Year 3 & 4 Spelling

25 November 2022

This week we’ve been looking at the rules for when we add -er or -est to a root word. For example, where there is a y, change it to an i when you add the suffix. Where there is a short vowel sound such as in hot, double up on the consonant: hot -> hotter.

Practise adding the two suffixes to the following root words:

nice     late     rude     brave     happy     funny     hot     write     tall     ripe

For some creative ideas on how to make learning spellings more fun, check out our super spelling strategies guide.

18 November 2022

This week, we’ve been learning about homophones.

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and different spellings. This makes them hard to spell correctly when we’re writing.

This week, practise spelling these homophones. The best way to do this is to practise using them in sentences – think about your handwriting, too!

which

witch

wear

where

we’re

11 November 2022

This week we’ve been looking at words that have the “ue” phoneme (sound). There are a few different graphemes (letters) that represent this: ue, u, ew and u-e for example.

continue         peculiar           particular          queue           knew

rescue           amuse           venue           issue          conclude

For some creative ideas on how to make learning spellings more fun, check out our super spelling strategies guide.

14 October 2022

This week we’ve been looking at what happens when we add the suffixes “ed” and “ing” to our root words.

If there’s no “e” on the end of the root word then there’s nothing we need to do, we just add our suffix.

For example: call + ed -> called, call + ing -> calling

However, if there’s an “e” on the end of the root word, the suffix “ed” or “ing” replaces it.

For example: smile + ed -> smiled (not smileed!), smile + ing -> smiling.

(The exception is be + ing -> being).

Practise adding “ed” and “ing” to these words in preparation for a spelling test on Friday 21.10.22.

arrive   notice   surprise   suppose   learn   smile   call   live

For some creative ideas on how to make learning spellings more fun, check out our super spelling strategies guide on the website.

30 September 2022

This week, we’ve been learning one of our three key spelling rules: double up for a short vowel sound. There are many generalisations in the English language and this is one of them. But, we believe it’s one of the most important – there are, of course, some exceptions. The double up for a short vowel sound rule means that when there is a short vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u) in a word we double up the consonant after it. For example, in the word ‘accident’ the ‘a’ is a short ‘ay’ sound so the consonant after it (c) is doubled up – a CC ident.

Practise spelling these words at home in preparation for our spelling test on Friday 07.10.22.

accident         address         appear         arrive         different         difficult         possible         opposite

For some creative ideas on how to make learning spellings more fun, check out our super spelling strategies guide on the website.

23 September 2022

This week, we’d like you to practise spelling words that contain the ‘ee’ sound. What makes this tricky is that this sound can be spelled in different ways. For example, in the word ‘breathe’ the ‘ee’ sound is made by the letters ‘ea’. However, in the word ‘money’ the ‘ee’ sound is made by ‘ey’.

Practise spelling these words at home in preparation for our spelling test on Friday 30.09.22.

believe        breathe        complete        appear

extreme        increase        relief        money

For some creative ideas on how to make learning spellings more fun, check out our super spelling strategies guide on the website.

16 September 2022

This week, we’d like you to practise spelling words that contain the ‘ay’ sound, again. This is because we really need to cement this learning. What makes this tricky is that this sound can be spelled in different ways. For example, in the word ‘eight’ the ‘ay’ sound is made by the letters ‘ei’. However, in the word ‘famous’ the ‘ay’ sound is made by the ‘a’.

Practise spelling these words at home in preparation for our spelling test on Friday 23.09.22.

eight        famous        favourite        straight        strange        weight        great        everyday

For some creative ideas on how to make learning spellings more fun, check out our super spelling strategies guide on the website.

24 June 2022

17 June 2022

This week, we’ve been learning how to spell words with an unusual grapheme: sc. These words are tricky because they sound different to how they’re written. Practise these words at home in a way that suits you best.

science          ascent          descent          scissors          scent          scenery          fascinate       crescent

We’ll have a test on Friday 24 June 2022. For some creative ideas on how to make learning spellings more fun, check out our super spelling strategies guide on the website.

10 June 2022