Ages 6 to 7 · grade 1 · UK Year 2
1st grade 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.
Follow the whole grade 1 year: a new list every Monday →
Our own words for each lesson’s pattern. Spell Cub isn’t affiliated with UFLI.
Practise this week’s grade 1 list now, out loud, free →
Week 1
Short a and short i
The a in cat and the i in pig: one letter for each sound.
- cat
- map
- sad
- bag
- big
- pig
- six
- lid
- the
- to
Stretch: hand, camp, milk, gift
At home: Say each word slowly and tap a finger for every sound: c-a-t.
Week 2
Short o and short u
The o in hot and the u in sun.
- hot
- dog
- box
- job
- bus
- sun
- mud
- cup
- was
- of
Stretch: pond, jump, plum, dust
At home: Clap the sounds in bus: b-u-s. Three claps, three letters.
Week 3
Short e
The e in bed, the vowel children mix up with short i most.
- bed
- red
- ten
- leg
- wet
- hen
- pen
- web
- said
- you
Stretch: nest, help, sled, went
At home: Say bed and bid, pen and pin. Listen for the difference together.
Week 4
ff, ll, ss, zz and -all
After a short vowel, f, l, s and z at the end are usually doubled: off, hill, miss, buzz. And the word family ball, call, tall.
- off
- puff
- hill
- bell
- miss
- buzz
- ball
- tall
- are
- they
Stretch: cliff, dress, small, skull
At home: Make a list of words that end in a double letter. Who can find the most?
Week 5
ck and sh
After a short vowel, the k sound at the end is spelled ck (duck). Two letters, one sound: sh (ship).
- back
- duck
- kick
- sock
- ship
- shop
- fish
- wish
- have
- do
Stretch: truck, black, splash, brush
At home: Say the word. If the vowel before the k sound is short, it needs ck.
Week 6 · Review
cat, six, box, mud, leg, wet, miss, ball, duck, fish
Week 7
th and ch
Two letters, one sound: th (this, bath) and ch (chin, lunch).
- this
- that
- with
- bath
- chin
- chop
- much
- lunch
- one
- two
Stretch: thick, cloth, bunch, punch
At home: Go on a ch hunt at lunch: a chip, a chair, cheese.
Week 8
wh, ng and nk
wh at the start of a question word (when), ng in ring and nk in bank.
- when
- which
- whip
- ring
- sing
- long
- bank
- pink
- what
- where
Stretch: whisker, spring, shrink, thank
At home: Sing it: ring, sing, long. Hear the ng hum at the end.
Week 9
Blends
Two or three consonants together, each one heard: stop, frog, plant.
- stop
- frog
- flag
- crab
- drum
- swim
- step
- plant
- who
- come
Stretch: string, sprint, scrub, split
At home: Stretch the start of the word: s-t-op, f-r-og. Two sounds, two letters.
Week 10
a_e and i_e (cake, kite)
The e at the end makes the vowel say its name: cap, cape; kit, kite.
- cake
- game
- name
- gate
- kite
- five
- ride
- bike
- some
- from
Stretch: snake, plate, smile, slide
At home: Write cap, then add an e: cape. Try pin, pine and rid, ride.
Week 11
o_e, u_e and e_e
The e at the end makes the o, u or e say its name: hop, hope; cub, cube.
- home
- nose
- bone
- rope
- cute
- tube
- rule
- these
- there
- were
Stretch: stone, smoke, flute, compete
At home: Write cub, then cube. Ask: what job is the e doing?
Week 12 · Review
with, much, when, sing, stop, drum, name, five, home, cute
Week 13
-ce and -ge
At the end of a word, ce says s and ge says j: face, page.
- face
- race
- rice
- nice
- ice
- page
- cage
- age
- your
- put
Stretch: space, price, stage, huge
At home: Spot -ce and -ge on food boxes and signs: rice, price, orange.
Week 14
-s, -es, -ed and -ing
Endings that change a word: one box, two boxes; jump, jumped, jumping.
- cats
- boxes
- dishes
- jumped
- landed
- helped
- singing
- fishing
- want
- many
Stretch: brushes, splashed, printed, camping
At home: At dinner, talk about the day with -ed words: we walked, we played.
Week 15
tch and dge
After a short vowel, the ch sound is spelled tch and the j sound dge: catch, edge.
- catch
- match
- patch
- itch
- badge
- edge
- bridge
- fudge
- any
- again
Stretch: kitchen, stretch, sketch, judge
At home: Short vowel? Add the extra letter: catch (tch), badge (dge).
Week 16
y says i and e; -ild, -old, -ind
At the end of a short word y says i (my); in a longer word it says e (happy). Some vowels say their name before two consonants: child, cold, find.
- my
- fly
- cry
- happy
- funny
- child
- cold
- find
- once
- could
Stretch: sunny, puppy, behind, golden
At home: Sort the y words into two piles: y like my, and y like happy.
Week 17
ar and or
An r changes the vowel before it: car, corn.
- car
- far
- park
- star
- for
- corn
- fork
- more
- would
- should
Stretch: garden, market, morning, shore
At home: Say "ar" like a pirate, then find ar and or words: car, star, fork.
Week 18 · Review
nice, page, boxes, jumped, catch, edge, cry, happy, park, more
Week 19
er, ir and ur
Three spellings, one sound: her, bird, turn. This one is mostly memory.
- her
- fern
- bird
- girl
- first
- turn
- hurt
- burn
- does
- done
Stretch: sister, winter, thirsty, purple
At home: Make up a silly sentence: the girl saw a bird in the dirt.
Week 20
ai and ay
Long a: ai in the middle of a word, ay at the end.
- rain
- train
- tail
- wait
- day
- play
- say
- away
- give
- live
Stretch: paint, explain, holiday, crayon
At home: Middle or end? rain (ai in the middle), play (ay at the end).
Week 21
ee and ea
Long e, two ways: tree, eat.
- see
- tree
- feet
- green
- eat
- sea
- seat
- clean
- love
- other
Stretch: sweet, teacher, between, season
At home: Sort the words by spelling: ee or ea.
Week 22
oa and ow
Long o, two ways: boat, snow.
- boat
- coat
- road
- soap
- snow
- slow
- grow
- show
- mother
- father
Stretch: yellow, window, rainbow, tomorrow
At home: Look for oa and ow on a walk: a road, a boat, snow, a crow.
Week 23
ie and igh
Long i: ie at the end (pie), igh in the middle (night).
- pie
- tie
- lie
- light
- night
- right
- high
- bright
- brother
- today
Stretch: midnight, flashlight, tonight, frighten
At home: Three letters, one sound: igh. Find it in night, light and right.
Week 24 · Review
bird, turn, rain, play, green, eat, boat, snow, night, high
Week 25
oo (moon, book)
Two sounds, one spelling: oo in moon and oo in book.
- moon
- food
- room
- soon
- book
- look
- good
- foot
- says
- friend
Stretch: balloon, cookie, bedroom, football
At home: Sort the words: oo like moon, or oo like book.
Week 26
ew and ue
The oo sound spelled ew (new) and ue (blue).
- new
- few
- grew
- flew
- blue
- glue
- true
- clue
- very
- pretty
Stretch: jewel, rescue, argue, value
At home: Spot ew and ue on packets and signs: new, blue, true.
Week 27
oi, oy, ou and ow
oi and oy in coin and boy; ou and ow in out and cow.
- coin
- join
- boy
- toy
- out
- house
- cow
- down
- here
- only
Stretch: enjoy, point, cloud, flower
At home: Say "oy!" and "ow!" and find a word for each: boy, cow.
Week 28
-er, -est, -ly and -ful
Endings that change a word: fast, faster, fastest; slow, slowly; help, helpful.
- faster
- fastest
- taller
- slowly
- sadly
- helpful
- thankful
- endless
- every
- know
Stretch: quickly, cheerful, longest, friendly
At home: Line up three toys: tall, taller, tallest.
Week 29
Doubling and dropping the e
Double the last letter after a short vowel (hop, hopping); drop the e before -ing (hope, hoping).
- hopping
- running
- sitting
- stopped
- bigger
- hoping
- riding
- making
- eye
- busy
Stretch: swimming, shopping, smiling, baking
At home: Hop and hope: hopping has two p, hoping has one. Act both out.
Week 30 · Review
moon, book, blue, new, boy, out, slowly, helpful, running, making
How to practise a list like this
- Say the word, then a sentence, then the word. Your child writes it from memory, not by copying it.
- Check each word straight away. Show the right spelling, point to the letters that differ, and have them write it again.
- A few words a day beats the whole list the night before. Start on Monday with a quick check, so the practice goes on the words they don’t know yet.
Other grades
The lists are Cub Climb’s own, by spelling pattern. Every word is spelled the same in American and Canadian English. Spell Cub reads them in American or Canadian English, as the class chooses.