Spelling is one of the beginning writing skills learned to communicate with others. To spell one needs to know how to write the letter of the alphabet and know the letter sounds. Some combinations of letters are blended to make new sounds. Once these word patterns are recognized spelling becomes easier.

Ways to Increase Spelling Power

1. Read
2. Notice word patterns
3. Proofreading own writing
4. Learn phonograms
5. Master one word a week
6. Learn spelling rules
7. Look up misspelled words in a dictionary
8. Play phonogram bingo
9. Play phonogram card games
10. Memorize spelling exceptions

Reading to Spell

Reading is one of the easiest things one can do to get better spelling grades. Every time a book is read, the eye scans hundreds of words. The eyes become used to seeing words in print. The brain records the order of the letters on the page.

Many words are learned because the eye becomes trained to notice what words look like. Sometimes it is easy to look at a word and know that is misspelled. If the word is written down and letters moved around one can figure the correct way to spell the word because it looks right.

Exercise

Look at the following words. Pick out the words that are wrong.
1. clay, clai, claey
2. ubove, abuve, above
3. trein, train, treighn
4. please, pleese, plese
5. tost, toast, toost
6. foud, foode, food
7. comeing, coming, coming
8. detail, detayl, detal
9. sereal, cereal, sireal
10. brakfast, brakefast, breakfast
 

Answers:
1. clai, claey
2. ubove, abuve
3. trein, treighn
4. please, plese
5. tost, toost
6. foud, foode
7. coming, coming
8. detail, detal
9. sereal, sireal
10. brakfast, brakefast
 

Notice Word Patterns

Become a word examiner and begin to notice how words are arranged in certain patterns. Word patterns have parts of the word similar to other words. Rhyming words are word patterns.

Example: Rhyming words
Say play hay
And sand hand
Dog, hog, log
 

Exercise

Learn How to Make a Home School Word Pattern Chart Worksheet

1. Make a worksheet chart with five columns (up and down) and fifteen rows (across).

2. Write five words across the top, one in each column. Here are five words to use: clown, chair, can, chain, chill

3. Look at the word in the first column. Write ten words that rhyme with clown.

4. Look at the word in the second column of the worksheet. Write ten words that rhyme with chair.

5. Repeat steps three and four for the third, fourth, and fifth column words.

6. Look at all the words in the first column. Look at all the words in the second column. Do this for each column.

7. Scroll down for possible answers

Possible answers:
Clown: frown, drown, gown, brown, town, sound, hound, round
Chair: stair, hair, pair, fair, care, mare, dare, pare, rare, tare
Can: plan, man, ran, pan, fan, tan, band, land, hand, sand
Chain: rain, stain, strain, main, claim, brain, maintain, sane, plane, mane
Chill: bill, hill, will, sill, dill, fill, gill, Jill, mill, pill

Question: Are there any spelling patterns? Answer: Yes. It is easier to learn how to spell words with similar word patterns.

Exercise

1. Look at the words that rhymed with chair.
Chair: stair, hair, pair, fair, care, mare, dare, pare, rare, tare

2. Look for two word patterns that make the /A/ sound. /A/ = A says its name

Answer: Two ways for a word to make the /A/ sound.
Ai pattern: stair, hair, pair, fair

Silent final E pattern: care, mare, dare, pare, rare, tare

3. Pick a reading book and look for more Ai and Silent final E patterns in words that make the /A/ sound. Add them to the chart.

Exercise

1. Look at these two groups of words:
care, mare, dare, pare, rare, tare

sane, plane, mane

2. Question to answer:
Do you hear the /A/ sound in both groups of words?
Do you notice a pattern in both groups of words?
What is the Final Silent E Rule?

Answer: Yes
Answer: Yes. They all end in a final silent E.
Answer: The Final Silent E makes the letter A say /A/

Proofreading Own Writing

Another tip to improve home school spelling is to proofread one's writing. To proofread one reads over what one wrote for the purpose of correcting mistakes. Sometimes it is easy to overlook mistakes in one's writing because sometimes we think what the word is supposed to be instead of reading what is actually on the paper. To over come this, read the work backwards.

Example:
The dog is downstairs.

To proofread this sentence, start with the word downstairs and read the sentence backwards. Read: downstairs is dog The. This may seem strange but reading the sentence backwards enables the brain to focus more clearly on the words printed on the paper instead of what you know it is supposed to say.

Exercise

1. Get an old home school writing assignment. If an old writing assignment is not available, take a few minutes to write something new on any topic.

2. Start with the last word written on the page. Is it spelled correctly?

3. If the word is spelled correctly, check the next word to the left. If it is correct, repeat step three until a word is spelled wrong or if the spelling is questionable.

4. Check the questionable or misspelled word in the dictionary to get the correct spelling.

5. Put all questionable or misspelled words on next week's spelling list.

6. Examine the words on the list for any spelling patterns. Studying word patterns helps one learn to spell better.