Free · grades 1 to 5
Spelling words by grade
Thirty weeks of lists for each grade, ten words a week, grouped by the spelling pattern each one teaches, in the order most phonics and spelling programmes teach them. Print a list, or share it with your child’s class in one tap and practise it out loud with Spell Cub.
Ages 6 to 7 · grade 1 · UK Year 2 · 30 weeks of lists
Grade 1 spelling words
Grade 1 spelling is about sounds: one letter for each sound in a short word, then two letters that make one sound (sh, ch, th), the silent e that makes a vowel say its name, and by spring the common vowel teams (rain, tree, boat) and simple endings. Common Core asks for final -e and common vowel teams in grade 1.
Short a and short i · Short o and short u · Short e · ff, ll, ss, zz and -all · ck and sh · th and ch · wh, ng and nk · Blends · a_e and i_e (cake, kite) · o_e, u_e and e_e · -ce and -ge · -s, -es, -ed and -ing · tch and dge · y says i and e; -ild, -old, -ind · ar and or · er, ir and ur · ai and ay · ee and ea · oa and ow · ie and igh · oo (moon, book) · ew and ue · oi, oy, ou and ow · -er, -est, -ly and -ful · Doubling and dropping the e
Ages 7 to 8 · grade 2 · UK Year 3 · 30 weeks of lists
Grade 2 spelling words
Grade 2 spelling takes the grade 1 patterns into longer words (rabbit, explain, mountain) and adds more vowel teams, prefixes and suffixes, and the rules for adding endings. The same sound can be spelled more than one way, and a child learns which spelling usually goes where.
Short vowels in longer words · Silent e in longer words · Open and closed syllables · -tch, -dge and -le in longer words · ar and or in longer words · er, ir and ur in longer words · ai and ay in longer words · ee, ea and ey in longer words · oa, ow and oe in longer words · ie and igh in longer words · oo in longer words · ew, ue and ui · au, aw and augh · ea in bread · oi and oy in longer words · ou and ow in longer words · kn, wr and mb · -er, -est, -ly, -ful and -less · un-, re-, pre- and dis- · Doubling: -ed, -ing, -er and -est · Drop the e, and y to i · air, are and ear · ough · Soft c and soft g · -tion and -sion
Ages 8 to 9 · grade 3 · UK Year 4 · 30 weeks of lists
Grade 3 spelling words
Grade 3 spelling turns from sounds to word parts and history: silent letters left over from old English, endings like -ful and -less, and the rules for adding -ed and -ing. It is the year Ontario’s curriculum adds spelling by meaning.
-ar and -or that say er · eigh, ei and ey · ue, ou and other long u · ch as sh and k; gn and silent t · ou in touch · y in myth · gu · sc that says s · w changes the vowel: wa and wor · Homophones · -ture · -er, -or and -ist (people) · -ish · -y (rainy) · -sure · -ness · -ment · -ly when the word changes · -able and -ible · f to ves · Irregular plurals · in-, im-, il- and ir- (not) · mis-, sub-, super- and inter- · uni-, bi- and tri- · Tricky everyday words
Ages 9 to 10 · grade 4 · UK Year 5 · 30 weeks of lists
Grade 4 spelling words
Grade 4 spelling is about endings that sound alike and are spelled differently (-tion, -sion, -ture), and about borrowed spellings like ph. Knowing a word’s ending usually tells a child what kind of word it is, too.
-ation · -sion after d and de · -ssion · -cian (people) · ph says f · -ive · -ous · -ant and -ent · tele-, auto-, micro- and bio- · struct and spect · -ify · -ery and -ory · -gue and -que · ch that says sh · Silent letters: b, n, l and h · Homophones: accept and except · -cial and -tial · fore- and post- · -en · semi-, multi- and poly- · French -et and -ette · Doubling in longer words · aqua and audi · -ate · Tricky words for grade 4
Ages 10 to 11 · grade 5 · UK Year 6 · 30 weeks of lists
Grade 5 spelling words
Grade 5 spelling is about long words: endings that sound the same (-ance, -ence), doubled letters nobody hears, and Latin roots that carry the meaning (port means carry, rupt means break). A child who knows the root can often spell a word they have never seen.
-cious and -tious · ie and ei · -ance and -ence · Double letters · Latin roots: port, rupt, dict and tract · Tricky long words · bio, geo, hydro and therm · Keeping the e: -ce and -ge · -al · ch that says k · Homophones: desert and dessert · -ation from verbs · rh, pn and gn · -ability and -ibility · trans-, inter- and counter- · -ent and -ency · Words from other languages · -ious · -ally · More tricky long words · anti-, auto-, de- and non- · graph, scribe and script · bene and mal · ject and mit · -eous
How many spelling words a week, by grade, and what each year is about →