glued inside and the spelling test book is given back to your child to take home. The children are always given lots of positive praise for listening carefully and trying their best. We encourage the children to write neatly, using correct letter formation, as this makes their spellings easier to read and encourages pride in the presentation of written work. The letter formation guide at the end of this booklet gives details about how each letter should be correctly formed. How can I help my child to learn their spellings? Children are all different. Some children will really enjoy spelling practice but others will need more support and encouragement. Try to make spelling practice as much fun as possible. Little and often is the best approach. When the spelling list comes home, go through the list with your child to find out which words he/she finds difficult. Remember many of the words can be sounded out. Spend time practising the words your child needs help with. The following pages include an explanation of the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method as well as lots of fun activities to try at home. These ideas are for guidance only and are not intended as a list to be worked through in order. Remember to try and make spellings fun. Practise for short periods of time regularly rather than for a long time once a week. Thank you for your continued support. If you have any further questions please speak to your child s class teacher.
What is Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check? Using the 'look, say, cover, write and check' method can help you to remember how to spell words that you find difficult. Look at the shape of the word. Can you see any patterns or groups of letters that go together? Are there any words within words? Say the words carefully and slowly to yourself. Try to listen for the sounds in the words. Cover the word. Try to picture the word in your mind, closing your eyes might help you to do this. Say the word to yourself again and then... Write the word down. Check to see if it is correct. If the word isn't quite right don't worry, just try again. It can often take a few attempts to get it right. To practise the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method online visit the website below (a link is also available from our school website). You can type in the words from your spelling list, choose words with a phonic focus or practise your tricky words. http://www.ictgames.com/lcwc.html
Spell well activities to try at home 1. HEADLINES Cut letters out of newspapers and magazines to spell your words. Glue them into your home spelling book 2. THAT S AN ORDER Write your words in alphabetical order. 3. SUPER SENTENCES Write a super sentence for each of your spelling words. Underline your spelling word. Remember the capital letter and full stop! 4. RAINBOW WORDS Write your spelling word and trace it five times using a different colour each time. 5. ACROSS AND DOWN Write each word across and down, sharing the beginning letter. Example: when h e n 6. FANCY LETTERS Write each of your spelling words using fancy letters. Have fun! 7. THREE TIMES Write each spelling word three times. Use a different coloured pencil each time. 8. PYRAMID WRITING Pyramid write your spelling words. Example: home h ho hom home
9. BUBBLE LETTERS Write each spelling word in bubble letters. Now colour your words with a crayon or coloured pencil. 10. HOW MANY SYLLABLES? Write each spelling word and then divide the word into syllables. Write the number of syllables each word has. Example: Sept / em / ber (3) 11. ADD MY WORDS Write each of your spelling words. Add up each spelling word. Consonants are worth 10. Vowels are worth 5. Example: said 10 + 5 + 5 + 10 = 30 12. VOWEL CIRCLE Write each of your spelling words. Go back and circle all of the vowels in your spelling words. 13. CONNECT THE DOTS Write your spelling words using dots. Connect the dots by tracing over them with a coloured pencil. 14. COLOURFUL WORDS Write each of your spelling words. Write each letter using a different coloured pencil. 15. ACROSTIC POEMS Create an acrostic poem for your words. Example Snow Soft and fluffy Never warm Open the door Wade into the cold Some other useful ideas to make spelling practice fun! Make your spelling test words using magnetic letters Make your words using foam letters in the bath Write your words into shaving foam Make the letters out of playdough Write in chalk, felt tip, crayon, paint...
Useful terminology Phoneme - unit of sound Initial sound the first sound in a word e.g. the initial sound in cat is c, the initial sound in shop is sh Vowel the letters a, e, i, o and u Short vowel sound short a (as in cat), short e (as in egg), short i (as in igloo), short o (as in on), short u (as in up) Long vowel sound the name of the letters; long a (as in pain), long e (as in sheep), long i (as in night), long o (as in goat), long u (as in new). NB long vowel sounds have many different spelling patterns Consonant all the letters of the alphabet except a, e, i, o and u CVC word consonant vowel consonant e.g. dog CVCC word consonant vowel consonant consonant e.g. tent CCVC word consonant consonant vowel consonant e.g. flag Blending saying each sound, then merging the sounds together to read and say the word e.g. h-a-t hat Segmenting listening to the individual sounds (phonemes) within a word to break it down for writing e.g. ship sh-i-p Digraph two letters representing one sound (phoneme) e.g. bath, goat Trigraph three letters representing one sound (phoneme) e.g. night Tricky words words which do not follow phonic rules e.g. was Syllable a unit of pronunciation with one vowel sound e.g. cheese (1 syllable), Lindley (2 syllables Lind-ley), holiday (3 syllables hol-i-day)
Correct letter formation a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z