Spelling Program Excellent For All Planning Save For Next Year

MUSGRAVE HILL STATE SCHOOL
METALINGUISTICS
PHONICS
SPELLING
PROGRAM
2006 Edition
SCHOOL METALINGUISTICS/PHONICS/SPELLING
PROGRAM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 4
2. SCOPE OF THE PROGRAM 5
3. METALINGUISTICS PROGRAM 8
 Word Awareness 12
 Phonemic Awareness 14
 Syntactic Awareness 20
 Semantic Awareness 21
4. PHONICS PROGRAM 25
 Jolly Phonics Program/Timetable 29
 Sight Word Lists 30
 Phonic Elements Chart (See Appendix A)
 Phonic Element Word Lists (See Appendix B)
5. AFFIXES – MORPHOLOGICAL SYLLABIFICATION 34
6. PHONIC SYLLABIFICATION 41
7. WORD LISTS 45
8. APPENDICES 1-9 49
9. SPELLING PROGRAM 77
 Introduction 78
 Goals 79
 Stages of Development in Spelling 80
 Spelling – What Do We Teach 83
 Seven Steps to Spelling Independence 84
 Sample Spelling Lesson 85
 Good Teaching Practice 87
 Spelling Rules 88
 Additional Teaching Strategies 89
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 Assessment and Evaluation 99
10. SCHOOL LEVEL EVALUATION 101
11. RESOURCE LIST 102
12. APPENDICES
A. Phonic Elements Chart 103

B. Phonic Element Word Lists 104
C. Core Spelling lists 154
D. Spelling Column Activity 158
E. LSCWC Spelling Strategy 160
F. Compound Words 161
G. Contractions 162
H. Homophones 163
I. Homographs 164
J. Synonyms 165
K. Antonyms 166
L. Tense 167
M. Confused Language 169
N. Prefixes/Suffixes 170
O. Mnemonics 179
P. Demons 180
Q. Words from Other Lands 181
R. Root Words 182
S. Class Word Charts 184
NB: Page 150 does not exist
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INTRODUCTION
This Metalinguistics, Phonics and Spelling Program has been developed in response to three main factors:
1. Students Reading, Writing and Spelling results in the Year 2 Net and Year 3, 5 and 7 Tests.
2. The identified need of teachers for support in teaching these areas to students.
3. The need for a common approach and meta-language for exploring this area of language.
The attendance of a number of our staff at the 2002 Literate Schools Conference and the presentation by Dr
Carol Christensen from the University of Queensland at a staff meeting, left us in no doubt as to the link
between phonemic awareness and a child’s ability to learn to read and write. In fact, Winch et al (2001 p 24)
propose that phonemic awareness is a better prediction of reading success than just about any other indicators,
including IQ Tests. Phonemic awareness is also vitally important in the development of spelling skills.
This knowledge inspired our Curriculum Committee to recommend the development of this program, to support
teachers in providing a common approach and language for the teaching of Metalinguistics, Phonics and
Spelling.
This program contains the requirements for Musgrave Hill State School students in the areas of Metalinguistics,
Phonics and Spelling. All students must be taught these skills within the context of a balanced Literacy Block.
This document was developed and compiled by:
Lorraine Shaw Deputy Principal

Phillip Carleton Principal
With support and recommendations by the Musgrave Hill State School Curriculum Committee.
Phillip Carleton
Principal
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SCOPE OF METALINGUISTIC, PHONICS AND
SPELLING PROGRAM
PRESCHOOL:
 Metalinguistics Program
 Introduction to Jolly Phonics
 Tricky words/Basic sight words
JUNIOR STAGE:
TERM 1 YEAR 1
 School Entry Screening Test
 Timetable – Term 1 Jolly Phonics (p 29)
 Tricky words/Basic sight words – regular, irregular
 Metalinguistics Program (Daily)
 End of Term 1 - School Phonic Screening Test
YEAR 1 TERM 2 – 4
 Intervention from Screening test
 Revision of Jolly Phonic Sounds (see Games sections)
 Use of Alternative Sounds/Combinations (Jolly Phonics/Phonic Element Chart & Word List)
 Continue Tricky/Sight Words
 Metalinguistics Program (daily)
 School Level Assessment of Phonics/Sight Words
YEAR 2/3
 Revision of Jolly Phonics/Metalinguistics Program
 Continuation of Sight words – regular/irregular
 Spelling Placement Test at beginning of Yr 2 and 3 (to place children on appropriate Core Spelling List)
(p 56)
 Core Spelling Lists (Lists A to G See Appendix C) (p 108-111)
 Using the Core Spelling Lists and Phonics Element Chart (Appendix A) teach relevant phonic elements
and alternative phonic elements as part of class spelling program eg
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CORE SPELLING LISTS
LISTS A - G
Word “cat”
Teach “c” as in cat Alternatives to “c” as in cat eg

calm, school, kitten, pack,
cake, licorice
 School Level Assessment of Phonics in Term 4 each year

 Using the 7 Steps to Spelling Independence and related strategies, look at the following:
 Rhyming words
 Tricky parts/Demons
 Small words within words
 Compound Words
 Contractions
 Homophones/Homographs
 Synonyms/Antonyms
 Relevant affixes eg plurals, endings, prefixes/suffixes
MIDDLE STAGE
 Spelling Placement Test at beginning of Term 1 each year (to place children on appropriate Core
Spelling List) (p 56)
and alternative phonic elements as part of class spelling program
CORE SPELLING LISTS

LISTS A - G
Word “teach”
Alternatives to “ea” as in “teach”

Teach “ea” as in
eg be, me, leaf, beef, donkey,
“teach” pony, grief, receive, Leigh
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 Rhyming words
 Compound Words
 Contractions
 Tense
 Root Words
 Words from other Languages
SENIOR STAGE
 Spelling Placement Test at beginning of Term 1 each year (to place children on appropriate Core
Spelling List) (p 56)
and alternative phonic elements as part of class spelling program
CORE SPELLING LISTS

LISTS A - G
Word “teach”
Teach “ea” as in Alternatives to “ea” as in “teach”

“teach” eg be, me, leaf, beef, donkey,
pony, grief, receive, Leigh
 Rhyming words
 Compound Words
 Contractions
 Tense
 Root Words
 Words from other Languages
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METALINGUISTICS
PROGRAM
8
Musgrave Hill State School
METALINGUISTICS
SEMANTIC/
WORD AWARENESS PHONEMIC SYNTACTIC AWARENESS PRAGMATIC
AWARENESS AWARENESS
Concept of a Word 1. Syllables Sentence Formulation Vocabulary

Concept of a Sentence 2. Rhyme Grammar Meaning
3. Alliteration
4. Analysis
- identifying
- blending
- segmenting
- manipulation
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 WHAT IS METALINGUISTICS? 
Metalinguistics is the skill of using language to talk about language. When young children
hear words or sentences they focus on the meaning of the word / sentence rather than being
aware that they can be divided into parts – sentences into words and words into sounds.
Metalinguistic awareness refers to the child’s ability to understand the nature of language
rather than their ability to use language to communicate meaning. Children begin to show
metalinguistics awareness from an early age when they correct their own mispronunciations
or comment on the speech and language of others.
There are 4 components under the umbrella of Metalinguistics – Word Awareness,

Phonemic Awareness, Syntactic Awareness, Semantic/Pragmatic Awareness.
 WORD AWARENESS – is the understanding of a word as a part of speech. It

includes the ability to segment sentences and phrases into words, separating the spoken
word or written form of the word from its meaning, the ability to substitute words, and
the recognition of synonyms or antonyms
 PHONEMIC AWARENESS – is the ability to perceive spoken and written words as

a sequence of sounds and recognise that sounds can be combined in a variety of ways
to make different words.
 SYNTACTIC AWARENESS – is the ability to accurately evaluate the

appropriateness of the structural elements of language.
 SEMANTIC / PRAGMATIC AWARENESS – is the understanding of the use of

language as a tool to communicate. It includes the ability to detect inadequacies in
messages and understand failure in communication.
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WHY METALINGUISTIC AWARENESS IS CRUCIAL?
A student needs to develop Metalinguistic awareness to become a successful reader and
speller. Some children will develop this awareness spontaneously, others however require
explicit instruction to develop it. Simply teaching letter names to children before they
begin to learn to read and spell is not sufficient for successful reading and spelling
acquisition. It is the linkage of sounds to letters that seems to be the critical factor.
Research has shown that Metalinguistics awareness, particularly phonemic awareness is

critical in developing the ability to read. Initial studies have shown a very high correlation
between a child’s phonemic awareness and their reading achievement.
(Tunmer, Herriman & Nesdale 1988; Stanovich 1976; Annah Healy 2000)
A number of studies have found that training young children in phonemic awareness can
significantly improve their later reading performance.
(Lewkowicz 1980; Lundberg, Frost & Petersen 1988; Hempsenstall 2002)
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WORD AWARENESS
In order to promote an understanding of sound awareness the concept of a word must be taught, as it is one
of the largest sound units used in our language system. Training in word awareness introduces the concept
of boundaries, which is important in recognising the sound units of syllables, onset and rhyme and
phonemes.
Children need to be aware that words have meaning. There are words for:
People – naming, the word for this person is (Mary)
Objects – labelling, the words for this is (chair)
Actions – directing, the word for what I am doing is (jumping)
Feelings – expressing, the word for what I am feeling is (angry)
It is important to begin with naming words as these can be pictured and much more easily understood than
describing words. Even more difficult are words such as /the/, /is/ etc.
CONCEPT OF A WORD
Before continuing, children should be able to identify correctly and distinguish between words and not
words. These simple questions will assist you to decide if a child has the concept of a word:
 Say to the child: “Tell me, is …..

“school” a word?
“oo” a word?
“jump” a word?
“blue” a word?
“walking” a word?
“yullaglub” a word?
“some dogs are brown” a word?
If questions are answered incorrectly, the child may need more work in this area.
CONCEPT OF A SENTENCE
At the conclusion of the Word Awareness component, children should be able to distinguish between
words and not words, and words and word strings (including sentences). These simple questions will assist
you to decide if the child has the concept of a sentence:
 Say to the child: “I’m going to say some words. Put out one counter for each word I say. Are you
listening carefully? Let’s practise with this one – “run” (place one counter on the table) “Now do these
yourself.”:
“sit”
“Come here.”
“Dogs run.”
“John carried the bag.”
“Koalas are good climbers.”
Children should be able to use the correct number of counters in 4 out of 5 examples.
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Some ideas for Word Awareness Activities:
 Labelling items in the room with words.

 Identifying the difference between a word, letter, number, picture
 Investigating compound words eg football, seatbelt
 Breaking sentences up into words (sentence strips)
 Use the word “word” as part of everyday discussions eg “Tell me the word you use when …” or
“What word should you use?”
 Make lists of different types of words – happy words, scary words, funny words, etc (Word Sorts)
 Discuss where we find words eg supermarket, street signs, etc.
 Make word pairs eg cat – dog, big – little, etc Displaying these in the class also promotes sight
vocabulary development
 Children put out a counter for each word they hear in a sentence.
 Select a word such as “the”. Give the children a limited time to find as many “the” words on a
printed page (book, they, etc)
 Find the missing word (Oral Cloze Activity) – Say a sentence but leave out a “word”. Ask the
children to find the missing word. There can be more than one answer and the group may choose the
“word” they think fits the best.
 Start with a short sentence and keep adding one more word at a time.
Dogs bark
Dogs bark loudly
Mean dogs bark loudly.
Black mean dogs bark loudly.
 Play “Whispers”, but use only one word. Choose a word and whisper it to the first child. That child
whispers it to the next one and so on around the circle. The last child says the word aloud, this way
you discover if the word has remained the same and if not then it can be determined how the word
has been changed.
Further ideas and information:

“A Sound Way” p 47 – 65
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PHONEMIC AWARENESS
There are 4 areas that need to be covered in Phonemic Awareness:
1. Syllables
2. Rhyme
3. Alliteration
4. Analysis
1. SYLLABLES
The first step in developing auditory discrimination skills that are necessary for reading, writing and
spelling, is working with syllables. Words can be broken into syllables or “beats” (each syllable has a
vowel)
Children begin to train themselves to hear the sound “beats” in words and then develop the auditory
discrimination skills required for distinguishing each separate phoneme in words. Syllables are one of the
easiest sound units to learn as our natural intonation of words helps children identify each syllable.
In order to identify the syllable units in words, the following rule is applied.
(This is for teacher reference only):
Each syllable has a vowel SOUND in it. This does not necessarily mean a vowel letter as some vowel
sounds are made by other letters than a, e, i, o, u.
eg happy hap/py. The /y/ makes and /e/ sound and therefore constitutes the vowel sound of that syllable.
CONCEPT OF SYLLABLES
 Say to the child:
“Some words break into parts eg ‘carpet’ car – pet” (Clap hands or tap the table to demonstrate)
“Clap/tap to show the parts in the word ‘picture’”
Repeat using 1, 2, 3, and 4 syllable words eg book, caterpillar, chair, elephant, piano, dictionary.
Some ideas for Syllable Activities:

 Songs are an excellent way of introducing children to syllables, as they often break words into their
syllables through using the natural beat in music.
 For each syllable you can clap, tap, jump, stamp, click, point or move counters etc
 Have every child “clap” etc their own name, favourite animal, etc.
 Touch different parts of the body for each syllable in a word eg for “sunshine” touch head for “sun”
and shoulders for “shine”. Then ask “What part of the body was shine?”
 Sorting long and short words based on syllables:
tap the first syllable on the back of the hand,
the second syllable on the lower forearm,
the third on the upper forearm,
the fourth just above the elbow etc
 Short words stay on the hand (0ne beat eg bed), long words go up the
 arm (more than one beat eg rabbit -2, elephant -3, television -4)
 Categorise words into 1 syllable, 2 syllables, 3 syllables, 4 syllables etc. You can use pictures or the
actual written words.

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2. RHYME
In understanding rhyme, children begin to learn that words end with the same group of sounds and that the
first sound is different.
There are 2 skill levels:

 Recognition of words that rhyme or don’t rhyme
 Production of words that rhyme
Recognition of words that rhyme/don’t rhyme should always be mastered before expecting children to
produce rhyming words.
CONCEPT OF RHYME
Before moving onto the next component, the child needs to have acquired the concept of rhyme.
 Step 1. Say to the child:

“Tell me something that rhymes with …” (eg hop, wet, tick, fall)
The child should produce either proper or nonsense words that rhyme with the example. The
example should not use the same rhyming patterns as those used as a focus in your class program.
If the child has no difficulty, continue on with the next component.

If the child has difficulty, continue with Step 2.
 Step 2. Probe the child’s understanding of the instruction

Say to the child:
“Tell me something that sounds like this …” (eg top, hop, chop, …)
Pause for the child to provide next example.
If the child produces proper or nonsense word that rhymes with example
continue with the next component. If the child has difficulty continue with similar examples.
Some ideas for Rhyme Activities:
 Read and chant a variety of nursery rhymes, raps, rhymes, skipping chants, etc. Pick out the words
that rhyme.
 Say three words (two that rhyme and one that doesn’t). The child identifies the one that doesn’t
rhyme.
 Have a rhyming day when everyone’s name is made into a rhyme eg James – Games James, Sally –
Sally Pally, etc.
 Rhyming couplets are fun because they include a clue to the answer eg I had a cat who was really
(fat)
 There was a dog who jumped over a (log)
 Answer the role each morning with rhyming nicknames, body parts or greetings, eg Peter Eater, Neat
Feet, Great Mate.
“A Sound Way” p 83-110

“Metalinguistics Awareness Program
15
3. ALLITERATION
Alliteration simply means words that start with same sound – NOT the same letter. A great way to cue the
children is to point your ears when you are talking about sounds (we hear sounds) and to your eyes when
talking about letters (we see letters)
It assumes a beginning sound analysis skill. Make sure the children understand the concept of beginning or
start.
☺ Some ideas for Alliteration Activities:
 Draw attention to the way it feels, the way it looks, the way the air comes out etc, when a sound is
produced.
 Play “I went shopping and I bought …”. All items must start with the nominated sound eg “s” –
sausages, salami, salt, celery, soup ..
 Read tongue twisters .. “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper …”
 Make your own starting with the children’s names.
 Use any assortment of picture cards to collect words with the same beginning sound (My
Grandmother went to Market” – is a box of over 100 different picture cards.)
 Adjectives to describe things (maybe using picture cards for a starting point)
 Play “Bingo”, “Memory match” or “Go Fish” with beginning sounds cards.

“Sounds Abound”
“Metalinguistics Awareness Program”
16
4. ANALYSIS
Sound analysis incorporates the 3 concept areas of

A) blending
B) segmenting
C) manipulating
They should be the focus only when children are proficient with the preceding phonological areas of
word awareness, syllables, rhyme and alliteration.
The first area to address in Analysis is initial sounds, followed by final sounds and lastly middle sounds
** NOTE** Children can sometimes be familiar with and understand the relationship between phonemes
(sounds) and graphemes (letter symbols). If this is the case you can integrate this knowledge into the
analysis areas – however the oral and concrete representations don’t always have to be matched with
letter symbols … blocks, counters, claps, dots and lines are great resources to use to promote sound
analysis.
Some Ideas for Analysis Activities:
Initial sounds:
 Collect some items in a bag or box and the children take turns to choose an item and say its name,
then tell everyone the sound that it begins with. (Remember that we are focussing on sounds.)
 Play “I Spy”. “I spy something beginning with a “b” sound.”
 Make a collection of pictures. The children then sort them according to the sound that they start
with. Milk cartons are good as collection boxes and can have a sound (letters to represent the
sound) on each box.
 Use two dice, one with numbers and one with sounds. Roll both dice and have the children tell that
number of words starting with that sound.
 Give the children three sounds and ask them to identify the odd one out eg b-c-b or t-t-s
 Let the children finish sentences from an initial sound clue eg “Could you get the sss_____ off the
table, please.”
Final sounds:
 Find words that end with the same sound. Have the children watch your lips as you say the word
and tell them to wait for the last sound that your mouth makes.
 Say two words and ask if they end with the same sound. Eg mat – sit (yes), hop – run (no). This can
be played as a circle game where each child tries to “trick” the next one.
 Play “ Bingo” – cover the picture on the card if it ends in a “B” sound etc.
 Play “Memory” – have picture cards in pairs that end in the same sound. All cards are spread face
down. Each child has a turn at flipping two over to see if they make a pair.
Middle sounds:
 This concept relies on mature auditory discrimination skills and is related to learning vowels. The
following sections on segmenting, blending and manipulation will help with the acquisition of this
very difficult auditory skill.
Further ideas and information

“Sound Foundations”
17
A) BLENDING
This skill is often employed in the decoding of words ie (in reading – the term “sounding out” is used).
Children generally rely on three main strategies in reading:
 A printed letter string is recognised by the visual strategy when it matches a stored visual specification
– these stored words are referred to as “sight vocabulary.”
 The use of context – a word can be guessed on the basis of the context it is used in eg picture cues, the
sentence it is found in (semantic cues) and if it sounds right (syntactical cues).
 Phonological decoding – children use knowledge about the relationship between letters, letter clusters
and sounds to generate part or all of a word.
We encourage children to employ a range and combination of these strategies to read “for meaning”.
When employing the phonological decoding skill, children require the skill of sound blending. As we
become older/more literate, we use phonological relationships less and visual cues more, however early
readers/writers need this strategy and use it a lot. Individual sounds are “blended” to make a word. This
skill should be initially developed using one-syllable words only before progressing to two syllable words.
(One-syllable words can be tricky enough – they include CV(be), VC (on), CVC (top), CCVC (trip),
CCVCC (trash).
All words can be divided into syllables therefore once blending is mastered at this level, longer words can
be built up by connecting the syllables.
NOTE: Children who find it difficult to blend sounds may benefit from blending words based on their onset
and rhyme. ie onset = initial consonant or consonant blend
rhyme = vowel and following consonant or consonant blend
(syllable level) - trip

(onset/rhyme level) - tr ip
(phoneme level ) - t r ip
Blending onset and rhyme might benefit children who are finding it difficult to blend single phonemes.
Teaching these onset, rhyme relationships has also been suggested as a way of encouraging reading and
spelling development when the phoneme/grapheme relationship is understood.
Some ideas for Blending Activities:
 Use pictures cut into as many parts as there are sounds (eg “cat” has three sounds so have a picture
of a cat cut into three equal parts, “hand” has four sounds so have a picture of a hand cut into four
parts.) These are then put in order with a space between each part and a sound is identified with
each part. As the parts are pushed together to form the picture, the sounds are said in quick
succession until they blend into the word represented by the picture.
 Use concrete materials – counters, blocks, etc with a variety of colours. Tell the children that you
will say a word in parts and that they must find out what word the parts make. Move a counter as
you say each sound in a word eg “me” = “m-e” (two counters are used), the child then has to blend
them together. It may help if the child moves the counters closer together. Start with words
containing only two sounds then three.

“A Sound Way”
18
“Sounds Abound”
B) SEGMENTING
This skill is opposite to blending – the children must be able to separate or segment the word into single
sounds and be able to eventually write the corresponding letter. This is the basic skill needed to tackle
spelling – knowing individual sounds and mapping the related letter or letter clusters to these sounds.
Being the opposite of blending (encoding), children can benefit from experiences that allow them to use
concrete materials or actions to represent each sound of a word.
Some ideas for Segmenting Activities:
 Counters can be used again to track the sounds that can be heard in a word.
 Start with two sound, nonsense words and have the children track them with counters – a different
colour for each of the two sounds eg for the nonsense word “om”, one colour counter is put out for
“o” and a different colour to represent “m”. Each counter should be touched as the sound is said.
Move on to three sound words when the two sounds have been mastered.
 Play “Musical Beats” – pictures are used to represent words. The words each have a different
number of sounds, eg cat (3 sounds), bottle (4 sounds), on (2 sounds). The teacher/child selects one
word and uses a musical instrument – drum, triangle, etc to tap out each sound. The class then
guesses the word it represents based on the number of beats.
“Sound Way”
“Sounds Abound”
C) MANIPULATING
This requires children to replace one sound (phoneme) with another sound eg replacing the “d” in bed with
a “t” sound makes /bed/ become /bet/
This area is great for focussing on vowel sounds (middle sounds). It leads to exploration of the notion that
one sound can have two or more letters to represent that sound.
Some ideas for Manipulating Activities
 Say a word backwards

 The coloured counters can again be used making sure that the counter, that represents the changing
sound, is replaced by a different coloured counter.
“Sounds Abound”
“ A Sound Way”
19
SYNTACTIC AWARENESS
This skill involves the ability to accurately evaluate the appropriateness of the structural elements of
language.
Some ideas for Syntactic Awareness (Sentence Formulation/Grammar) activities:
 Have children proof read each other’s written work and indicate where they find ambiguous or
confusing sentences.
 Have students summarise written text. The written text will provide good models for the students’
sentences. This could be put onto computer and spellcheck can be utilised.
 Have students use their spelling list words in sentences, which can be discussed if the grammar or
cohesion is weak. The teacher may need to define what is a sentence [ie can stand alone, has a verb,
a subject is present (or at least understood), and it makes sense]. Help students decide which are
correctly formed sentences and which are not.
 Students can practise completing sentences within other key learning areas, not just in a language
lesson. The teacher can supply the first half of the sentence with a clause or conjunction supplied eg
“Although the explorers had no maps, they ….”
 Utilise written text to assist new learning, as children can then have more time to interpret meaning.
Spoken words cannot be re-examined for meaning as easily as the written word. Many children with
poor language skills have poor auditory memories. Children may be able to read information to
each other in small groups to discuss the meaning of information in the text (they will all need a copy
of the text).
 Check if children understand metalinguistics terminology in tasks eg “choose a word that means the
same as the underlined phrase.”
 Teach skills such as:
- changing verbs to nouns eg adapt – adaptation
- changing verbs to adjectives eg her bleeding leg
- using relative clauses eg the tree which was cut down
- using adjectival phrases eg The boy, in the blue shirt
- using appositives eg Adam, the first man was
- using a variety of conjunctions eg so that, therefore, if, unless, until, during
- explaining and defining meaning in words, similes, metaphors, jokes, puns
- paraphrasing and summarizing
 Give children praise for trying, especially for using a wider variety of words and more sophisticated
sentence structures.
 Reassure children that they can indicate when they have not understood.
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SEMANTIC AWARENESS
Semantic or Pragmatic Awareness is the understanding of the use of language as a tool to communicate. It
includes the ability to detect inadequacies in messages and understand failure in communication.
Vocabulary work can be easily adapted to fit in with the regular class program or classroom themes. All
children will benefit from the following strategies:
 Present or introduce new themes/topics in various ways – explain new words or concepts clearly and
rephrase using different ways to explain eg “add up” – other words could include “additions” , “put
together”, “more”.
 Introduce new concepts in a visual way, with pictures and hands-on activities.
 Repeating key words is useful.
Some ideas for Semantic Awareness (Vocabulary and Meaning) Activities:
 Developing dictionary and thesaurus skills

 Brainstorming eg “Tell me all the words you can about a tiger” Write words on board. (You may
wish to group these words)
 Cloze activities eg “You cut with a ….”
 Verbal descriptions
 Picture card games such as concentration, snap (direct matching and matching within categories)
 Labelling – magazine pictures, storybook pictures, objects
 Discussion of vocabulary items appearing in a story after storybook reading
 Listing items from a given category. May cue student in by providing sub-category heading
 Brainstorming eg “Tell me all the words you can about a tiger.” Write words on boards. You may
wish to group these words.
 Play “What am I?” guessing games
 I spy .. “something beginning with …”, “something that shines in the sky…”, “an animal beginning
with …”, “a farm animal ..”
 Lotto (a) picture (b) listening lotto
 Books on tape (from library) to help children with reading problems develop their vocabulary
21
METALINGUISTIC GAMES
Caring Compounds What am I?
The teacher tells the students a The teacher draws something on
word and the students have to the board and the students have to
think of a word to add to make a say if it is a picture, number, word,
compound word sentence or letter.
e.g. ball – football
sun – sunshine, sunlight
Wonderful Whispers Funny Fingers

The teacher whispers a word in one The teacher starts a story and
student’s ear and it is then each student adds a sentence to
whispered around the circle. Will it make a silly story
end up being the same word.
Developed and designed by Camilla Balym

Musgrave Hill State School, 2003 22
EyeSpy WordSpy
Theteachertellsthestudentsthe Studentsfindawordintheroom
beginningsoundoftheireyespy fromthedisplaysandreadthat
word. wordtoyou.
e.g.b
‘b’forbook e.g.‘Free’fromourtreeof‘ee’
words.
Delightful Describer AiryFairy
Theteacherholdsupanobjectand Theteachercallsoutawordand
thestudentshavetothinkofas thestudentswritethewordin
manywordstodescribethat theair.
object.
DevelopedanddesignedbyCamillaBalym 23
MusgraveHillStateSchool,2003
PiggyIntheMiddle EmbarrassedEnd
Theteachercallsoutawordand Theteachercallsoutawordand
thestudentsworkoutwhatsound thestudentsworkoutwhatsound
isinthemiddle. isattheend.
e.g.Dog e.g.Dog
‘O’isthepiggyinthemiddle. ‘g’istheembarrassedend.
StrikingStarter FunnyFingers
Theteachercallsoutawordand Theteachercallsoutawordand
thestudentsworkoutwhatsound thestudentsholdupafingerfor
isatthestart. eachsoundintheword.
e.g.Dog e.g.Dog
‘D’isthestrikingstarter. Studentsholdup3fingers.
24
DevelopedanddesignedbyCamillaBalym
MusgraveHillStateSchool,2003
PHONICS
PROGRAM
25
PHONICS INTRODUCTION
BRUSH UP YOUR ENGLISH
TS Watt
I TAKE IT THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW
OF TOUGH AND BOUGH AND COUGH AND DOUGH?
OTHERS MAY STUMBLE, BUT NOT YOU,
ON HICCOUGH, THOROUGH, TOUGH AND THROUGH.
WELL DONE! AND NOW YOUR WISH PERHAPS
TO LEARN OF LESS FAMILIAR TRAPS?
BEWARE OF HEARD, A DREADFUL WORD
THAT LOOKS LIKE BEARD AND SOUNDS LIKE BIRD.
AND DEAD! IT’S SAID LIKE BED – NOT BEAD –
FOR GOODNESS SAKE DON’T CALL IT DEED.
WATCH OUT FOR MEAT AND GREAT AND THREAT
[THEY RHYME WITH SUITE AND STRAIGHT AND DEBT]
A MOTH IS NOT A MOTH IN MOTHER
NOR BOTH IN BOTHER; BROTH IN BROTHER.
NOT DEAR AND FEAR FOR BEAR AND PEAR,
AND THEN THERE’S DOSE AND ROSE AND LOSE –
JUST LOOK THEM UP – AND GOOSE AND CHOOSE.
AND CORE AND WORK AND CARD AND WARD,
AND FONT AND FRONT AND WORD AND SWORD.
AND DO AND GO AND THWART AND CART!
COME, COME, I’VE HARDLY MADE A START!
A DREADFUL LANGUAGE? MAN ALIVE,
I’D MASTERED IT WHEN I WAS FIVE.
Watt’s poem clearly points out the complex English spelling system. SOUND-SYMBOL relationships in
English take many students a long time to remember. Understanding the relationships is a part of reading
and spelling for writing, and this is very important! Learning to sound out words is largely a VISUAL skill.
That is, students must gain experience in remembering and recalling the various combinations for each
sound.
RATIONALE
Based on the Research of Christensen (2002), Healy (2000) Rees et al (1994) it is unequivocal that
children’s knowledge of graphophonics is directly related to their reading and spelling ability. Therefore
the question is not whether we should teach phonics, but how we should teach it.
SOME POINTS TO CONSIDER

 Standard English has 43 or 44 sounds dependent on pronunciation. The sounds are represented in
written form by combining letters from the 26 letters of the alphabet. According to our school’s
interpretation of the sounds we have identified 44 standard sounds as per the Phonic Elements Chart
(Appendix A) and Phonic Element Word Lists (Appendix B).
 Teaching the alphabet (both lower and upper case) letters and their sounds is not the same as teaching
the relationships between the sounds and their spelling alternatives. It is important that children
understand from the beginning that one letter may represent a range of sounds. They will gradually
discover what these sounds are as they extend their experience of the written language over time.
 Effective teaching and learning is achieved when the alphabet and the spelling combinations
representing the 44 sounds are taught concurrently, in meaningful contexts, and through a whole-to
part-to-whole model.
26
 Familiarity with alphabet letters, and with the English sound system is crucial for learning to:
- make meaning (understand) from written signs/codes;
- access information (locate for a purpose); and
- construct texts (write) using accurate spelling.
 Learning to read and learning to write are interdependent to some extent, but learning to spell is more
difficult for some students than is learning to read.
 Grapho-phonic knowledge/experience and book-related knowledge are equally important in learning to
spell/write and read print in the first years of school and in intervention practices.
TEACHING PHONICS AT MUSGRAVE HILL

PRESCHOOL/YEAR 1
 Metalinguistics Program
 Jolly Phonics
YEAR 1-7 FRAMEWORK
Daily Blackboard News Shared/Modelled Reading Writing
Children’s Names CONTEXT Guided Reading/Writing
Spelling Words Independent Reading/Writing
Specific Learning/Teaching Focus.

Activities Involving Problem
Solving and Discovery
Reflection
Representation
Reporting
See Appendix S for

Capture Learning on a Class Word
Sample Charts
Chart
Use and Consolidate

Reading Writing/Spelling
Learning in Context
27
YEAR 2-7
 Phonic Activities as per Years 1-7

 Spelling Activities using Spelling Program, Phonic Elements Chart and Word List (See Appendices A
and B)
 Record alternative sound/letter patterns on the Class Word Charts (See Appendix S)
28
Timetable for First Term with Jolly Phonics
Teaching Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
 Worksheets and actions s a t n c/k m d l f b oa ie ng v ch sh oi ue Main
Letter  Flash cards & games ee or y x th th Alternative
Recognition  Put up alphabet frieze, Spellings
i p E h r g o u ai j z w oo oo qu ou er ar
section by section
Beginning letter names and capitals
Beginning to learn to alphabet
Introducing consonant blends
Letter  Multi-sensory practice

Formation - pencil hold Air Writing Air Writing, including Air writing, including
- correct formation joined-up digraphs joined-up digraphs and
joined c.v.c words
Practising Practising blending regular words with

Blending  Hearing the word after the Sounds: Practising blending techniques on consonant blends
sounds have been spoken first loud, simple c.v.c words
a) by teacher then soft Beginning word boxes for capable children –
b) on their own takes 3-4 weeks
 Sound Books
 Letter games/activities Introducing characters from reading scheme
 Word Boxes
Dictation of sounds, then of c.v.c words
Identifying  Encoding regular words
Sounds in  Writing simple sentences Whole class identifying and counting the
Words Identifying the sounds in Whole class calling out sounds sounds in words with consonant blends
 Dictation words. Is there an ‘s’ in nest? in given word, eg dog, then
Where is it? – beginning, holding up a finger for each
middle or end? sound, and counting
Tricky  Reading tricky words Learning to Learning to Dictation of simple sentences using regular
Words  Learning spelling of tricky write first spell tricky words and tricky words already taught.
words name words – two
per week
29
Sight Word List
Regular
List A
a but first him like now that use
about by for his long on them way
am call from how look or then we
and can get I made out these when
are dad go if make over this which
as day had in mum see time will
at did has into my she too with
be down he is not so two
been each her it not than up
List B
again big hand letter need point spell upon
air boy help line new ran still us
also came here little off read such very
animal change high man old right take well
around end home me only same tell went
Australia even house mean our say thing why
away follow its men page set think year
back found just much picture show too yes
because give large must place soon try
before good learn name play sound turn
List C
above buy family hard light own seem today
add car far head list paper side together
almost carry feet hear might please something took
along children few how miss Queensland sometimes tree
always city food idea music real song under
began cut gave keep near river soon until
begin done girl late never run start while
below don't going leave next saw state white
body eat got left night school stop without
book every group let only sea story
both face grow life open second those
30
Irregular
List A
all find of said there water word your
come have one some they were would
could many other the to what write
do more people their was who you
List B
after does live put want
another great most should where
any kind mother small work
ask know move through world
List C
colour father talk young
don't four thought
enough last walk
eye once watch
31
DECODING LARGE WORDS THROUGH THE
TEACHING OF AFFIXES AND SYLLABIFICATION
The following program explores the teaching of Affixes (Morphological Syllabification) and Phonic
Syllabification. Whilst these are presented as two separate components, it is essential that they be addressed
concurrently within the weekly reading program.
CONTENT
AFFIXES – MORPHOLOGICAL SYLLABIFICATION:
1. Affixes: Prefixes and Suffixes (as per school Phonics Program) p.34
- Teaching Strategies p.35-38
2. Irregular Endings -“le” p.38
- Teaching Strategies p.39-40
3. Other Irregular Endings p.40
- Teaching Strategies p.40
PHONIC SYLLABIFICATION:
1. Base words with:
a) CVC/CVC pattern p.41
b) CCVC/CVC pattern p.42
c) CVC/CCVC pattern p.42
2. Base words with VC/CVC pattern p.42
3. Base words with CVC/CVC pattern p.42
4. Base words with:

a) CVC/CCV pattern (“le” endings) p.43
b) V/CCV or CV/CCV pattern (“le” endings) p.43
5. Base words with CV/CVC pattern p.43
6. Base words with:

a) VC/C or CVC/C or CCVC/C (“y” endings) p.44
b) CV/C (“y” endings) p.44
7. Base words with:

a) CVC/CVC (silent “e” endings) p.44
b) VC/CVC (silent “e” endings) p.44
c) V/CVC or CV/CVC (silent “e” endings) p.44
8. Putting it all together p.44
32
CONTENT (cont.)
WORD LISTS:
LIST 1: Words with 3 identifiable parts p.45
LIST 2: Prefix / Suffix / Base Word requiring syllabification p.45
LIST 3: 2 Syllable words p.46
LIST 7: Polysyllabic words p.48
LIST 8: Nonsense words p.48
APPENDICES:
APPENDIX 1: DIAGNOSTIC TESTS: Identifying Prefixes and Suffixes

- Junior List p.49
- Middle List p.49
- Senior List p.50
APPENDIX 2: CLASS LISTS

- Junior List Prefixes / Suffixes p.51
- Middle List Prefixes p.52
- Middle List Suffixes p.53-54
- Senior List Prefixes p.55-56
- Senior List Suffixes p.57-58
APPENDIX 3: JUNIOR PREFIX / SUFFIX CARDS p.59

APPENDIX 4: MIDDLE PREFIX / SUFFIX CARDS p.60-62
APPENDIX 5: SENIOR PREFIX / SUFFIX CARDS p.63-66
APPENDIX 6: IRREGULAR “LE” ENDINGS CARDS p.67
APPENDIX 7: OTHER IRREGULAR ENDING CARDS p.68
IRREGULAR ENDINGS (Pronunciations included) p.69
APPENDIX 8: SYLLABIFICATION RULES p.70
APPENDIX 9: SYLLABIFICATION RAP p.71- 74
APPENDIX 9: TURTLE CHART p.75-76
33
AFFIXES-MORPHOLOGICAL SYLLABIFICATION
The Affixes Section is divided into 3 parts:
1. Affixes: Prefixes and Suffixes as listed in the school program
2. Irregular Endings “le”Endings
3. Other Irregular Endings
1. AFFIXES: PREFIXES and SUFFIXES (as per school Phonics program)

Prefix (Head) Base (Root) Word Suffix (Tail)
Changes word meaning Word built on to Changes part of speech
Base word can be altered by adding
many suffixes
34
AFFIXES - Teaching Strategies
a. Daily practice of prefixes and suffixes on flash cards and teaching of their meanings. (Prefixes and
suffixes chosen should as much as possible be derived from words within either shared
reading/viewed/modelled texts or guided reading texts). For example, use flash cards in the turtle
design to show prefixes/suffixes:
front back front back
un not ly like
b. Focussed teaching of words and their meanings from class texts along with prescribed words from
the school’s Metalinguistics/Phonics/Spelling program.
N.B. In the revised Appendix N section on Prefixes and Suffixes, the words NOT in bold are
easier words to begin with as the prefixes and suffixes do not affect the base (root) word. Words in
bold have a base word that is altered by the suffix added and need explicit teaching:
 the last consonant is doubled when adding “er, est, ing, ed”
 the “e” is omitted when adding “ing, able, ible, ive, er, est”
 “y” changed to an “i” when adding “ly, er, est, ness”
OR have been included as they contain the word ending but the ending does not have the
meaning (e.g. sausage, cottage)
PREFIX BASE WORD SUFFIX
c. Each word from the school program and from texts can be written on the turtle chart design.
d. Make tables of what the prefix/suffix “sounds” like eg:
Suffix Sounds like

tion shun
e. Find the words in the text that begin with eg. “re” or end with “ly”
f. When examining words children can:

 Colour the prefix green or draw a head around the prefix
 Colour the base word orange or draw a body around it
 Colour the suffix red or draw a tail around it
g. Discuss word meaning from context and synonyms that could be used instead of that word etc
35
h. Use the turtle design for creating new words. In each prefix and suffix section of the school program,
any prefixes and suffixes that can be added to the words have been included so that further word
building can be modelled and taught:
un kind
friend
i. Brainstorm words that begin/end with the same prefixes/suffixes
j. Fold back along the first and second lines and read words created when flaps are folded forward
un kind ly
friend
k. Provide cloze sentences whereby children have to add a prefix or suffix to make the word fit the
sentence:
I was __ __ able to go to the party as I was sick.
He was a courage _ _ _ boy to play on with an injury.
l. Play Prefixes/Suffixes Bingo using the prefix and suffix meanings as well as words comprising of
these:
Example Bingo for “UN” and “RE”
un recall call again re
live again undo not not happy
not clear rejoin --clean replace
m. Word sorts –Give students the list of words containing certain prefixes and get them to sort these, eg
unclear, inactive, incorrect, undo, uneven, insincere
un in
unclear inactive
36
n. Play Concentration with Turtle Heads /Shells/ Tails:
Prefix pile Base word pile Suffix pile
un clear ly
Prefixes are written on the back of the turtle head cards, base words are written on the turtle shell cards
and suffixes are written on the turtle tail cards. All cards are placed in separate groups on the floor,
picture side up. Children take turns turning over a card from each pile-if they make a word they get to
keep it. Depending on words used the children may have to say how a word’s spelling is altered. The
winner is the child with most words created.
o. Use green , orange and red blocks to represent word parts. Say the words and have children model
these eg
GREEN block for prefix,
ORANGE block for base word and
RED for suffix
Start with the following sequence:
1. prefix + base, eg unkind (green and orange), then
2. base +suffix eg kindly (orange and red), and finally
3. prefix + base + suffix(es) eg unkindly (green, orange, red)
Ask children to represent these and other words using the above format.
Keep the base word and ask the children to represent changes in words by using different
coloured blocks for the prefixes and suffixes eg.
redo, (could show green and orange); undo (could show pink and orange)
Ask what has changed?
p. Use word sums to form new words:
Prefix Base New word

Con + form = CONFORM
Re + form =
Trans + form =
De + form =
etc
Base Suffix New word

Happy + ly =
Happy + er =
Happy + ness =
Happy + est =
etc
37
q. Select the appropriate word that fits the sentence eg. words with common prefix or suffix:
(biannual, bifocal, bicentenary)
The man said he needed his _________ glass to read.

A_________ celebration is held twice a year.
The country celebrated its _____________ last year.
eg. Words with common base word

(redo, undo)
I had to __ __ do my work as it was not neat enough.

I must __ __ do these stitches as I have a knot in them.
r. Teach how suffixes change a word into a different part of speech eg help (verb) into helpless
(adjective) Make words into different parts of speech by adding suffixes eg ant, ent, ance, ence,
ness, ment, less etc:
hope _____________ , sense _________

move _____________ , place ___________
assist _____________ , happy __________
s. Find synonyms ending in “ness” for these words:
Courtesy _ _ _ _ _ _ ness (politeness)

Swiftness _ _ _ _ _ ness (readiness)
t. Other listed games pp 49 and 50 of School Phonics program and Column Activity (Appendix E)
2. IRREGULAR ENDINGS - “le” Endings

THIS SECTION ADDRESSES THOSE ENDINGS THAT ARE NOT SUFFIXES IN
THEMSELVES BUT WORD PARTS THAT THE CHILDREN NEED TO KNOW INSTANTLY.
ble cle dle fle gle
kle ple tle stle zle
sle
38
IRREGULAR ENDINGS (“LE”) - Teaching Strategies
a. With “le” endings children need to be taught to look at the consonant before the “le” ending.
apple
 Look to see if there is another
consonant before “le”
app
le
 Join the two consonants together
and say their blend sound ple
 The “e” is silent
b. Practise the “le” endings on flash cards. Bring attention to words ending in “stle” where the “t” is
silent
whistle
 Look to see if there is another consonant
before “le”
If there is an “st” before the “le”, the
“t” is silent
whis
tle
 Join the two consonants together and say
s le
39
c. Give children the list of “le” words. Circle the “ble”, “cle” etc endings:
apple bubble bottle cattle

rattle nettle whittle rubble
saddle handle buckle candle
handle kettle settle riddle
muddle bobble knuckle castle
hassle bangle wiggle ruffle
raffle jungle single tumble
wattle rustle puzzle muzzle
uncle sniffle
3. OTHER IRREGULAR ENDINGS

These endings need to be explicitly taught. Children may need to have the pronunciations written on the
front/back of the flashcards (see Appendix 7) as they are learning these.
tual tial cial ial

ious ium ience iance
ient iant iate ate
tient cient cion tious
cious xious ancy ency
ion
OTHER IRREGULAR ENDINGS – Teaching Strategies:
a. Flash cards
b. Bingo Games
c. Analysing / highlighting words with these sounds in them
d. Cloze Sentences
e. Turtle Chart activities
f. Brainstorming
g. Word Sorts and Meanings
h. Concentration
i. Column Activity (Appendix D)
40
PHONIC SYLLABIFICATION
This section explores how children can decode/deconstruct longer words through the syllabification of
words. The teaching of syllabification has long been a controversial issue. This is due to the number of
exceptions there are to the rules of syllabification that are taught. However, researchers acknowledge that
students should learn to recognise that words have parts or syllables and that each vowel sound represents a
syllable.
Whilst this program and the “Syllabification Rap” (see Appendix 8) try to cater for many types of words,
there will always be the odd word that is an exception to the rule/pattern. Hence children still need to be
encouraged to use contextual clues to solve some unknown words.
The purpose of working through the listed words is to enable children to syllabify words according to vowel
sounds to assist with reading. Some words in section 8 can be syllabified at differing parts of the word.
The “Syllabification Rap” (sung to the beat of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) deals with strategies to help
children decode multisyllabic words. A crucial part of this is the focus on Affixes-Morphological
Syllabification (the recognition of affixes and word endings previously mentioned), hence the activities are
devoted to increasing children’s instant recognition of these word parts. As the children explore the
following base words, use the “Syllabification Rap” to apply the syllabification rules.
PHONIC SYLLABIFICATION – Teaching Sequence

1. a) Base Words with a CVC/CVC pattern ie Consonant vowel consonant/ consonant vowel
consonant
These words have CLOSED SYLLABLES- syllables which START AND END WITH A CONSONANT
Dot above the vowels, put a “c” above the

consonants and cut between the middle c’s
c.c/c.c
e.g “margin” becomes mar/gin
garden distant normal
carpet supper molten
surfer tablet doctor
fabric subject support
forbid collect permit
banner perform hinder
parcel disgust kidnap
borrow winter pardon
selfish serpent *donkey
nugget pepper *monkey
verdict signal *turkey
41
magnet vulgar
*denotes y as a vowel sound with preceding vowel “ey”, “ay”
“oy”
42
1. b) Base Words with a CCVC/CVC Pattern
CUT between the two middle consonants. For example, “sparrow” becomes “spar / row”.
whimper sluggish sparrow

shelter splinter thunder
scallop blanket
1. c) Base Words with a CVC/CCVC Pattern

When there are 3 or more consonants together CUT after the first consonant.
For example, “constant” becomes “con / stant”.
constant contrast hatchet

restrict district satchel
merchant destruct butcher
control distrust
2. Base Words with a VC/CVC or VC/CVCC pattern

CUT between the first two consonants. For example “insect” becomes “in / sect”.
after absorb insect

occur error offend
adjust urban alter
absurd absent
3. Base Words with a CVC/CVC –vowel digraphs and diphthongs

CUT between the first two consonants. For example, “bargain” becomes “bar / gain”.
In these words children apply the rap rules by treating the double vowels as ONE vowel sound and placing a
large dot above these.
cartoon balloon harpoon

contain canteen nervous
curtain mountain quartet
certain fountain mischief
refrain quarrel obtain
43
4. a) Base Words with CVC/CCV Patterns “le” Endings
When there are 3 or more consonants together CUT after the first consonant
For example, “bottle” becomes “bot / tle”. (The last 3 letters are the last syllable).
dazzle pimple snuffle
nozzle peddle scuttle
tingle gentle shuffle
jumble sickle knuckle
babble warble twinkle
curdle gamble prattle
topple dimple bristle
baffle giggle smuggle
fumble gobble whittle
kindle meddle spangle
fickle
4. b) Base Words with a V/CCV or CV/CCV Pattern -“le” Endings *
CUT AFTER THE FIRST VOWEL, leaving the last 3 letters together. For example, “able” becomes
“a / ble”. * Rap song doesn’t apply due to the fact that the last 3 letters are kept intact as one syllable and
the consonants are not cut.
idle fable bible

isle trifle maple
noble bugle bridle
title gable *cycle
*children need to dot the “y” as a vowel sound
5. Base Words with a CV/CVC pattern*
*In these words there are no consonants together so children must dot the vowels and CUT AFTER THE
FIRST VOWEL. For example “naval” becomes “na / val”.
naval tiger *topic

report major *rebel
final minus *magic
fatal delay *tragic
nomad relay *credit
bacon decay *shadow
stupid pilot *chisel
music
*denotes short vowel sound
44
6. a) Base Words with a VC/C or CVC/C or CCVC/C pattern (“y” endings)
In these words children apply the rap rules as they dot the vowel and the “y” and CUT between the first two
consonants.
* In VC/C words and CVC/C words, children apply the rap rules as they dot the vowel and the “y”
and CUT between the first two consonants. For example, “army” becomes “ar / my” ( . c / c . )
* In CCVC/CC words starting with digraphs or consonants blends, children apply the rap rules as they
dot the vowel and the “y” and CUT between the middle two consonants eg “plenty” becomes “plen / ty”.
VC / C CVC / C CCVC / C
army husky silly plenty
esky nasty grubby
musky rally thirty
handy clumsy
risky dirty shanty
hardy
6. b) Base Words with a CV/C pattern (“y” endings)
In these words the consonants are at the end of the word so children must dot the vowels and CUT AFTER
THE FIRST VOWEL. For example, “navy” becomes “na/vy” (c . / c .)
navy baby puny
lady pony tiny
7. a) Base Words with a CVC/CVC pattern- ending with Silent “e”
With these words children apply the rap rules, crossing out the silent “e” at the end of the words
For example, “compare” becomes “com / pare” (c . c / c . c)
combine message baptise
cabbage fertile forgive
bandage
7. b) Base Words with a VC/CVC pattern- ending with Silent “e”
With these words children apply the rap rules, crossing out the silent e at the end of the word.
For example, “ignite” becomes “ig / nite” (. c / c . c )
ignite oppose accuse
active admire athlete
engage insure escape
invite endure explode
7. c) Base Words with a V/CVC or CV/CVC pattern- ending with Silent “e”
In these words there are no consonants together so children must dot the vowels and CUT AFTER THE
FIRST VOWEL (as in section 5). This makes it an OPEN syllable and the vowel says its own name MOST
OF THE TIME. For example, “elude” becomes “e/lude”; “divide” becomes “di/vide”.
erode alive famine
adult notice
abode marine
abide divide donate
8. Putting it all Together : In this section, children are asked to -
1. Follow the Syllabification Rap (Appendix 9) to decode longer words by:
 identifying prefixes and suffixes within the words and then
45
 breaking the base word up using the syllable rules.
2. Read sentences using each of these words to work out the meaning of the word.
46
List 1:
These words have three identifiable parts: a prefix, a one -syllable base word/part and a suffix.
List 1 Prefix Base word Suffix

distasteful dis taste ful
distraction
defacement
discernment
compartment
deportment
distrustful
unwillingness
deduction
reduction
reflection
unfitness
uncleanliness
unevenness
List 2:
These words have identifiable prefixes and suffixes and base words that require syllabification.
List 2 Prefix Base word Suffix

exploration
extermination
retardation
exposition
recondition
uneasiness
reappearance
excavation
reproduction
unpleasantness
disposition
deliverance
definition
disagreement
deciduous
discontinuous
discolouration
composition
disappearance
disrespectful
47
List 3:
Mixture of Two Syllable Words. Column 2 is for children to complete. Column 3 is a self checking column.
1.Word 2.Write 3.Check Syllables

swimming swim / ming swim/ming
movie mo/vie
relax re/lax
enter en/ter
exit e/xit
because be/cause
monkey mon/key
cover co/ver
himself him/self
List 4:
Mixture of Three Syllable Words. Column 2 is for children to complete. Column 3 is a self checking
column
1. Word 2. Write 3.Check Syllables

coconut co/co/nut co/co/nut
potato po/ta/to
clarinet cla/ri/net
torpedo tor/pe/do
volcano vol/ca/no
favourite fa/vou/rite
discussion dis/cus/sion
explosion ex/plo/sion
musician mu/si/cian
disobey dis/o/bey
detective de/tect/ive
prevention pre/ven/tion
animal a/ni/mal
different dif/fer/ent
instruction in/struc/tion
mineral mi/ner/al
dictation dic/ta/tion
48
List 5:
Mixture of Four Syllable Words. Column 2 is for children to complete. Column 3 is a self checking
column.
1. Word 2. Write 3. Check Syllables
operation o/pe/ra/tion o/pe/ra/tion
misunderstood mis/un/der/stood
recommended re/com/mend/ed
supersonic su/per/son/ic
extravagant ex/tra/vag/ant
experiment ex/pe/ri/ment
ridiculous ri/di/cul/ous
refrigerate re/fri/ge/rate
information in/for/ma/tion
regulation re/gu/la/tion
invitation in/vi/ta/tion
calligraphy cal/li/gra/phy
decoration de/co/ra/tion
electronic e/lec/tron/ic
available a/vail/able
circumference cir/cum/fer/ence
alligator al/li/ga/tor
supervisor su/per/vis/or
inflammation in/flam/ma/tion
administrate ad/mi/nis/trate
considerate con/si/de/rate
systematic sys/te/mat/ic
List 6:
Mixture of Five Syllable Words. Column 2 is for children to complete. Column 3 is a self checking column.
1. Word 2. Write 3. Check Syllables
examination ex/a/mi/na/tion ex/a/mi/na/tion
congratulation con/gra/tu/la/tion
intellectual in/tel/lec/tu/al
anniversary an/ni/vers/ary
supplementary sup/ple/ment/ary
association as/so/ci/a/tion
antibiotic anti/bi/ot/ic
elementary e/le/ment/ary
alphabetical al/pha/be/tic/al
chronological chro/no/lo/gic/al
opportunity op/por/tun/ity
disagreeable dis/a/gree/able
systematical sys/te/ma/tic/al
receptionist re/cep/tion/ist
49
List 7: Mixture of Polysyllabic Words:
recognise encounter performance bewilder
professor remember operate governor
accurate intestine artistic circular
energy justify refugee dramatic
elegant arrogant motivate telephone
daffodil negligent forgotten civilise
comedy submarine accountant interrupt
architect medical vaccinate criticise
absentee embarrass abdicate acceptance
colossal separate unify quality
inventor adequate general hamburger
beginning fantastic stimulate educate
minister generate senator policy
factory director departure interrogate
arbitrate adjective penetrate sensitive
passenger
List 8:
These nonsense words can be used as a diagnostic tool for determining whether children can:
a. highlight known prefixes/suffixes
b. syllabify words
c. read the words
intersent cantle beldish
tazzledop spertion impostly
zobial pertiment autocart
plisherist manious transbibor
tapplenot boopulant lapment
patholment tandian mapsive
undervy jotable potial
underous instrusful postle
lampient plessible poltifice
lampancy plifully kurness
ligersol spoption plothood
panwomar rikle herdage
quomial scapple drompary
toserman slepture hopship
intrastel subtrecful dratient
defrentive smacious fredillumpic
eflective gertial complinate
durcial spodium cantery
raptious midster
50
APPENDIX 1:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diagnostic Test: Identifying Prefixes and Suffixes: Junior List
PREFIXES
recall unpack
SUFFIXES
rockery boundary faster
beater cleanest
careful
homely bushy
______________________________________________________
Diagnostic Test: Identifying Prefixes and Suffixes: Middles List

PREFIXES
abloom abnormal bicycle
disallow forehand inactive
overactive perimeter
precaution
recall uncommon unicycle
underground
SUFFIXES
drinkable breakage
electrical
beggar boundary rockery
ashen correspondent
faster
beater cleanest
careful
divisible cowardice childish
artist corrective priceless
eagerly amazement blackness
actor directory
collection
bushy
51
Diagnostic Test: Identifying Prefixes and Suffixes: Seniors List
PREFIXES
antechamber antibody
autobiography
circumference coexist
counteract
debrief disallow encircle
excommunicate extraterrestrial
forehand
illegal immature inactive
international irregular
midday
misbehave non-smoker
overactive
perimeter postdate prefix
pronoun recall subway
superego telephone
transplant
unclear undercharge unicycle
SUFFIXES
drinkable breakage
electrical
boundary rockery
acceptance
difference assistant
triangular
beggar ashen
correspondent
faster beater cleanest
employee careful childhood
glorify angelic divisible
52
cowardice childish
artist
corrective heroism acidity
priceless eagerly amazement
blackness actor directory
courageous friendship
collection
bushy
53
APPENDIX 2:
re
un
ery
ary
er
er
est
ful
ly
54
a
ab
bi
dis
fore
in
mid
over
peri
pre
re
un
uni
55
able
age
al
ar
ary
ery
en
ent
er
er
est
ful
ible
ice
ish
ist
ive
less
56
ly
ment
ness
or
ory
tion
57
ante
anti
auto
circum
co
counter
de
dis
en
ex
extra
fore
il
im
in
inter
ir
mid
58
mis
non
Over
peri
post
pre
pro
re
sub
super
tele
trans
un
under
uni
59
able
age
al
ary
ery
ance
ence
ant
ar
ar
en
ent
er
er
est
ee
ful
hood
60
fy
ic
ible
ice
ish
ive
ism
ity
less
ly
ment
ness
or
ory
ous
ship
tion
61
APPENDIX 3:
Junior prefixes
re- un-
Junior suffixes
-ary -ery -er -er
-est -ful -ly -y
62
63
APPENDIX 4:
Middle prefixes
a- ab- bi- dis-
fore- in- mid- over-
peri- pre- re- un-
under-
64
Middle suffixes
-able -age -al -ar
-ary -ery -en -ent
-er -er -est -ful
-ible -ice -ish -ish
-ment -ness -or -ory
65
-tion -sion -y -ly
-ist -ive -less
66
APPENDIX 5:
Senior Prefixes
ante- anti- auto- circum-
co- counter- de- dis-
en- ex- extra- fore-
il- im- in- inter-
ir- mid- mis- non-
67
over- peri- post- pre-
pro- re- sub- super-
tele- trans- un- under-
uni-
68
Senior suffixes
-able -age -al -ance
-ence -ant -ar -ar
-ary -ery -ee -en
-ent -er -er -est
-ful -fy -hood -ible
69
-ic -ice -ish -ish
-ity -ive -less -ly
-ment -ness -or -ory
-ous -ship -tion -sion
-y
70
APPENDIX 6:
Irregular Endings “le” Endings
ble cle dle fle
gle kle ple tle
stle sle zle

(silent
s)
71
APPENDIX 7:
Other Irregular Endings
tual tial cial ial
ient iant iate ate
xious ancy ency

cious
ion
72
Other Irregular Endings (Pronunciations Included)
tual tial cial ial
(shoo-l) (shl) (shl) (ee-al)
(ee-us) (ee-um) (ee-ens) (i-ens)
ient iant iate ate
(ee-ent) (i-ent) (ee-at) (et)
(shent) (shent) (shen) (shus)
cious xious ancy ency
(shus) (shus) (uncy) (uncy)
ion
(ee-on)
73
APPENDIX 8:
SYLLABIFICATION RULES
1. A one-syllable word is never divided (boat, good, knelt).
2. When a word has an affix, CUT between the root and the affix (re/run, soft/ness,
cry/ing).
After separating the prefix and/or suffix, the following rules apply to the
BASE WORD:
3. A compound word is CUT between the words that make the compound word
(shot/gun, sun/set, air/plane).
4. CUT between two consonants (hap/py, per/haps) unless the consonants form a
diagraph (ch, wh, th, ck….) and are sounded together (ma/chine, e/le/phant).
5. CUT between two vowels when they are sounded separately. (di/et, cru/el)
6. When a word ends in ‘le’ preceded by a consonant, CUT before the consonant
(tur/tle, ca/ble, this/tle).
7. When a single consonant comes between two vowels, CUT before the consonant
(mu / sic, po/ lite, pa / per).
8 When a word ends with a silent ‘e’, do not count the ‘e’ as a vowel when cutting
the word.
9. If the letter ‘y’ says a vowel sound in a word, it acts as a vowel.
If the student does not recognise a prefix and/or a suffix, then the above
rules are followed for the whole word.
74
APPENDIX 9:
Syllabification
Rap
Look for a prefix

A suffix too
Then look at the
base word
That’s what you do
Reread the
sentence
What word fits?
75
Still can’t get
it?
SO SYLLABIFY IT!
Dot above the

vowels-
including the “y”
Because often it
says
“e” or “i”
76
Don’t bother with
the
un
silent “e”
Then above the

consonants put a
“c”
Now we’ll
syllabify or slash
the wordun
77
Between the middle
cc’s,
that’s what you’ll
learn
Sing all these quickly!
Leave “th” “sh”

“ch” “wh” and “ck”
together
They say one
sound, always,
forever!
78
un
com/mon ly
Now look at each

syllable carefully
Each part has a
vowel
sound – a dot to
see
Now say all the
syllables
of the word
79
Does it remind you
of a word you have
heard??
80
81
82
SPELLING
PROGRAM
83
INTRODUCTION
 Spelling is a developmental process and every child has the right to become proficient and confident
at spelling. For most people spelling is a lifelong process as new words are encountered,
approximated, checked, corrected and learnt. The use of standardised spelling is part of written
communication and needs to be taught within this context.
 The ability to spell easily and automatically enables students to become more effective writers. While
spelling is only one aspect of writing, levels of literacy have often been measured by spelling ability.
It is very important that students are aware that an audience will read what they write and to take
responsibility for ensuring that their spelling is correct.
 The English language is not a regular language, but it is systematic and patterned. Learning to spell is
a process of working out the patterns and systems of the English language, then applying these
understandings to new words as we encounter them. So, learning to spell entails learning to
understand the systematic code by which English is written.
 Learning to spell is not learning lists of words. It is a developmental process of learning to apply
different strategies appropriately, so that we can spell correctly all the words we write. These
strategies include sound sequences, knowledge of graphophonic relationships, visual patterns and
meaning. In order to do this, we need to learn to classify, hypothesise, generalise, look for patterns
and relationships, and seek to understand the relationships between meaning and spelling. Spelling is
a thinking process not a rote learning task. Understanding spelling helps writers to make better
meaning when they write. Good spellers understand the links between word meaning and spelling.
 While spelling is best taught through a multi-sensory approach, ultimately learning to spell is a
predominantly visual skill. Investigating a word’s meaning not only guides us to spell words
correctly, but also helps develop a diverse vocabulary. If our first-draft writing is reasonably legible
and contains few spelling errors we can easily find the parts that need revision as we read.
 While there are obvious links between spelling and reading, there are significant differences in the
skills required to accomplish these two tasks. Reading involves decoding while spelling involves
encoding. Thus it is important to realise that “good readers” are not necessarily good spellers but
poor readers are rarely good spellers.
 Students learn to spell in print-rich environments that are not only book related eg environmental
print, advertising, word charts etc.
84
GOALS OF THE SCHOOL SPELLING PROGRAM
Through involvement in the school spelling program, children will:
 Become confident, competent and independent spellers who can apply acquired
knowledge about the nature of spelling mechanics to solve spelling problems, and can
use resources to check attempted spellings.
 Be willing to take risks in their writing by attempting to spell unknown words.
 Develop awareness of, and interest in words.
 Be able to use a variety of strategies to attempt the spelling of new words.
 Form generalisations about the spelling of words and be prepared to constantly review
and refine these generalisations.
 Be able to evaluate their own progress.
85
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN SPELLING
As children begin to write, the process of learning to spell develops in clearly defined stages. Children’s
writing development begins as soon as scribbling begins. Spelling begins when children attach symbols,
putting them together to form words. Stages are universal, but not all children progress at the same rate. It
is important that teachers recognise these stages so that they can assess the developmental level of each of
the individuals in the class. Suitable teaching strategies matching the level of development can then be
employed.
Stage 1: Preliminary Spelling Stage 2: Semi-Phonetic Spelling

In this stage children become aware that print carries a In this stage children show developing understanding
message. They experiment with writing-like symbols of sound-symbol relationships. Their spelling
as they try to represent written language. Their attempts show some evidence of sound-symbol
writing is not readable by others as understandings of correspondence. They may represent a whole word
sound-symbol relationships have yet to develop. with one, two or three letters. In this, as in all phases
Children are fascinated by print and are constantly of development children will be copying, recalling and
trying to explore the relationships between written and inventing words. Children at this phase are able to
spoken words and between letters and sounds through copy letter by letter.
emulating adults in role play of reading and writing.
Key Indicators Key Indicators

 is aware that print carries a message  uses left to right and top to bottom orientation of
 uses writing-like symbols to represent written print
language  relies on the sounds which are most obvious to
 uses known letters or approximations of letters to him or her
represent written language  represents a whole word with one, two or three
 assigns a message to own symbols letters. Uses mainly consonants
is confident to experiment with words is confident to experiment with words - sees it

as a problem-solving task
Major Teaching Emphases Major Teaching Emphases

Preliminary spellers need to be immersed in print. Semi-Phonetic spellers need to be exposed to print in
The environment should support the development of natural and meaningful contexts. They need
concepts of print and stimulate them to write. opportunities to experiment with writing so they will
 develop an awareness of letter names develop understandings about print.
 develop understanding of concepts of print  help children develop a stable concept of a word
 use correct terminology for letters, sounds, words  help children to hear different sounds in words
and sentences  help children to develop the ability to segment
spoken words into individual sounds
At All Stages  help children to represent sounds heard in words
 Model writing in a variety of contexts with letters written in the order they are heard
 Encourage students to reflect on their spelling  select high interest and high frequency words form
strategies children’s reading and class writing to add to class
 Encourage children to reflect on their word lists
understanding, gradually building a complete  teach children that letter names are constant but
picture of the spelling system the sounds they represent vary
 Ensure that students have opportunities to write for  provide many opportunities for children to explore
a variety of audiences and purposes and identify sound-symbol relationships in
 Encourage students to take risks and have-a-go at meaningful contexts
spelling words they need to write
86
Stage 3: Phonetic Spelling Stage 4: Transitional Spelling
In this phase writers are able to provide an almost (from sounds to structures)
perfect match between letters and sounds. Letters are In this stage writers are moving away from heavy
chosen on the basis of sound often without regard for reliance on the phonetic strategy towards the use of
conventional letter patterns. Spelling attempts are visual and meaning-based strategies. They may still
meaningful and becoming more like standard spelling. have difficulty recognising if a word ‘looks right’ but
There is often evidence of self-constructed rules that should be able to proof their known bank of words.
may not conform to adult rules. Writers copy, recall Writing will show evidence of an increasing bank of
and construct words according to their current learned words. To help writers at this point it is better
understandings. They use rote recall for an increasing not to emphasise phonics but to extend their repertoire
number of words. of alternative strategies. This is a critical stage in the
development of spelling. It often takes writers a long
time to move through it. It is important that progress
is carefully monitored so as much support and explicit
teaching can be given as possible. If writers do not
receive sufficient support they may not progress
beyond this stage.
Key Indicators Key Indicators

 chooses letters on the basis of sound without  uses letters to represent all vowel and consonant
regard for conventional spelling patterns sounds in a word, placing vowels in every syllable
 sounds out and represents all substantial sounds in  is beginning to use visual strategies, such as
a word knowledge of common letter patterns and critical
 develops particular spellings for certain sounds features of words
often using self-formulated rules
has a positive attitude towards self as a speller is willing to take risks and accepts
responsibility
Major Teaching Emphases Major Teaching Emphases

Phonetic spellers should be exposed to wide variety of Transitional spellers need to develop familiarity with
printed materials to provide data from which (at their many common patterns of spelling through reading,
own pace) they can draw new conclusions about writing and specific activities.
spelling. They also need to opportunities to focus on groups of
 teach writers to look for visual patterns and words rather than words in isolation. This enables
common letter sequences in words them to make generalisations about word patterns and
 teach writers to identify critical features of words to formulate rules.
(ie differentiating characteristics)  continue to emphasise visual patterns encouraging
 continue to emphasise the building up of a writers to focus on patterns and classify words
systematic view of spelling with emphasis on the  focus on word meaning and word derivations as a
way: guide to spelling, eg sign – signature
(a) letters can represent different sounds  teach strategies for remembering the correct
depending on context or place in the word spelling of difficult words
(b) a sound can be represented by more than  teach strategies for spelling new words
one letter or letters  encourage writers to generate alternative spelling
 teach writers to think about meaning as a strategy in order to select the right one
 continue the development of word banks by  encourage writers to hypothesise and generalise,
incorporating theme, topic, high frequency and eg rules for plurals and syllabification
interesting words as they arise  encourage the use of words not previously used to
 introduce proof-reading strategies enlarge spelling vocabulary
 continue the development of Word Banks and
class alphabetical lists
 continue to model and teach proof-reading skills
87
Stage 5: Independent Spelling Major Teaching Emphases
In this phase writers have become aware of the many Independent spellers should be encouraged to accept
patterned and rules that are characteristic of the responsibility for extending their spelling vocabulary.
English spelling system. When spelling a new word They should proof read all their written work as they
they use a multi-strategy approach. They have the are now able to spell most commonly used words
ability to recognise when a word doesn’t look right correctly.
and to think of alternative spellings. Spellers in this
 focus on meaning as a guide to spelling
stage will have accumulated a large bank of known  continue to explore derivations of words –
words that they can automatically recall. Independent meanings of foreign words as a guide to spelling
spellers continue to use personal constructions when  consolidate and extend proof-reading skills
spelling unfamiliar words in draft writing.  continue to build up a systematic picture of the
Independent spellers realise the importance of proof whole spelling system
reading.  teach writers to use context as a guide to spelling
 reinforce strategies for remembering correct
Key Indicators spelling of difficult words
 See all indicators in the Independent Phase (First  emphasise social importance of spelling – insist on
Steps Spelling Developmental Continuum 1995, p correct spelling for public audiences, parents,
94) other classes or principal
is aware of social obligations as a speller
88
SPELLING – WHAT DO WE TEACH
SPELLING PATTERNS
Core Spelling List
 Phonemic Awareness (A-G Appendix C)
 Phonic Elements (Appendix A & B)
 Compound Words (Appendix F)
 Contractions (Appendix G)
Context Words
 Homophones/Homographs
 Topic Words
(Appendices H & I)
 Key Learning Area Words
 Foreign Words (Appendix Q)
 Synonyms/Antonyms (Appendices J
 Greek & Latin Roots
& K)
(Appendix R)
 Tense (Appendix L)
 Confused Usage/Irregular Plurals

(Appendix M)
 Affixes – Plurals, Prefixes, Suffixes Personal Words

(Appendix N)  Words incorrectly spelt
in each child’s writing
 Mnemonics (Appendix C)
 Demons (Appendix P)
 Words from other lands (Appendix Q)
 Root Words (Appendix R)
SPELLING PROCEDURES
(7 Steps to Spelling Independence)
USE IN WRITING
During drafting, consulting,
redrafting and proofreading
89
WHAT MAKES A GOOD SPELLER?
SEVEN STEPS TO SPELLING INDEPENDENCE

1. READ
- The more you read the more you see words and this helps your mind to remember how they
look when you want to write them.
- You’ll find interesting words in books etc that you might want to use in your own writing.
2. LISTEN
- When we speak clearly we can often hear how to write words – or at the very least hear how
we could attempt them.
3. BE WORD WISE (See Column Activity – Appendix D)

LOOK at words, really look at them:
 Can you find the base word? (nationality)
 Do they have any small words within them?
 Does it have any prefixes or suffixes? (unnecessary)
 Does it rhyme with any words you know?
 Is it based on any Greek or Latin roots?
 Are there any homophones or homonyms?
 What are some antonyms or synonyms for the word?
 How many syllables are in the word?
 Look for parts, which could trick you.
4. LEARN TO SPELL NEW WORDS (See Appendix E)

 LOOK at the word carefully – find the base word/words within the whole,
any affixes or a Greek or Latin root which may help you remember it.
See which parts may be tricky (see above).
 SAY the word clearly. Listen to the way it sounds. Hear the number of
syllables. Does it rhyme with a word you know?
 COVER the word and imagine it in your mind.
 WRITE the word legibly, smoothly, in syllables not letter by letter
 CHECK your attempt against the correct spelling. If it is not correct see
where the problem is and use the ‘”Look Say Cover Write Check”
method, try again.
5. USE MEMORY TRIGGERS (See Mnemonics List Appendix O)

- When the word is really hard to learn, work out a memory trick or trigger to help you eg There’s
a lie in believe.
6. WRITE OFTEN
- The more you write the more chance you have to use words. Spelling isn’t terribly important in
the first draft so get your ideas down first and make an attempt at the spelling – then go back and
self correct.
7. SELF CHECK
- Always re-read your writing!
- Identify any suspect spelling by circling or underling in pencil.
- Have another go at the suspect spelling – try it on a rough piece of paper, ask yourself “Does it
look right?” and if you’re still unsure, consult a dictionary
- If it’s a word that you will need again, learn how to spell it.
Meehan, S-B. (1987)
90
A SAMPLE SPELLING LESSON
When teaching a new word to a child or a group of children in the early stages of development, there
are a number of points, which must be brought forward. The word should be fully discussed before
any spelling is attempted.
 Write the word “weak” on the board

 Let’s clap the syllables in “weak”
weak - (clap)
 Can you find any little words inside “weak”? (we)
 Can you tell me a sentence using the word “weak” (focus on meaning)
 Tell me some words that rhyme with “weak”
(eg beak, bleak, sneak, speak, squeak, reek, seek, meek, leek, etc)
 Sometimes words that rhyme have parts of them that look the same
like beak, bleak, speak.
What part is the same? (either “ea” or “eak”)
 Sometimes they sound the same but look different like reek, seek,
meek, leek. What part makes the /ee/ sound? (ee)
 Can you think of other words that have an /ee/ sound?
(be, me, leaf, beef, donkey, pony, lonely, relief, grief, key, etc)
 Let’s add these words to our /ee/ chart or book.
 Can we add any beginnings or endings to the word? (weaker,
weakling, weakly, weaker, weakest, etc)
 Can you spell “weak” any other way? (week – homophone)
 What does “week” mean?
 Can you think of any synonyms (words that mean the same) for
“weak”. (feeble, frail, puny, fragile, tired, etc)
 Can you think of any antonyms (opposites) for “weak”? (strong,
tough, powerful, etc.)
 Are there any memory tricks or triggers to help you remember the
word “weak” (mnemonics)
 Close your eyes and try to imagine the word “weak” in your mind.
 Open your eyes and see if you were right.
 Close your eyes up again and write the word “weak” in the air.
 Open your eyes, (Teacher covers “weak”), write “weak on your paper.
Check it.
 Now cover the place where you wrote “weak”, say the word clearly
first, see the word in your mind and think of the parts of the word as
you write it again.
 You may now use this LOOK, SAY, COVER, WRITE, CHECK process
with “week” or any other chosen word from the /ee/ chart.
91
SAMPLE SPELLING LESSON (Continued)
Spelling strategies using visual-auditory-kinaesthetic modalities:
These are some additional strategies which could be used in addition to the above to reinforce
children’s spelling skills through a multi-sensory approach.
Visual Auditory Kinaesthetic

* Build a word * Feel the beat of the * Trace/copy the
w..e..n..t word word
w..a..tch
* Isolate the difficult * Tap and clap the * Make the letters
parts eg patch sounds that make the sound
(accent the tch in – have one child
different colour) match effort with a
partner
* Make a word from * Play rhyming games – * Make the words
letters cut from make up rhymes for with play dough or
magazines words like cake, lake, felt or magnetic
shake, bake, snake, letters
sake
* Play word games in * Record the sounds on * For at risk children,
pairs or small card and each week cut out letters and
groups give different cards to letter combinations
different groups of (a sound) in sand-
children. Ask them to paper and have
write four words children trace these
which have that with their fingers.
sound.
* Write words beside * Sing/chant letters * Use block letters
a representative and sounds; create a and have children
visual image rap or song with fill them with
selected words collage materials
(sand, pasta, etc)
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GOOD TEACHING PRACTICE IN SPELLING
By providing students with experiences based on the “good teaching practice” model below, we are
encouraging them to make discoveries about rules, generalisations and patterns. For example the “c”
sound as in cat is mostly found at the beginning of a word, and where it appears in the middle of a
word it is likely to have a short vowel before it (ie the word “induction”). Students discover that the
“ck” letter combination is never found at the beginning of a word and so on.
Consistent practice is essential for students to become familiar with the relationships between sounds
and their spellings. The following example compares ‘good’ and ‘poor’ teaching practices, and uses
the sound ‘c’ as in cat as an example.
GOOD TEACHING PRACTICE POOR TEACHING PRACTICE
(based on one sound-multiple spelling (based on teaching a consistency in sound-

relationships) symbol relationship)
sound ‘c’ as in cat includes the spellings Other than the case where novice spellers
‘c’ ‘k’ ‘ck’ ‘ch’ ‘q’. Build a list that are asked to nominate words that BEGIN
includes multiple spellings for the sound with the sound (acceptable practice),
‘c’: students should not be confronted with
lists of words that use a consistent spelling
calm school queen kitten pack cow for that sound. For example, the list
scheme quest cake lick cough
licorice (also spelt liquorice) Carrot
Because
Encourage students to trial and play with Cactus
language – look in dictionaries – add new Cough
words to especially designated charts. Custom
The benefit: The problem:
STUDENTS ARE MADE AWARE STUDENTS ARE GIVEN THE

FROM THE START THAT ONE IMPRESSION THAT ENGLISH HAS
SOUND MAY HAVE ALTERNATIVE CONSISTENT SOUND-SYMBOL
SPELLINGS! RELATIONSHIPS!
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Spelling Rules
1. Drop the “e” at the end of a word before adding an ending such as “ed, er, en, ing”
(eg. hide/hiding wide/widen)
2. Simply add an ending to many words eg “ing, s, ed, er, or”. (eg visit, visiting, visitor)
3. When there is a short vowel before the last letter, double the last letter when adding an ending
(eg. sit/sitting, shop/shoppers)
4. When a syllable sounds short, the consonant at the end is probably doubled to begin the next syllable.
(eg hammer, kitten, rabbit)
5. When a word ends in “y”, change the “y” to “i” before adding an ending.
(eg happy/happier/happiest)
6. When adding “s” to a word that ends in a “consonant-y”, change the “y” to “i” and add “es”.
(eg fly/flies)
7. When adding “s” to a word that ends in a “vowel - y”, just add “s”.
(eg key/keys, valley/valleys)
8. When adding “s” to a word that ends in “f”, change the “f” to “v”, and add “es”.
(eg calf/calves) Exception: reef
9. Words that end in “ch, sh, x, s, z”, add “es” (eg. bunch/bunches)
10. Sometimes two words are contracted into one word. Use an apostrophe to show where letters are left out.
(eg cannot/can’t, would not/wouldn’t)
11. The letter “q” is always followed by the letter “u”. (eg queen, question)
12. Use “i” before “e” except after “c” only when the sound is “ee”
(eg receipt/field, deceive/grief) Exceptions: height, weight, weir, thief, science
13. Silent letters can be in any position in a word (eg wrong, listen, mate)
14. When two vowels are together, say the name of the first vowel (eg boat, rain, meat)
15. When “all” and “well” are at the beginning of a word, drop one letter “l”
(eg almost, although, welfare)
16. Most words of two or more syllables ending in “l”, only write one “l”
(eg parallel, initial, shovel)
17. When words end in “l”, always double the “l” when adding “ing, er, ed”
(eg control – controlling, travel – traveller, level -- levelled)
18. When “full” or “till” are added to a word, drop the final “l” (eg restful, handful, until)
19 When a word ends in “e”, keep the “e” if adding any suffix other than “ing”
(eg noticeable, manageable, courageous)
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ADDITIONAL TEACHING STRATEGIES
A variety of specific strategies can be used to support the “Seven Steps to Spelling Independence”.
While some children will develop their own strategies, others will benefit from having a variety of
techniques introduced to them. The Seven Steps and Spelling Independence has already introduced a
range of strategies including the LOOK, SAY, COVER, WRITE, CHECK PROCESS. The following
are additional strategies for teaching spelling.
1. Have a Go
When children want to write a word that they cannot spell, encourage them to try to write it on a ‘have a
go’ sheet.
In many cases the children’s attempt will be correct, or almost correct. Praise their attempts and write
the correct form for them. Don’t allow the children to copy the word from their ‘have a go’ sheet. Teach
them to look closely at the word, turn the sheet over, write the word from memory, then check to see if
they are right. (Look, cover, write, check). If they are wrong, this only means that they have forgotten
how the word looks and they should repeat the above process until they get it right.
Idea: When the ‘have a go’ sheet is full, place it in the ‘had a go’ box. Much information about the
types of mistakes that children are making can be gained by looking at these sheets. They will also help
to determine the words that children need to learn.
What to do if you can’t spell a word
Guess put a line under the word or circle it and check the spelling later
Write as much as you can of the word and fill in the details later, eg bec – s (because)
Syllabify tap out the syllables, saying them quietly, then write the word bit by bit, eg yes/ter/day
Write the word several ways and choose the one that looks right, eg lern, learn, lurn
Ask someone
Refer to chart, class lists, books around the room
Use a dictionary
2. Flashcards
Flashcards can be used to great advantage in spelling games and activities. Apart from the ease and low
cost of production, the word structure can be focused on and exposed for the necessary time and then
quickly placed out of view for the children to write. Children can undertake similar activities working in
pairs.
3. Overhead Projector
An overhead projector can be an asset in presenting word structures to children. Build up a list of words
on an overhead transparency and allow sufficient time for children to look at the words and develop their
own chunks and mnemonic devices. Cover the words, a few at a time or all at once and ask the children
to write them. Words can then be shown for children to check.
Idea: This activity can also be done using a blackboard or a whiteboard where the words can be covered
or removed. Teacher or a child can write the words for checking.
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4. Chunking Words
Try to memorise every letter of every word would be inefficient if not impossible. Efficient spellers use
a process of chunking. Chunking simply refers to the ability to perceive groups of letters as a whole. For
example, the structure ‘rain’ can be developed as a word cluster or chunk: strain, train, grain, sprain,
drain, refrain, raincoat. Note: words are grouped according to similarities in their visual structure. They
may not all have the similar sound – symbol relationships.
5. Morphemic Knowledge
The use of morphemic knowledge helps children in the recall of word structures. A morpheme is the
smallest unit of meaning within a word. Each word consists of one or more morphemes.
For example, the word ‘dog’ contains one morpheme, sometimes called a free morpheme, as it makes
sense on its own. In the word ‘dogs’, there are two morphemes: dog + s. The ‘s’ is the second
morpheme and known as a bound morpheme as it needs to be part of another word.
Often children may not realise that words can be broken in to morphemes or units of meaning. For
example, they may know the word ‘want’, but may not realise the common element ‘ed’ in the word
‘wanted’.
Knowledge of the structure of words and meaning and function of word parts, greatly assists children in
learning spelling generalisations. It also helps with associations and in predicting letter sequences, eg
history historian historians
historical prehistorian historically
prehistorical prehistorically prehistorian
The understanding of morphemic structures also aids children to see the logic in spelling, eg
Dissolve contains two morphemes, dis + solve and therefore has a double ‘s’. ‘Disappear’ only has one
‘s’ because the two morphemes are dis + appear. Similarly, unnecessary and unfamiliar.
Morphemic knowledge includes the study of prefixes, suffixes and base or root words eg:
knowledgeable
known
unknowing
know
acknowledge
unknown
knowledge
telephone
telegrapher
telecommunication
telegraphy
telekinesis
telegraphic
telepathically
telex
television
telemotor telegraph
telemetrograph
tele
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6. Word Banks
A variety of word banks/charts that relate to:
 Integrated studies/topic words

 Common English letter/patterns
 High frequency words/commonly used sight words
 Words with a similar meaning base
 Visual patterns
 Sound patterns
 Spelling generalisations
Children should participate in developing these word charts so they are meaningful to them. Their memories
can be assisted if the letter clusters representing the sounds in certain words are coloured differently form the
rest of the word, especially for young children.
Lots of children’s published word should also be displayed around the room/school. These should be
legible/typed with correct spelling.
7. Dictation
Dictation is a valuable activity and provides children with a further opportunity in which to write from
memory.
Dictation can be presented in a number of ways.
a) Memory Dictation
Select a group of words, sentences or a story containing words to be focused upon.
Provide children with time to study difficult words or word parts and allow time for
discussion. When the children are ready, gradually cover the words and ask the children to
write them.
Uncover and check. This can be done using an overhead projector or the blackboard.
Idea: Another way of keeping a more permanent reference is to use a large sheet of
paper covered with contact. The words to be covered can either be blanked out with a
water soluble texta or have cards placed over the top of them.
b) Round Robin Dictation
Ask children to look closely at a list of words. When the children feel that they know all the
words ask them to make up a sentence using as many of the words as possible. Children, in
turn, then dictate their sentence to the rest of the group to write. Then have children pass
their written sentences around the group to check the spelling.
c) Dictation with a Difference
Learning to be an accurate speller in the normal course of a writing activity is an essential

skill, but must be coupled with real-life activity such as editing processes, and construction of
final drafts for text which is to be made public for any reason. A much more helpful strategy
than traditional dictation is dictation with a difference:
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Procedure
Sort the students in the class into groups of three, and couple two groups of three together. Each
trio prepare for their partner group a small paragraph of dictation (ensure that groups are within a
common phase of spelling – this means that really poor or really good spellers will be working at
their own levels). The dictation text must include several sentences and some punctuation in
addition to full stop marks. The students keep their dictations ‘a secret’ from their partner group
and work on it to ensure that all words are correctly spelled (teacher must check each groups’
text before giving the dictation to the other group).
After the two texts have been checked (by the teacher), one student from each group gives the
dictation to the three students in the partner group. The process is repeated for the other group
(each student writes the dictation down as it is read out – this allows the three students to cross-
check spelling with other members).
Each group has one whole day to ensure that they have edited their spelling (check among
themselves, use dictionaries).
When each member of the group agrees that the piece is now perfectly spelled, the texts from
both groups are given back to the writers of the text for a final check.
d) Meaningful Dictation
Meaningful dictation simply refers to the dictation of some relevant written piece.
e) Diagnostic Dictation
Dictate an unseen passage including word structures, which the children have experienced.
Children should have at least 75% success with the passage. Give the children time re-write the
passage.
8. Spelling Journals
The introduction of spelling journals into the class helps to individualise spelling on the basis of children’s
writing needs. Words to be included in the child’s journal can come from any they have done across the
different curriculum areas. Teachers may also include class focus words, sight words, interest words and
subject-specific words. (See Chapter 2 First Steps Spelling Resource Book for further details.)
9. Spelling Charts
The most important chart in the room is that which is being created by the children as an outcome of their
Reflection, Representation and Reporting sessions. These are described in Spelling: Developmental
Continuum (see pages 36, 52, 71, 91 and 106 of that book). It is on this chart that children’s discoveries are
recorded after they have been shared with the class. The chart serves three purposes.
 It gives value and status to children’s discoveries

 It helps children see where their current discoveries fit into the overall spelling system
 It serves as a record for the teacher of what children actually know
10. Reference Books
It is important to ensure that there are a variety of resources available for checking spelling, eg commercial
dictionaries, thesauruses, resource books, children’s self-made dictionaries. Children need to know what
resources are available and have a clear understanding of how they should be used. Resources need to be
readily accessible.
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 Dictionaries: Teach students how to use a dictionary! For example, the words in the English
language are such that the first quarter of the dictionary is made up of words beginning A-D;
the second quarter E-M; the third quarter N-S; and the fourth quarter T-Z. If not shown
these important ‘short-cuts’, young children have a tendency to start at the front of a dictionary
to find words at the end of the alphabet. Therefore, giving experience in opening at
approximately halfway, then at the quarters gives them a valuable starting point.
Teach students that more than first letters of words are alphabetised. Give them real-life practice
by having students look through telephone books or any other alphabetised, catalogued system to
find people and places in their local district.
Finding words in a dictionary is not a speed-related exercise! AVOID whole class sessions
in which you expect students to locate words in a dictionary as some sort of competitive rush
(this is NOT real-life practice). Students soon learn that some of their peers are extremely fast;
and the slower students simply give up trying when they know they will never be first in such an
exercise. Relate dictionary work to the real life purposes of a dictionary: finding word meanings
and checking spelling!
11. Spelling Games

The following spelling games and activities help to reinforce concepts being taught. They can also be used to
strengthen particular areas of need for students experiencing difficulties. More examples of such activities can
be found in The Art of Teaching Spelling (chapter 2 pp 8-23 – available in the Resource Centre).
 Bonus Points
This game helps children to spell orally without the aid of the visual form and also to spell new words
by adding a morpheme.
Players: two teams
Materials: a pool of words on flash cards
A player in Team A takes a card from the pool of words, says the word and puts it in a sentence. A
player from Team B tries to spell the word. If correct he scores a point. The team then tries to score
bonus points by spelling as many other words as they can by adding a morpheme to the base word. The
team with the highest points win.
 Syllables Bingo
Grids are prepared containing word parts. The caller reads out words containing these word parts and
the children place a marker on the letter sequence contained in the words called. The first player to have
five in a row is the winner.
ain de tion ang ing

un ible ness ment use
dis ey ed ure
ight es er ent ous
able ance ly ant tious
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For a basic list of suffixes and prefixes refer to the resource section.
 Prefix (or Suffix) Race
Given a prefix (or suffix), the children try to list as many words as they can containing that prefix (or
suffix) in a given time.
 Find the Prefixes (or Suffixes)

The children select a piece of text from a book they are reading or a piece they have written and list
all the words with prefixes (or suffixes).
 Word Tic-tac-toe
The rules of tic-tac-toe apply but, instead of X’s and O’, use words which are associated with other
words. Each player uses a different colour pen.
roundest rounding
around
rounder
This same game can be used for: words which apply the same rule, eg doubling the final consonant
before adding ‘ing’; plurals which have the same endings, etc; and words which stem from the same
Latin or Greek roots.
 Compound Concentration
Prepare a set of cards of words which, when placed together, form compound words. The cards are
placed face down and the children take turns to turn over two. If they make a compound word they
may be kept as a pair. If not the cards are turned down again. Continue until no more compound
words can be formed. The player with the most number of compound words at the end wins the
game.
straw cat meal fish ear
drum hand out home start
berry house ball book butter
fly litter box bug mush
green room run note net
play base drag ground lunch
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The compound words can then be defined and illustrated by the children, eg a flagpole is a pole for a
flag.
 The Quick Spell
In small group teams the children are given spelling tasks to complete within a time limit. The words
are written on card by all members of the team and displayed to the opposing team who accept or
reject responses. Each word correctly spelt scores a point.
Spell a word that comes from the base word __________.

Spell a word that can be combined with ___________ to form a new word.
Make a new word from __________ and spell it.
Spell a word that has the prefix _____________.
Spell a word where ‘es’ is added to make it plural.
Spell a homonym/synonym/antonym of _______.
 Bunny Hops
Write familiar words on a grid. The children find the words and list them.
T S W H I C H
U W H A T D A
O H Y S A I V
B O T P U T M
A R E E O S E
which, why, put, what, about, its, are
 Guess the Word
The teacher (or one player/leader of a group) begins to write a word. From what is written the
children try to guess the word.
p po pol polic police policem policema policeman
OR
The teacher or leader thinks of a word and describes it to the children. They try to guess what the
word is.
I have four letters.
I begin with a consonant.
I have two vowels in me.
The two vowels are in the middle.
The first letter is one of the first three letters of the alphabet.
One of the vowels is an ‘o’, etc.
 Hangman
One child thinks of a word and writes the appropriate number of dashes to indicate that word. The
children then take turns to nominate a letter in the appropriate space. If they do not guess correctly,
part of the ‘hangman’ picture is drawn. If the picture is drawn before the word is guessed, then the
hangman wins.
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 Word Transformation
Give the children a list of words each of which makes a new word when the letters are rearranged.
lose  sole dear  read

does  dose tear  rate
 Make the Word
Letters of the alphabet or letter clusters are distributed to the children. The teacher or leader calls a
word and those having the letters/letter clusters for that word form the word by holding the letters in
front of the class. They then arrange themselves to make a new word.
 Letter Rummy
A deck of cards is prepared containing:
 Three sets of single vowels (plus extra e’s)

 Two sets of single consonants
 Consonant groups (wh, ch, spr)
 Vowel groups (oi, ou, ea)
 Prefixes (re, un, de)
 Suffixes (tion, ence, ment)
 Verb endings (ing, ed, er)
 ‘Irregulars’ (ar, ough)
The idea is to make words. Each player is dealt five cards and the remaining cards are placed face
down in a pile. The top card is turned face up. The first player may take the upturned card or the
card on the top of the face-down deck. When a card is picked up one must be put down. One point
is scored for each card used to make a word.
 Jumbled Words
Children can unjumble words as part of a game. Remember to keep syllables or chunks of words
together. It is confusing if all the letters are jumbled.
 Contraction Cloze
Children can compose their own short paragraphs which contain words that need a prefix, suffix or
other ending and give them to a friend as a cloze exercise.
I was _ _ _ felling happy because I could _ _ _ go to the foot _ _ _ _. I had never felt so _ _
Happy. I’_ _ never been to the football before even though I’_ _ watch it on _ _.
(n’t, n’t, ball, un, ve, ve, TV)
 Hidden Words
Use the letters of a word to form new words.
HIPPOPOTAMUS
hip, hop, top, pot
Then group these words according to a common pattern in sound, sight or meaning.
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 Card Games
Using games like snap, fish, pairs, concentration:

Match words with the same blends; make a blend word; sort cards into groups according to
sound-symbol relationships.
 Dice Games
Children make a word using the blend.
 Bingo
Children mark with counters the blends they hear when words are called by the teacher.
 Blend Spinning Wheels & Charts
 Word Riddles, Puzzles and Games
Lay with wonderwords, crosswords, word codes.
I have an ‘ee’ sound.

I begin with an ‘sp’ blend.
I’m fast.
What am I?
 Flip Books
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 Blend Hookey
Each player throws five rings and then tries to make a word.
 Board Games
Snakes and Ladders
As the children throw a dice and move along the board they make a word beginning or ending
with the blend they land on. Landing on a ladder means move up. Landing on a ladder means
move up. Landing on a snake’s head means move down.
Variation: Children can say two or three words using the blend they land on.
 Dice and Board Games
Create a maze-type board. As the children throw the dice and create a word using the combination of
letters, they move through the maze.
Using a sheet marked as a scrabble board, the children build up words from letters or combinations
of letters that the teacher or group leader calls out. The child with the highest score at the end of the
game wins.
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ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
Assessment is a process of gathering evidence of students’ achievements as writers. Evaluation is a
judgement based on the evidence gained from Assessment (First Steps Spelling Resource Book 1995, p70).
Assessment and evaluation of children’s spelling development should be viewed within the context of the
whole English Program and writing in particular.
Assessment should always be carried out in relation to:
 The child’s stage of development

 The nature of the writing
Assessment should focus upon:
1. Students’ attitude to writing/spelling
2. Students’ knowledge of graphophonics, morphology and vocabulary
3. Students’ use of strategies to spell words
Assessment Strategies/Gathering Evidence
1. Teacher Observation
The indicators form the First Steps Spelling: The Developmental Continuum provide a focus for
observations. Information can be gathered about:
 What children do when they don’t know a word

 Their willingness to have a go/take risks
 Strategies used when attempting new words
 Willingness to proof read their own work
 Use of classroom reference material/resources
 Interest in words
2. Analysing Work Samples
The best form of evaluation is to compare a child’s current piece of writing with previous examples.
Samples of writing for each child should be collected and dated on a regular basis (2-3 weeks) and placed in
writing folders. They should include some initial drafts as well as proof-read material. Information can be
gathered about:
 The kinds of words the child is attempting

 The strategies the child relies on when attempting words (morphemic, visual or phonetic)
 Acquisition of a high frequency vocabulary
 Identification of incorrect words
 Use of varied vocabulary (not just words s/he can spell)
 Use of prefixes/suffixes
 Application of rules/generalisations
 Understanding of homonyms/homophones
 Habitual/consistent errors
 Development of proofreading skills
 Ability to generate alternative spellings/reasonable phonic alternatives
 The development in the writer’s spelling ability from the previous sample.
Children should record words spelt incorrectly in written work, in all subject areas, for individual reference.
A personal dictionary is ideal for this situation. Recorded comments by the teacher are invaluable here.
105
3. Teacher Constructed Tests
Teacher constructed tests are a useful assessment strategy within a spelling program, eg the Pre test/Post test
Method. Commercially produced tests, whether they are criterion-referenced tests or standardised tests, may be
a guide to the teacher of the children’s progress. When designing tests present the words within context. Both
the child and teacher should keep a record of children’s achievement in weekly tests for reference. Over the
long term teachers should undertake regular checks of spelling proficiency against words which have been
presented to children to check long-term retention of words.
4. Examining Children’s Records
Examining children’s individual records – the “have-a-go” card and personal word lists. Aspects to be
observed here are:
 Strategies for trying unknown words

 The types of words the children are interested in learning
 Children’s willingness to independently correct words
5. Dictations
Dictation of sentences or individual words. The children’s attempts would then be analysed in the manner
mentioned above.
6. Cloze Procedure
The cloze procedure – teachers select word structures which have been taught and design appropriate activities
eg:
 Use a picture clue: fi __

 The whole word may be omitted: The dog raced across the _________ .
 The initial or final letter or letter string may be omitted: The baby cried all _ight.
I love to watch televi___.
 The medial letter/s may be omitted: the m_ _n was bright yellow
 A letter sequence within the word may be omitted: Ivory comes from the ele ___nts.
7. Spelling Conferences/Interviews
It is important to talk with children about their spelling. Through such conferences and interviews, children’s
needs can be quickly assessed and plans made to support their development. (See First Steps Spelling: Resource
Book, p 72-3 for more information.)
8. Self-Assessment
Self-assessment is an important aspect of evaluation. Children have a good understanding of what they have
achieved, what they want to achieve and where they need help. Encouraging children to reflect on how they are
going is an important learning experience. (For further suggestions refer to First Steps Spelling: Developmental
Continuum p 110-115.)
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SCHOOL LEVEL EVALUATION
Screening and Review Tests are conducted at least once per year to ascertain whether students’
development is consistent with their age level expectations. Such tests provide feedback to teachers
about classroom programs and to the school about the effectiveness of the program.
Such tests include:
 School Entry Screening Test.
 End of Term 1 Year 1 – School Phonic Screening Test.
 End of Term 4 Year 1 – School Level Assessment of Phonics/Sight Words.
 School Level Assessment of Phonics in Term 4 Years 2-6.
 School Level Spelling Tests Years 2-7 (February) – Used to place children on appropriate
Core Spelling List. (See Below for norms)
SPELLING PLACEMENT TEST NORMS
SCORE BOYS’ Spelling Age LIST

1 – 14 5.3 – 6.6 A
15 – 24 6.7 – 7.6 B
25 – 35 7.7 – 8.6 C
36 – 46 8.7 – 9.6 D
47 – 57 9.7 – 10.6 E
58 – 67 10.7 – 11.5 F
68 – 73 11.7 – 12.5 G
74 – 81+ 12.7 – 13.7+ H
SCORE GIRLS’ Spelling Age LIST

1 – 17 <6.0 – 6.6 A
18 – 28 6.7 – 7.6 B
29 – 38 7.7 – 8.6 C
39 – 49 8.7 – 9.6 D
50 – 60 9.7 – 10.6 E
61 – 69 10.7 – 11.6 F
70 – 75 11.7 – 12.6 G
76 – 86+ 12.7 – 13.7+ H
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SCHOOL METALINGUISTICS/PHONICS/SPELLING
PROGRAM
RESOURCE LIST
* Byrne B. & Fielding-Barnsley R, Sound Foundations, Peter Leydon Publishing,

Oxford University, NSW
* Logan West SSC, (1997), The Metalinguistic Awareness Program, Dept of

Education, Qld.
* Varianes T., (1993), Sounds Abound – Listening, Rhyming and Reading,

Linguisystems, East Moline
* Lloyd, S., (1998), Jolly Phonics – The Phonics Handbook, Jolly Learning Ltd,
United Kingdom
* Love E. & Reilly S., (1996), A Sound Way – Phonological Awareness Activities
for Early Literacy, Longman, Melbourne
* Healy, A., (2000), Teaching Reading and Writing in a multiliteracies Context:

Classroom Practice, Post Pressed, Flaxton, Qld
* The Kids’ Stuff People, (1980), The Yellow Pages for Students & Teachers,
Incentive Publications, Inc.
* Winch, G. et al, (2001), Literacy – Reading, Writing and Children’s Literature,

Oxford University Press
* Education Dept of Western Australia, (1994), First Steps – Spelling (Develop-

mental Continuum), Longman Cheshire, Melbourne
* Education Dept of Western Australia, (1994), First Steps – Spelling (Resource

Book), Longman Cheshire, Melbourne
* Clutterbuck, P.M., (1992), The Art of Teaching Spelling, Longman Cheshire,

Melbourne
108
APPENDIX A: MUSGRAVE HILL STATE SCHOOL
PHONIC ELEMENTS CHART
CONSONANTS
1 b (as in 2 c (as in duck) 3 ch (as in 4 d (as in
b bb
baby) c k ck ch ch tch
chook) d dd
David)
5 f (as in 6 g (as in 7 h (as in 8 j (as in 9 l (as in

coffee)
f ff ph g gg
giggle)? hand)
h? j g ge
jam) lolly) ?
l ll
10 m (as in 11 n (as in 12 ng (as in
mummy) number) ring)
m mm mb me n nn kn ne on ng n
13 p (as in 14 r (as in 15 s (as in 16 s (as in
p pp
poppy) r rr
run) s ss se c ce
snake) si s
treasure)
17 sh (as in 18 qu (as in 19 t (as in 20 th (as in 21 v (as in

shark)
sh ti ?qu
queen) tough)
t tt thumb)
th ? vase)
v ve
22 w (as in 23 x (as in 24 y (as in 25 z (as in
wind) fox) yesterday) zebra)
w wh x y z zz ze s
VOWELS/COMBINATIONS
26 a (as in cab) 27 a (as in lady) 28 air (as in
hair)
a ? ai a a_e ay air are
29 ar (as in 30 e (as in bed) 31 ear (as in
large)
ar a e ea dear)
ear eer ere eir
32 ee (as in eek!) 33 er (as in 34 i (as in
ee e ea ey y fern)
er ir ur tin)
i ?
35 i (as in tiger) 36 o (as in block) 37 o (as in
ie i i_e igh o a open)
oa o_e ow oe
38 oi (as in foil) 39 oo (as in boot) 40 oo (as in look)
oi oy ? oo ew oo u
41 or (as in door) 42 ow (as in cow)
or a au aw oor our ore ow ou ?
43 u (as in treasure) 44 u (as in duty)
u er ar or ure a u u_e ue ew ? 109
APPENDIX B
B (as in baby)
b bb be
B
able because belt blue brand brush keyboard
baby bed best board bread bug maybe
back bee better boat break bun number
bad been big bog breakfast burnt observe
ball before bird boil bred bus pub
bang began birthday book brick but slab
bark begin bit bored bring butter suburb
barn behind black born broke buy tub
bat being bleed both broom buzz zebra
be believe blood box brother by
beach below blot boy brown crab
BB
bubble grubby rabbit rubble stubble wobble
crabby hobble ribbon scrabble stubborn wobbly
dribble nibble rubbing scribble stubby yabby
flabby pebble rubbish shabby tubby
BE
babe cube lube robe strobe tube
bribe globe probe scribe tribe
110
C (as in duck)
ck ch c ke k qu
CK
back cluck hack mock quack smack tack
black cock hick muck quick smock thick
block crack hock neck quickly snack tick
brick crock jack nick rack sock track
buck deck kick pack rock speck trick
check dock knack peck sack stack truck
chick duck knock pick shack stick tuck
chuck fleck lack pluck shock stock whack
clack flick lick pock shuck struck wick
click flock lock prick sick stuck
clock frock luck puck slack suck
CH
ache echidna orchid scholar school
architect epoch schedule scholarship schooner
chemist orchestra scheme scholastic stomach
C
across can’t caught clothes computer crash doctor
cake candle Christmas coal cool creep macaroon
call cannot cling coat cork cup tractor
came cash clock cold corner decade uncle
camp castanets clog colour could decline
can cat cloth come couldn’t decorate
KE
awake choke flake mistake rebuke spoke wake
bake coke hike partake revoke stake woke
bike drake joke poke sake stoke yoke
brake duke lake puke shake strike
broke eke like quake smoke stroke
cake fake make rake snake take
K
ask crook keyboard kitchen park stork work
bark disk kill kite pick talk
break drink killed kitten pork thank
breakfast fork kilometre look shark think
cook keep king milk skip walk
cork key kiss oak soak week
QU
antique conquer liquid oblique racquet
burlesque croquet liquor opaque technique
cheque grotesque mosquito physique unique
111
CH (as in chook)
ch tch
CH
achieve chalk cheap chimney churn march such
arch challenge cheat chimp chute much teach
attach chamber check chin cinch munch touch
bachelor champ checker China clench parch trench
beach champion cheek chip clinch peach wench
beech chance cheer chipmunk coach perch which
bench change cheese chirp couch pinch winch
beseech channel cheque chive crunch poach wrench
birch chant cherry chocolate detach porch
bleach chap chess choice dispatch preach
branch chapel chest choke drench punch
breach chapter chew choo-choo Dutch quench
breech charcoal chick choose each ranch
broach charge chicken chop finch reach
brunch chariot chide chore flinch rich
bunch charm chief chose French satchel
catcher charming child chubby impeach search
chafe chart children chuck inch speech
chain chase chill chum leach starch
chair chat chilly chunk leech stitch
chaise chatter chime church lunch stretcher
TCH
batch clutch fetch parch ratchet stretch witch
butcher crotch hatch match scratch switch wretch
blotch crutch hitch notch sketch thatch wretched
catch dispatch hutch patch snatch twitch
catcher ditch itch pitch splotch watch
112
D (as in David)
d dd de
D
and decide diary dismiss dream hard said
around deck did do drink lad sand
bad decrease didn’t doctor duck land seed
band definite die documentary due loud shed
bed den died does duel made sound
bird depart different doll during maid speed
bleed dependant dinner dollar end mud spend
brand dependent dip don’t fed old today
dad desert disappear done feed pad weed
daughter dessert disappeared door good paid wood
day destructible disc double grand red word
dead develop disease down had road
debt dialogue disk draw hand round
DD
addle cuddle fodder odd paddle shedding wadding
bedding daddy fuddle odder pudding shredder waddle
bladder diddle ladder oddest puddle sudden wedding
budding fiddle muddle oddly saddle toddler
DE
abide beside conclude glade mode ride stride
abode bide crude glide node rode strode
accolade blade decide grade nude rude Swede
altitude bode dude hide ode shade trade
aside bride evade include precede slide wade
astride chide exclude jade pride spade wide
attitude code explode lemonade prude stampede
barricade concede fade made recede stockade
113
F (as in coffee)
ph gh ff f
PH
alphabet graphic pharmacist phlegmatic phrase sphere xylophone
atmosphere graphite pharmacy phlox physic stratosphere
autobiography megaphone pharynx phobia physical telegraph
autograph nephew phase phoenix physician telephone
biography nymph pheasant phone physics topography
dolphin orphan phenomenal phoney physiology triumph
elephant pamphlet philanthropy phonics physique trophy
geography phalanx philosopher phonograph saxophone typhoid
gopher phantasm philosophy phosphate seraph typhoon
graph phantom phlegm photograph siphon vibraphone
GH
cough enough laugh rough tough trough
FF
bluff coffee fluff muffin ruffle sniff stuff
buffer coffin gruff off scoff snuff toffee
chaff cuff huff puff scuff staff traffic
cliff different muff raffle shuffle stiff whiff
F
elf fed finally flash food friend joyful
face feed find flat fool fright left
faint feel finish flew foot frill life
family feet fire flip for frog loaf
fan fell first float force from loft
far felt fish floor fork front often
farm fete fist fly found full roof
farther few fit foam four fun shelf
fast fight fizz fog fox fuzz sift
fat fill flag foil free gift soft
father fin flap follow fresh half
114
G (as in giggle)
g gg
G
big get goes grammar groceries guilt log
flag gift going grand ground gulp pig
fog girl gone great group gun slug
frog give good greed gruff gurgle tug
games glug goose green guarantee hog
gap go got grip guard jog
gas goal governor grit guess jug
gave goat gram groan guest leg
GG
baggage gaggle hogging juggler luggage wiggle
boggle giggle jiggle logged toggle
egg haggle juggle logging wagging
115
H (as in hand)
habitat harbour hear Henry his horn huge

had hard heard her hiss horse hum
hair has hearse here historical hospital human
half hat heater he's hit hot humorous
ham have heaven hide hog hotter humour
hand haven’t heavy high holiday house hungry
happen he’s hello hill home how hurt
happiness head help him hop hue husband
happy health hen hip hope huff
116
J (as in jam)
ge dge g j
GE
age cabbage college damage manageable postage savage
arrange cage cottage engage message rage stage
average change courage engagement page ravage wage
bandage changeable courageous manage passage sage
DGE
abridge budge edge hedge lodge sedge wedge
adjudge cadge fledge judge nudge sledge
alledge dodge fridge kedge pledge sludge
badge dredge fudge knowledge porridge smudge
bridge drudge grudge ledge ridge trudge
G
age engine genetic geography gym intelligent suggest
angel garage genre geriatric gyro legend
change general gentle germ hinge pigeon
danger generate gentry germinate huge rage
energy generation genuine ginger imagine revenge
J
jab January jersey jog joyful July junior
jack Japan jest join jubilee jumble juror
jackpot javelin jester joke judge jumbo jury
jade jaw jet jolly judgement jump just
jagged jay jewel jolt judicial jumpy justify
jail jeer jig journal judo junction jut
jam jelly jingle journey juice June juvenile
janitor jerk job joy juicy jungle
117
L (as in lolly)
l ll le
L
adult cloth fluff last little lung quickly
alive coal fly later live milk real
almost coil fool lead loaf nail sail
along cool goal leave lock nearly shelf
always early gulp leaves loft o’clock slab
animal elf help left lone oil sleep
believe explain holiday leg long only slip
black feel island lemon look place slow
bleed felt jail less loose plain slowly
blood flag joyful let lose plane slug
blot flap lad lick lost planet stool
blue flat ladies lie loud plant tail
boil flew lady life love please television
children flip lamp light low plot told
clang float land like luck police wool
cling floor laser litre lunch pool
LL
all collision frilly hull pulled small unwell
allow doll full I’ll pulley spell wall
ball dollar gallop jelly sell speller well
balloon drill gill jolly selling spelling will
bell dull gorilla kill shall spill willing
call fell gull killed shell still windmill
chill fill hall litter sill tall woollen
collect finally hello lolly silly tell yelled
college follow hill mill skill till
collide frill holly pull skull tiller
LE
able candle edible jingle noodle sparkle trouble
ankle castle feeble jumble particle sprinkle tumble
apple cattle fizzle jungle people steeple turtle
article circle freckle legible pickle struggle twinkle
bangle couple gargle little pimple table uncle
battle cradle gentle mangle poodle tangle visible
beetle crumble handle marble possible terrible wangle
bottle curdle horrible middle purple thimble whistle
bristle cycle humble mingle puzzle thistle wrestle
buckle dapple hurdle muscle responsible tingle wrinkle
bugle digestible icicle muzzle scramble title
bundle dimple idle needle sensible topple
bungle double impossible nestle shingle tremble
cable eagle invisible noble shuffle trifle
118
M (as in mummy)
m mb mm me
M
am him map meat mirror most mysterious
broom imp marry media miss moth pram
camp lamp masculine member mist mother ram
charm machine mat men moan mouse stamp
chimp made mathematics menu moment much storm
chum main maximum met money mud stump
foam make maybe metre month mum swam
from man mayor might moo music swim
grim manager me millimetre moon must swum
ham manufacture meal minimum more my term
hem many meant minutes morning myself them
MB
bomb comb dumb limb plumber tomb

climb crumb lamb numb thumb womb
MM
accommodate dummy grimmest mummy slimmest swimming
clammy gimmy hemmed shimmer summer tummy
dimmer glimmer Jimmy slimmer swimmer yummy
ME
blame crime flame grime name same volume
came dome frame home perfume shame
chime exhume fume lame presume slime
chrome extreme game lime prime tame
costume fame gnome mime resume time
119
N (as in number)
n nn kn on gn ne
N
ant end land nasty noise pen spoon
band fan loan nearly none pin spun
barn fun main neck north queen then
bin green man neither not rain thin
born groan men new nothing ran tin
bun gun moon next now run van
can hen nail nine number sand
chin horn name nip nut snap
den in nap no pan snip
NN
banned cranny inner napped planned running
banning Danny manned panned planner stunned
canned fanned manning panning planning stunning
cannery fanning nanny penned runner uncanny
KN
knack knead knelt knife knitting knoll knowledge
knapsack knee knew knight knob knot known
knave kneel knicknack knit knock know knuckle
ON
action collection destruction fiction junction perception rotation
affection competition detection infection lotion perfection section
attention composition devotion injection mention protection selection
attraction condition dictation integration motion ration taxation
auction conjunction direction intention notion resolution
citation definition emigration invention objection revolution
GN
assign champagne foreign gnaw reign
benign consign gnarled gnome resign
campaign design gnat gnu sign
NE
alone decline fine masculine prune swine zone
bone dine hone mine recline throne
cane divine immune nine sane tone
clone done lane pane serene tune
cone drone line pine shine vane
convene dune lone plane shrine vine
crane feminine mane prone stone wine
120
Ng (as in ring)
ng n
NG
along ding gong pang sing string ting
angry dong hang ping slang strong wing
bang dung hung pong sling stung young
bong evening hungry prong something sung zing
bring fang king rang song swing
clang finger long ring sprang swung
cling fling lung rung spring thing
clung gang morning sang sting things
N
bank crank flunk plank sink stunk
blank dank frank plunk slink sunk
blink drank hank prank slunk tank
brink drink honk rank spank thank
bunk drunk junk rink spunk think
clink dunk mink sank stank wink
clunk flank pink shank stink
121
P (as in poppy)
p pp pe
P
chap hop paint pie rip speed top
chimp imp pan pig sheep spell up
chip keep pant pin ship spill yap
chop lamp park pit shop spoon zip
cup lap pat porch slap sport
dip map peck pork sleep spot
drip nap peep pot slip spun
flap nip pen pram snap tap
gulp paid pest pub snip thump
hip pain pet puff soap tip
PP
apple dipped flapping lapping ripped snapped upper
appropriate dipping happy mapped ripping snapping yapped
chopper dripped hopped mapping shopped snipped yapping
clipped dripping hopping napped slipped tapping
cupped flapped lapped napping sloppy tipped
PE
agape drape grape lope ripe slope telescope
ape dupe gripe mope rope stethoscope tripe
cape elope hope nape scope stripe wipe
cope escape hype pipe scrape swipe
dope gape landscape pope shape tape
122
R (as in run)
wr rr r
WR
wrack wrath wren wretch wrinkle writhe wrung
wraith wreak wrench wriggle wrist wrong wry
wrangle wreath wrest wright writ wrote
wrap wreck wrestle wring write wrought
RR
barrier carrot farrier hurried merry sorrow tomorrow
berry carry ferry hurry mirror sorry torrid
borrow cherry flurry lorry Murray terrible warrant
carrier curried furrier married parry terrific warrior
carrion curry horrid marry slurry terrifying
R
brand green raised receipt rescue rock rush
brick grim ran receive rest rocket street
bring grit rash recipe restaurant rode string
carrot groan rat recommend rich roof strong
crash gruff reach red ride root
creep rabbit ready regard right rot
forest race real remember ring round
frog rag realise replied road rug
grand rain reason require roam run
123
S (as in snake)
s ss se ce c st ps
S
against is sand sit soap stamp this
almost its sang six soft star upstairs
always last sat sixth soil start us
ask loose saw slab some state was
best lost say sleep someone still west
bus mistress scene slip sometimes stone worse
business misty school slow song stop yes
clothes myself sea slowly soon storm
disappear outside see slug sound story
disc passenger seed small south straight
disk past set snail speed street
fast rest seven snake spoon stuck
first sack sift snap sport such
gas sadness similar sniff spot suddenly
has said since snip spotty summer
inside sail sister soak spring sun
SS
across chess fuss less miss possum
bless confess guess lesson mistress sadness
bliss cross hiss loss moss toss
boss dress kiss mass pass undress
business floss lass mess passenger unless
SE
appease coarse ease loose nose rouse use
cheese course horse moose nurse spouse worse
choose curse hose morse please tease
chose douse house mouse rose terse
CE
ace embrace introduce nice place rice truce
advice face justice niece police service twice
apprentice farce lace notice practice silence vice
bounce fence lattice office precipice since voice
chance force lettuce once price slice
deuce furnace lice pace produce space
device grace mace palace race spice
dice graceful menace peace reduce trace
distance ice mice piece replace trounce
C
accept cement cider circus cycle juicy tricycle
accident cent cigar cite cyclone parcel
cedar centre cigarette citizen cylinder pencil
ceiling central cinch citrus cymbal receive
celery cereal cinder city cypress recent
cell ceremony cinnamon civil cyst saucer
124
cellar certain circle civilization fancy sincere
ST
apostle castle fasten hustle moisten thistle

bristle chasten glisten jostle nestle whistle
bustle epistle hasten listen rustle wrestle
PS
psalm psyche psychology psychotherapy

pseudo psychedelic psychopath psychotic
pseudonym psychiatrist psychosis
pseudonymous psychiatry psychosomatic
125
S (as in treasure)
s si
composure enclosure exposure measure pleasure treasure
SI
adhesion confusion diversion explosion occasion vision

collision conversion division fusion persuasion
conclusion decision erosion intrusion television
126
Sh (as in shark)
ch ti sh si
CH
champagne charlatan chauffeur chemise chevron chute
charade chassis chef chenille chivalry machine
TI
action collection destruction fiction junction perception rotation
affection competition detection infection lotion perfection section
attention composition devotion injection mention protection selection
attraction condition dictation integration motion ration taxation
auction conjunction direction intention notion resolution
citation definition emigration invention objection revolution
SH
abash crash gash plush sheep shut thrash
afresh crush gnash posh sheet slash thresh
ash dash gush push shelf slosh thrush
bash dish hash rash shell slush wish
blush enmesh hush rush shimmy smash
brash fish lash sash ship splash
brush flash lush shall shock squash
bush flesh mash shark shoes squish
cash flush mesh she shout stash
clash fresh mush shed shush swish
SI
commission expansion extension mission occasion passion possession
discussion expression mansion obsession omission pension
127
Qu (as in queen)
QU
antique equip quack quaver question quirk squall
brusque grotesque quaff quay queue quite square
burlesque inquire quail queasy quibble quiver squash
cheque liquid quaint queen quick quiz squid
conquer liquor quake Queensland quickly quoit squirrel
croquet loquacious qualm queer quiet quota technique
equal mosquito quarry quell quill quote unique
equate oblique quart quench quilt racquet
equator opaque quarter query quince request
equinox physique quartz quest quip squad
128
T (as in tough)
t tt te
T
ant fist lost pet sit teeth toy
bat fit mat pit soft tennis tub
bit flat meet pot sport test tug
blot float met rat spot tie twist
boat gift mist root start tin wet
but grit not rot street tip
cat hat nut sat tail toast
chat hit out sheet tan tongs
coat it paint shot tap tooth
faint lit pat shout taste top
fat loft pest sift teddy torch
TT
battle cattle fitter kettle mettle stutter
bitter critter flatter litter patter vetted
bottle fetter flutter little rattle wattle
butter fitted ghetto matter shutter
TE
absolute compete dote hate parachute state wrote
acute complete excite ignite paste taste
ate concrete excrete institute quote tote
athlete crate fate invite rote tribute
bite cute flute jute salute ute
brute date gate kite site vote
chute discrete grate late skate waste
cite dispute haste mate slate white
129
TH (as in thumb)
aftermath forth nothing the thigh though throw

bath froth oath theatre thimble thought thrust
beneath girth other theft thine thousand thud
berth growth path their thin thrash thug
birth health pith them thing thread thumb
both heath quoth theme think threat thump
breath herewith sheath thermal third three thunder
broth length sixth thermometer thirst threw thus
cloth loth sloth themselves thirsty thrice tooth
clothes maths smith then thirty thrift wealth
death mirth south there this thrill width
depth month strength these thistle thrive with
everything moth than thesis thong throat within
father mother thank they thorn throb wrath
feather mouth thankful they’re thorny throne wreath
fifth ninth that thick thorough throttle
filth north thatch thief those through
130
V (as in vase)
v ve
adventure event never vast vex violent volume

advice ever revoke veer vice violin vote
aviary every revue vent victim virtue voter
convene everywhere seven verb victory virus
divine halves severe verse video visual
drive heavy vacation very view vital
even invite van vest vine voice
evening knives vase vet vinegar volley
VE
above cave drive grave move sleeve

achieve clove drove have observe stove
alive contrive eve hive rave strive
arrive cove five improve remove strove
behave crave gave jive retrieve survive
believe dove give live shave wave
brave drive glove love slave wives
131
W (as in wind)
wh w
WH
everywhere wheat whence whiff whinny whisper whittle
whack wheedle where while whip whist whoa
whale wheeze whether whim whirl whistle whopper
wharf whelp whey whimsical whisk white whorl
what when which whine whisker whither why
W
always swing wasn’t well wind without word
awake swum water went windmill woke work
away swung wax were window woman world
awoke walk way west wing women worse
swam want we wet wish won would
sweet war weak wick witch wood wouldn’t
swift warm weed will with wool
swim was week win within woollen
132
X (as in fox)
axe exonerate expend explore external extravagant mix

box exorbitant expenditure explosion extinct extreme mixed
boxer exotic expense exponent extortion extrovert mixing
boxing expand experience export extra exult six
except expanse expert expose extract fax sixth
exempt expatriate expire exposition extradite fix tax
exercise expect explain express extraneous fox wax
exile expectation expletive extend extraordinary foxes x-ray
exist expedient explicit extenuate extrapolate lax
existential expedition explode exterior extra-sensory laxative
exit expel exploit exterminate extra-terrestrial maximum
133
Y (as in yesterday)
y
yahoo yaw yell yeti yolk yourself

yak yawn yellow yield yonder youth
yam year yelp yodel you youthful
yap yearling yes yoga young yo-yo
yard yearly yesterday yogurt youngster yum
yarn yeast yet yoke your yummy
134
Z (as in zebra)
zz ze s se z
ZZ
buzz drizzle fizzle frizzy fuzzy muzzle razzle
dazzle fizz fizzy fuzz jazz puzzle whizz
ZE
ablaze blaze craze freeze
amaze breeze daze graze
S
boxes days eggs joys leaves pianos thieves
chasm delays Fraser keys lives radios toys
chimneys does friends knives lunches relays upstairs
cousin dogs goes laser observe sheaves wolves
SE
appease choose lose phase please tease
cheese ease noise phrase rouse whose
Z
razor zealous zero zinc zodiac zoo
zeal zebra zest zip zone zoom
135
A (as in cab)
add cat fat lamb quack snag van

ant catch flag lamp rack snap wax
at champ flat land rag span yam
ax chance gal mad ram splash
back clam gap man ran stab
bad clamp gas map rang stack
bag crack glance match rap stamp
bat cramp gnat nag rat tab
black crash grab nap sack tacks
bland dad grand pack sad tag
brand dam grant pad sand tan
cab damp had pal sang than
camp dance ham pan scab that
can dash hand pant scrap track
candle drab handle pat slab trap
cap fact hat plan slap trash
cash fan jab plant slat vamp
136
A (as in lady)
ai ay a_e a eigh ei
AI
again chain flail mail quail stain wail
against chaise frail maim quaint strain wain
aid claim gaily main raid strait waist
aide daily gain maize rail tail wait
ail dainty gait nail rain taint waive
aim drain grain paid raise trail
bail explain hail pail sail train
bait fail jail pain saint trait
braid fain laid paint slain twain
brain faint lain plain snail vain
braise faith maid praise staid waif
AY
away day hay nay slay today
bay dray holiday pay splay tray
bray flay jay play spray way
clay fray lay ray stay
crayon gay may say stray
A_E
ace cake evade grate mate sake state
agape came exhale grave maze sale stave
age cane face graze mistake same take
ale cape fade hale name sane tale
amaze case fake hate nape save tame
ape cave fame haze pace scrape tape
ate chase fate jade page shade trace
babe crane flake knave pave shake trade
bake crate flame lace place shame vale
bale crave gale lake plane shape vane
base date game lame plate skate wade
bathe daze gate lane quake slate wage
behave deface gave late race slave
blame degrade gaze lathe rage snake
blaze disgrace glade mace rake space
brace drake glaze made rape spade
brake drape grace make rate stage
brave engage grade male rave stake
cage enrage grape mane sage stale
A
able congratulations ladies population stranger vacation
arrange danger lady Sadie table
baby invitation nation station vacate
EIGH
eight eighty neigh sleigh weighty
eighteen freight neighbour weigh
EI
feint rein veil vein
137
Air (as in hair)
air are ear aer
AIR
affair airline dairy flair pair unfair
air airport despair hair repair
aircraft chair fair lair stair
ARE
aware compare flare pare scare square
bare dare glare parent share stare
beware declare hare prepare snare ware
care fare mare rare spare warehouse
EAR
bear pear rear swear tear wear
AER
aerate aerobatics aerogram aeronautic aerosol
aerial aerodrome aerolite aeroplane aerospace
138
AR (as in large)
ar a
AR
afar barn charcoal garment mar party stark
arc car charge guard march radar start
are card charm hard mark sardine tar
ark cardinal chart hark market scar tart
arm carnation dark harm mart scarf tsar
art carp darn harmony par shark yard
bar carpet dart harp parcel sharp yarn
barb cart depart harsh parch smart
bard carton far jar pardon spar
bargain cartoon farm lard park spark
barge carve gar large part star
bark char garb lark partridge starch
A
after bath castle father mask path task
aghast blast craft flask mast raft vase
ask cask draft ghastly master rafter vast
banana casket fast half nasty rajah vastly
bask cast fasten hasp past rascal verandah
basket caste faster last pastie rasp
139
E (as in bed)
e ea
E
beck chest fence kept next sell tell
bed clef fetch led pebble send ten
beg crest fleck ledge peck sent tent
bell deck fled left peg shed test
bend dell flesh leg pen shell them
bent dense fresh less pep shred then
best dent gem let pest sled vent
bet desk get level pet sledge vest
bled dress hedge men pledge slept vet
bred dwell helmet mend press smell vex
cell edge help mess quell sped web
bench egg hem met quench spell wed
blend elbow hen neck red spend wedge
bless ever jelly nest rent spent well
centre fed jest net rest stress went
cent fell jet never scent swept wept
EA
already breath dread heaven instead meant spread
bread dead feather heavy jealous read tread
breakfast deaf head homestead lead ready weather
140
ear (as in dear)
ear eer ere eir ier er
EAR
appear dear ear hearing sear year
bleary dearest fear near shear yearling
clear disappear gear nearly spear
clearly dreary hear rear tear
EER
beer deer jeer pioneer sneer veneer
career eerie leer queer steer volunteer
cheer engineer peer sheer veer
ERE
adhere hemisphere interfere revere sincere stratosphere
atmosphere here mere severe sphere
EIR
weir weird
IER
frontier pier tier
ER
mysterious serious
141
EE (as in eek!)
ea ee y ey e ie ei i
EA
beach cleat ease knead peach reap tea
bead cleave eat lead peak release teach
beak creak feast leaf peal scream teak
beam cream feat leak peat sea team
beast crease feature lean plea seal tease
beat creature gleam leap plead seam treat
bleach deal glean least please seat veal
bleak dean grease leave pleat sneak weak
bleat decease heal meal preach speak yeast
breach disease heap mean reach squeak zeal
cease dream heat neat read squeal
cheap each heave pea real steam
clean eagle increase peace ream streak
EE
agree deed freeze leech reel sleeve three
bee deem geese leek screech speech tree
beech deep glee meek screen speed tweed
beep eel greed meet seed spleen weed
between fee green need seek spree weep
bleed feed greet peek seem squeeze wheel
breech feel heed peel seen steel wheeze
breed feet heel peep seep steep
breeze flee jeep peeve sheen steeple
cheek fleece keel preen sheep street
cheese fleet keen queen sheet teem
creed free knee reed sleep teeth
creep freed lee reek sleet thee
Y
army drowsy glory jury navy rocky very
baby easy grocery lady nursery silly weary
bunny factory happy lazy party stingy zany
bury fairy hardy liberty penny study
busy family heavy lucky plenty surgery
canary fancy hungry memory pony taffy
city funny hurry mummy poppy tiny
country furry ivory mystery puppy twenty
county fury ivy naughty quickly ugly
EY
alley honey journey monkey
hockey jockey money storey
E
be begin belief between me reneg we
before beguile beneath beyond recant return
began behind beside he rely she
142
IE
achieve brief fiend grieve piece relieve siege
belief chief friend handkerchief priest shield thief
believe field grief niece relief shriek yield
EI
ceiling deceive perceive receive seizure
conceit neither receipt seize sheikh
I
burial diva furious intrigue serious
curious epilogue immediate investigate siesta
deviate fatigue instigate radiate various
143
Er (as in fern)
ur er ir ear
UR
blur churn fur nurse spur surplus turpentine
blurt cur furl nursery spurn surround turquoise
burden curb furnish nurture spurt survey turret
burg curd furniture purge surf survive turtle
burglar curfew further purl surface turban urban
burlap curl hamburger purloin surge turbine urchin
burlesque curse hurdle purple surgeon turbulent urge
burn cursive hurl purpose surgery turf urgent
burnt curt hurt purr surmise turkey urn
burr curtain hurtle purse surmount turmoil
burst curtsy lurch return surname turn
church curve lurk slur surpass turnip
ER
berth jersey perception perk perspire serpent termite
fern merchant perch permanent persuade servant terrain
germ mercury percussion permission persuasion serve verse
her mercy perfect permit pert service
herb mermaid perform perpendicular pertinent stern
herd miserable perfume perplex reverse swerve
hermit nerve perhaps persist serge term
jerk percent perjury person sermon terminal
IR
affirm dirk flirt quirk smirk thirty
bird dirt girl shirk squirt twirl
birth fir girt shirt stir whir
chirp firm girth sir swirl whirl
circle first irk skirt third
circus firth mirth smirch thirst
EAR
earlier early earnest earth hearse pearl search
earliest earn earnestly heard learn research yearn
144
I (as in tin)
bib film kid nick ship sting wig

bid fish king nil shrill stitch will
big fist kiss nip sick strip win
bill fix knit pick sift swim wing
bin grin lid picnic silk thin wit
brick grip lift pig simmer thing with
bridge hid limb pin sin this wrist
chick hill lint pinch sip tickle yip
chin him lip pit sister till zip
dig hint list rib sit tin
dill his lit rid six tip
dim hit milk rift skill twin
dip ill miss rig slit twist
dish in mist rill spill vision
fib inch mister rim split whiskers
fig jig mitt rip stick whistle
fill kick nibble risk still wick
145
I (as in tiger)
i_e y igh i ie ye
I_E
abide chive kite nine shine strive while
advice cite knife pile shire swipe whine
advise crime lice pine shrine thrice white
arrive fife life pipe sire thrive wide
aside file lime price size tile wife
beside fine line prime slice time wine
bide fire live prize slide tire wipe
bile five mice rice slime tribe wire
bite glide mile rife smile tripe wise
bribe grime mime rile spice twice
bride gripe mine ripe splice vice
brine hive mire rise stile vile
chide ice mite rite strife vine
chime ire nice scribe stripe vise
ally cyclone fry nylon reply sty why

apply defy hybrid occupy rhyme style wry
asylum deny hydrant ply satisfy supply
buy dry hydraulic pry shy terrify
by dyke hyena psychology sky try
comply dynamic identify pylon sly type
cry electrify multiply qualify spry typhoon
cycle fly my rely spy tyrant
IGH
airtight fight frightful knight nigh sight tonight
alight flight height lighten night slight
bright fright high midnight plight tight
delight frighten highness might sigh tighten
I
behind blind grind kind miser wind
bind find hind mind rind wiser
IE
applies lie plies tied tried

die pie tie ties tries
YE
dye rye
146
O (as in block)
o a ou
block cock dot job mod pot snob

bog cod drop jot monster rob sob
bomb cog flop knob mop rock sock
bond common fog knock moss rod song
boss con fond knot moth rot spot
bottle cop forgot lock nod rotten stock
box cost fox lodge not shock stop
broth cot frost loft on shod top
chop crock gloss log ox shop toss
clock crop gob lollipop plod shot
clod cross got lop plop slob
clog dock hobble loss plot slop
clop dodge hock lost pocket slosh
closet dog hog lot pod slot
cloth doll hop mob pond smock
cob dollar hot mock pop smog
because quality squabble swamp wand wash

halt quantity squalid swan wander wasp
malt quarrel squander swap want watch
quad quarry swab wad warrant wattle
qualify salt swallow wallet was what
OU
cough trough
147
O (as in open)
oa o_e ow o oe
OA
afloat coast foam load moat roach toad
approach coastal gloaming loaf oaf road toast
bloat coaster gloat loafer oak roam toasted
boast coat goad loam oaken roan unload
boat coax goal loan oat roast whoa
broach cockroach goat loath oath shoal
cloak croak groan loathe oatmeal soak
coach float groat loaves poach soap
coal foal hoax moan poacher throat
O_E
alone cone froze mode quote stone yoke
bode cope globe mope robe stove zone
bone cove grope node rode strobe
broke crone home nose rope strode
choke dome hone note rose stroke
chose dope hope phone rote suppose
chrome dose hose poke rove those
clone dote hove pole scope throne
close doze joke pope slope tone
clothes drone lobe pose smoke tote
clove drove lone probe smote vote
coke elope lope prone stoke woke
OW
arrow burrow grow lowest owner shown throw
bellow crow grown meadow pillow slow thrown
below elbow growth mellow rainbow slowly tomorrow
blow flow know mow shadow snow tow
blown follow known mown shallow sow widow
bow followed low narrow show stow window
bowl glow lower own showed swallow yellow
O
ago going no piano solo video
almost hello o’clock potato studio volcano
echo hero only radio told
Eskimo kilometre open ratio tomato
go most over so torpedo
OE
doe hoe potatoes toe woe
foe poem throes tomatoes
148
Oi (as in foil)
oi oy
OI
adjoin coil disjointed joint point roil void
appoint coin embroil joist poise soil
asteroid conjoint enjoin loin purloin spoil
avoid counterpoint foil moist quoit subjoin
boil despoil foist noise recoil toil
broil devoid hoist oil rejoice turmoil
choice disappoint join ointment rejoin voice
OY
annoy coy destroy enjoy joy ploy troy
boy decoy destroyer enjoyable joyful royal
convoy deploy employ gargoyle loyal toy
149
Oo (as in boot)
oo ew ue
OO
bloom coo goose mood roost soon tooth
boom cool groom moon rooster spoof troop
boost coop hoop moose root spool whoop
booster doom hoot noon school spoon zoo
boot drool loom noose scoop stool
brood droop loop pool shoot stoop
broom food loose proof sloop swoop
choose fool loot roof smooth too
cocoon gloom moo room snooze toot
EW
anew chew grew new shrew strew
askew crew jewel newt skew threw
bedew dew knew pew slew view
blew drew lewd renew spew
brew flew mews review stew
UE
accrue blue cue ensue gruel rue true
argue clue due fuel hue statue
barbeque cruel duel glue rescue sue
150
Oo (as in look)
oo u
OO
book crook footstep hood looked soot wooden
brook crooked good hoof nook stood wool
cook foot goodbye hook rook took woollen
cookies football goodness look shook wood
U
bull bush pudding push sugar
bullion full pull put
151
Or (as in door)
au aw or a oor our ore oar ar oa
AU
audit author cause fraud jaunt pauper
applause auto caution fraught laud pause
audience autograph clause gaudy launch sauce
audition automobile daub gaunt launder saucer
auditor autumn daughter gauze laundry saunter
aught bauble daunt haughty maul taught
augment because exhaust haul naughty taunt
August caucus faun haunch nausea taut
authentic caught flaunt haunt paunch
AW
awe brawn draw hawk paw scrawl thaw
awesome caw drawl hawthorn pawl shawl trawl
awkward claw drawn jaw pawn spawn yawn
awning craw fawn law prawn sprawl
bawl crawl flaw lawn raw squawk
brawl dawn gnaw mohawk saw straw
OR
abhor consort forlorn important porch sore torn
abort cord form lord pork sort tornado
absorb core fort more port sport tort
accord cork forth morn record store transport
adorn corn fortune morning report stork wore
assort distort glory nor score storm worn
bore for gorge normal scorn sword
born ford horn north shore thorn
chord forge horse or short torch
chore fork ignore orb snore tore
A
all call hall small stall walk
balk chalk mall squall talk wall
ball fall pall stalk tall
OOR
door floor indoor moor outdoor poor
OUR
course four fourth pour source
court fourteen mourn resource your
ORE
adore chore fore score sore wore
before core ignore shore store
bore encore more snore tore
152
OAR
abroad board coarse hoarse soar
boar broad hoard roar
AR
dwarf swarthy ward warmth wart
quarter toward warm warn wharf
swarm war warmer warp
OA
abroad broad
153
Ow (as in cow)
ou ow
OU
abound bout douse grouse ouch renounce stout
about cloud enshroud grout ounce resound surmount
account clout expound hound our round surround
aground compound flounce hour out scour trounce
aloud confound flounder house outside scout trout
amount couch flour impound paramount shout vouch
announce count flout loud pouch shroud without
around crouch foul louse pound slouch wound
astound denounce found lout pout sound
blouse devour fount mound profound sour
bough devout gout mouse pronounce south
bounce discount grouch mouth rebound spout
bound doubt ground noun remount sprout
OW
allow chowder crown frown jowl prowl vow
bow clown down gown now renown wow
bower cow drown growl owl row yowl
brow cower endow how powder shower
brown cowl flower howitzer power sow
chow crowd fowl howl prow town
154
U (as in treasure)
or ar o er u ou ure a
OR
actor councillor editor inspector motor senator visitor
agitator counsellor elevator inventor navigator supervisor
alligator creditor emperor major operator tailor
anchor debtor error manor orator tenor
auditor dictator executor minor professor terror
aviator director factor mirror radiator tractor
conductor doctor horror monitor sailor tutor
AR
burglar collar muscular regular sugar
cellar dollar peculiar similar vinegar
circular modular perpendicular singular vulgar
O
above cover honey monkey plover tongue
among discover love month shovel welcome
another done lovely mother smother won
become dove lover none some wonder
brother dozen Monday onion son wonderful
come front money other sponge worry
coming glove monk oven ton
ER
after copper finger member proper shoulder tiger
batter corner flounder meter quarter shower timber
better cover foreigner monster quicker silver tower
blister dancer golfer mother quiver sinister trigger
bluster daughter hammer mutter rather sister twitter
bother diameter jumper offer reader slower under
boxer dinner keeper order recorder smarter water
breaker driver learner other remember spider weather
brother Easter leather over retriever stronger whether
butcher enter letter oyster river summer winter
butter falter lighter paper rover supper
chatter farther lobster peeper rubber taller
clever father longer pepper runner teacher
clover fatter manner powder seeker temper
consumer fiddler matter power shorter thunder
155
U
bluff clump fudge husk plunge slump swum
blunt clutch fun hut plunk slung swung
blush crumb fund jug plus slunk swung
brunch crunch fuss jump plush sprung truck
brush crust fuzz jungle pub spun trunk
bubble cub glut just pug spunk trust
buck cud grub jut pulp struck tub
buckle cuff grudge luck pump strung tubby
bud cull gruff lug pun stub tuck
buff cup grump lull punch stubby tug
bug cut gull lump pup stuck tumble
bum drudge gulp lunch rub stump tummy
bump drum gum lung ruffle stun turrett
bun dub gun much rug stung tusk
bunch duck gush muck rum stunk ugly
bundle dud gut mud run stunt umbrella
bungle dug gutter mug rung sub uncle
bunt dull hub mull runner suburb under
burro dumb huff mum rush such under
burrow dump hug munch rust suds unjust
bus dusk hull mush rustle sum unload
bustle dust hum null rut summer until
but dux humble nun shut sun unwell
butter fluff hump nut skull sung up
buzz flung hunch pluck skunk sunk upper
chum flush hung plug slug supply us
club fluster hunt plum slum surrey
OU
anxious curious flourish infectious nourish ridiculous tough
capacious dangerous furious jealous obvious riotous tremendous
capricious delicious generous joyous outrageous rough trouble
colour disastrous glorious malicious perilous serious various
conscious double gorgeous marvellous piteous spacious vicious
country encourage gracious mucous poisonous suspicious vigorous
couple enormous grievous mutinous precious tedious young
courage enough harbour mysterious previous thorough
cousin famous hideous nervous prosperous touch
URE
adventure culture failure measure puncture treasure
agriculture departure figure picture Scripture venture
composure enclosure fracture pleasure seizure
creature exposure furniture pressure structure
151
A
abash adore aghast along anonymous around attempt
abbreviate adrift ago always apology arrange attention
about affront agree amendable appeal arrest atune
abrupt afloat alarm among appear arrive disagree
accord afresh alive amount applause asleep
account again allow announce apply assault
across against alone annoy appoint astride
adorable agape along annul approve atop
152
U (as in duty)
u u_e ue ew
U
beautiful cubic education puny ukulele user
beauty duly fury student union
Cuba duty futile tuba usable
U_E
cube fortune fuse pure tune ute
cure fume mule tube use
UE
argue continue due issue rescue statue value
EW
curfew ewe nephew skewer
dew few new stew
153
APPENDIX C: CORE SPELLING LISTS
LIST A
a by him my she with
all do his no so yes
an for I not the you
and get in of to
as go into on up
at had is one us
be he it onto was
but her me or we
LIST B
about book fall have man play sit this
above box feet hit may ran six three
add by find hot men read sleep time
also came fish land mum red slide today
am can five late name ring some took
are car four led need run soon two
ate cat from let nine said stop upon
back cut fun like off say sun week
ball dad goes list our sea swim when
bed day going little out see ten will
big dog got look pack seem that win
bit doll hand lot pet set them
black eight has make plant seven they
LIST C
after did green kept must right there who
afternoon does grow kind near road there's why
again door happy know need room these winter
air down head later new same things wish
any Dr help left none saw think won
anybody each here less now say told word
anyone eat here's life number school too work
anywhere end herself line off seem tree write
around even he's live often sent trip year
ask face hide long oil she's try yellow
away far high low old show under your
beach farm himself lunch once sing until
been fast hold made only slow use
before father home many open small very
best feel hope maybe other soon walk
bird fell house mean over sound want
blue felt how milk page spell warm
154
boat first I'd Miss park start wash
body fly if moon part still watch
boy forget I'll more pick story water
bring form I'm morning place such way
bus found inside most plane summer well
call funny its mother pool take went
children gave it's move postman tea were
clean girl I've Mr put tell what
cold good jump Mrs race than where
come gram just Ms rain thank which
cool great keep much ride then while
See “Literacy Benchmarks Yrs 3,5 and 7 Writing, Spelling and Reading” pp 18-21
List D
able buy ever ground letter please sound wind
across camp every group light point space window
ago cannot everyone hadn't lost pretty state within
airport can't everything happened love pull steal without
allow carry exit hard maybe Queensland stone woke
almost cent eyes hasn't might quiet study woman
along change family hear money ready suddenly won't
already close fast heavy music real summer work
always colour few he'd nearly remember sure world
animal corner fight homework never rest talk would
aren't could finally horse night river team wouldn't
Australia couldn't fire hour nobody round that's wrote
baby country floor ice nothing sadness their young
bathroom dead flour idea o'clock scare together
because didn't flower inside only seashore tonight
began dinner follow isn't outside seatbelt town
begin disc/disk food it's own second train
behind does friend knew paper seen turn
being doesn't fright knife past sentence used
below done front ladies peace she'd video
better don't full lady people should war
between drink games large person sight wear
both during give last picture since weekend
bread early gone learn piece someone we're
break easy goodbye leave planet something which
broom either grandfather leaves playground sometimes white
155
List E
address burnt flew important often south upstairs
afterwards busy football invite otherwise spring wasn't
against city footpath join parents stain weather
although couldn't force joyful party station west
angry depart fortnight killed pass street we've
ankle died fraction kitchen people sugar what's
answer different genre later plane teacher who's
area doctor germ laugh police tear year
aunt dollar ground lead present they'd yesterday
beach door guard lunch push they'll you'd
beautiful downstairs hair month reach they've you'll
birthday dream half mountain really those you're
blood earth haven't mouse rocket thought you've
bought east heard myself room threw
broke Easter he'll never she'll through
brother enough hello next shoes tomorrow
brought example holiday none sister trouble
brown finish hurt north slowly uncle
List F
accept caught empty hospital mixture quickly they're wrist
accident centimetre energy hungry moment quiet though wrong
ache centre enter hurt music quite thought yesterday
across certain equal industry neither ready tomorrow young
activity choose everybody information nearly really touched
actually Christmas everywhere interpret newspaper reason towards
adult classify except island noise recent tired
adventure clothes explain jail numb refill tried
against computer factory judge numerous required trouble
aloud cooperate famous juice observe rescue usual
already costume favourite kept ocean road used
although country felt keyboard once sadness vacation
amount course figure kilometre opposite science video
answer cousin finally knock otherwise search visitors
appear dangerous fortnight laser parcel second waist
appeared decide forth last pass several waste
apply decrease fraction length peace shoes watch
arrive diary fridge library people sign wear
assembly different further litre percent silence weather
average disappear giant loose picture since weight
beautiful doctor group lose piece sometimes whether
believe double guess machine pilot straight whistle
board during half meant poem suburb white
bicycle earth happiness media prefer suddenly whole
blood easy health metre probably sure whose
breakfast edge heard millimetre program surprise without
built either heavy minutes public television woollen
camera electric horror mirror quarter terrible worse
156
List G
aboriginal argument calendar disease government mathematics quantity
aborigine attendance communicate documentary governor mayor question
accommodate audience comparison effect human minimum receive
achievement automatic council employee husband necessary recipe
adventure beginning counsel employer immediately neighbour recommend
advertisement behave course environment impossible occupation replied
advice behaviour capital equipment income opposition sincerely
advise belief daughter excite inquiry ordinary straight
affect bought decrease exercise interesting original stomach
agreement brought definite experience introduction parliament technology
allowed budget desert faithfully knowledge population telephone
ambulance business dessert fete language possible temperature
annual calculator develop fiction liquid principal
anxious character dictionary frightened manager principle
List H - Extension
accessible complement feminine masculine receipt unique
aeroplane compliment genetic mysterious restaurant unnecessary
agriculture conversation geography occasionally secretary vocabulary
analysis dependant guarantee particular separate
ancient dependent historical patience stationary
barbeque destructible humorous patients stationery
boundary dialogue independent perimeter stomach
breather economic investigate permanent temporary
brilliant editorial jewellery personal theatre
catalogue eligible judgement personnel thoroughly
Celsius encyclopaedia juvenile procedure unconscious
cheque eucalyptus manufacture queue unfortunately
157
APPENDIX D: Spelling Column Activity
WORD Syllable Base Word Plurals Prefixes Suffixes
Homophone Homograph Rhyming Word Antonym Synonym
158
APPENDIX D: SPELLING COLUMN ACTIVITY
WORD Syllables Base Word Plurals Prefixes Suffixes Homophone Homograph Rhyming Antonyms Synonyms Compound
Words Word (Y/N)
159
APPENDIX E: LSCWC Spelling Strategy
WORD LOOK SAY COVER WRITE CHECK
160
APPENDIX F: COMPOUND WORDS
afternoon evergreen household railway
afterwards everybody ice-cream schoolroom
anybody everyone income seaplane
anyone everything indeed seashore
anything everywhere inside seatbelt
anywhere fireside into shoelace
airport fisherman keyboard someone
armchair fishhook lighthouse something
bathroom football maybe sometimes
before footpath merry-go-round stairway
birthday footstep milkshake steamroller
blackberry forget moonlight streamlined
blackboard fortnight motorbike Sunday
blueprint forward myself sunshine
bonfire goldfish newspaper superman
bookcase goodbye nightgown supermarket
breakfast grandfather nobody tablecloth
broadcast grandmother notebook themselves
bulldozer grandstand nothing today
butterfly grapefruit noticeboard tomorrow
cannot grasshopper otherwise tonight
cardboard handsome outside township
classmate headlight overboard upstairs
coconut herself overhead watchman
cowboy highway peanut waterfall
crossroad himself playground weekend
cupboard homestead playhouse wholesale
doorstop homewards pocketbook within
downstairs homework postman without
driveway horseback Queensland workshop
The bolded words appear in the Core Spelling Lists
161
APPENDIX G: CONTRACTIONS
aren't she'll
can't she's
couldn't that's
didn't there's
doesn't they'd
don't they'll
hadn't they're
hasn't they've
haven't wasn't
he'd we'll
he'll we're
here's we've
he's what's
I'd who's
I'll won't
I'm wouldn't
isn't you'd
it's you'll
I've you're
she'd you've
Plus any other required
All of the above Contractions appear in the Core Spelling Lists
162
APPENDIX H: SOME COMMON HOMOPHONES
Definition: One or more words having the same sound as another but differing from it in meaning and spelling
air heir groan grown rain reign rein
aisle I'll isle guessed guest raise rays raze
allowed aloud hair hare rap wrap
ate eight hall haul raw roar
aunt aren't heal heel read red
awe oar or ore hear here read reed
ball bawl heard herd reel real
bare bear higher hire right rite write
beat beet him hymn ring wring
beech beach hoard horde road rode rowed
been bean hole whole root route
birth berth horse hoarse rose rows
blew blue hour our sail sale
board bored idle idol sauce source
border boarder in inn saw soar sore
bow bough its it's scene seen
boy buoy key quay sea see
bread bred knew new seam seem
break brake knight night seas sees seize
bridle bridal knot not sell cell
bury berry knows nose sew so sow
by buy bye lead led shore sure
caught court lessen lesson sight site
ceiling sealing loan lone slay sleigh
cent scent sent made maid soar sore saw
cereal serial mail male some sum
cheap cheep main mane son sun
check cheque mare mayor sort sought
chews choose meat meet stairs stares
choral coral medal meddle stake steak
chord cord metal mettle stalk stork
coarse course might mite stationary stationery
complement compliment miner minor steal steel
council counsel missed mist straight strait
creak creek more moor sure shore
currant current morn mourn tail tale
days daze muscles mussels tea tee
dear deer need knead team teem
dew due no know their there
die dye none nun threw through
ewe yew you one won throne thrown
fair fare pain pane tide tied
farther father pair pare pear to too two
feat feet passed past toe tow
fete fate patience patients vane vain vein
fir fur pause paws pores war wore
flaw floor paw poor pore pour wait weight
flee flea peace piece warn worn
flour flower peal peel way weigh
for fore four peer pier weak week
fort fought plain plane wear where
forth fourth practice practise weather whether
fowl foul praise prays which witch
freeze frieze pray prey whose who's
gait gate principal principle wood would
grate great profit prophet
grease Greece racket racquet
NB. One or more of the bolded words appear in the Core Spelling Lists
163
APPENDIX I HOMOGRAPHS
Definition: One or more words that have the same spelling but differ in meaning and sometimes
pronunciation, eg I play with the ball
I go to the ball
I had a ball at the party
air past
back pick
ball plane
bit play
board race
bread rest
down right
fast ring
felt run
ground sound
hand spring
hide state
hit tear
just train
kind trip
last turn
lead watch
leaves well
let will
light wind
might work
pass
All of the above Homographs appear in the Core Spelling Lists
164
APPENDIX J: SYNONYMS
aid-help hide-conceal quiet-soundless
beach-seashore high-tall quite-almost
below-beneath hit-bash-punch real-true-actual
big-enormous holiday-journey right-correct
big-gigantic holiday-trip road-street
big-great holiday-vacation say-speak
big-huge home-house scare-frightened
big-large hungry-famished see-observe
bit-piece hurt-injure-harm see-watch
board-plank join-enlist show-display
boat-ship just-fair sleep-rest
bought-purchased kind-generous slow-unhurried-behind
break-shatter kind-thoughtful spring-jump
call-phone left-departed start-begin
can-tin little-petite still-calm-quiet-motionless
come-arrive little-small stone-rock
dad-father little-tiny suddenly-quickly
dead-deceased-expired look-watch-see sure-certain
different-unusual many-lots take-steal
disappear-vanish might-strength talk-discuss
dog-canine moment-minute teacher-instructor
eat-consume money-cash tear-rip
empty-vacant mum-mother tell-relate
end-conclude nearly-almost things-objects
end-finish new-fresh-modern-current thought-idea
far-distant night-evening tired-weary
fast-quick noise-sound town-village
fight-attack none-nothing usual-common
friend-mate-pal old-ancient walk-amble
fright-fear open-exposed-unfasten walk-saunter
fun-enjoyment peace-tranquility-calm walk-stroll
go-leave pick-choose war-battle
great-mighty place-area-spot-location-site war-fight
ground-earth place-put whole-complete-entire
guard-protect present-gift will-determination
happiness-joy pretty-attractive win-succeed
happy-joyful pretty-beautiful write-transcribe
heavy-weighty push-shove wrong-unfair
NB. At least one of each of the group above appears in the Core Spelling Lists
165
APPENDIX K: ANTONYMS
after-before feet-hands new-old
all-none first-last north-south
allow-disallow for-against no-yes
always-never found-lost off-on
appear-disappear friend-enemy open-shut
arrive-depart gave-took over-under
aunt-uncle give-take past-present
back-front good-bad peace-war
beautiful-ugly great-small play-work
begin-finish ground-sky please-thankyou
believe-disbelieve half-whole pretty-ugly
below-above happiness-sadness pull-push
best-worse happy-sad quick-slow
big-little-small hard-soft rain-sun
bought-sold heavy-light ran-walked
boy-girl hello-goodbye right-wrong
breakfast-dinner here-there round-across
brother-sister high-low run-walk
buy-sell hope-hopeless same-different
children-adults in-out say-do
cold-hot inside-outside show-watch
come-go kind-unkind sleep-wake
cool-warm ladies-gentlemen start-finish
dad-mum lady-gentleman start-stop
day-night land-water stop-go
dead-alive lead-follow straight-crooked
decrease-increase left-right summer-winter
die-live life-death sure-unsure
different-similar light-dark swim-sink
disappear-reappear like-dislike teacher-student/pupil/learner
down-up live-die then-now
each-every long-short threw-caught
early-late loud-quiet tired-energetic
earth-sky love-hate today-tonight
east-west man-woman upstairs-downstairs
empty-full many-few used-unused
end-beginning men-women usual-unusual
even-uneven moon-sun white-black
exit-entry more-less win-lose
far-near morning-evening won-lost
fast-slow most-least
father-mother my-your
NB. At least one of each of the group above appears in the Core Spelling Lists
166
APPENDIX L: TENSE
Present Tense Past Tense Present Participle Past Participle
allow (s) allowed allowing allowed

appear (s) appeared appearing appeared
arrive (s) arrived arriving arrived
ask (s) asked asking asked
begin (s) begun beginning begun
believe (s) believed believing believed
bring (s) brought bringing brought
burn (s) burnt burning burnt
buy (s) bought buying bought
call (s) called calling called
can could
catch ) caught catching caught
catches )
come (s) came coming
decide (s) decided deciding decided
decrease (s) decreased decreasing decreased
depart (s) departed departing departed
die (s) died dying died
do ) did doing done
does )
drink (s) drank drinking drunk
eat (s) ate eating eaten
explain (s) explained explaining explained
fall (s) fell falling fallen
feel (s) felt feeling felt
fight (s) fought fighting fought
finish (es) finished finishing finished
fish (es) fished fishing fished
fly ) flew flying flown
flies )
follow (s) followed following followed
give (s) gave giving given
go ) went going gone
goes )
get (s) got getting got
guard (s) guarded guarding guarded
has ) had having had
have )
help (s) helped helping helped
hear (s) heard hearing heard
hide (s) hid hiding hidden
hit (s) hit hitting hit
hope (s) hoped hoping hoped
hurt hurt hurting hurt
know (s) knew knowing known
interpret (s) interpreted interpreting interpreted
invite (s) invited inviting invited
join (s) joined joining joined
jump (s) jumped jumping jumped
keep (s) kept keeping kept
kill (s) killed killing killed
167
lead (s) led leading led
let (s) let letting let
leave (s) left leaving left
lose (s) lost losing lost
make (s) made making made
mean (s) meant meaning meant
may might
observe (s) observed observing observed
pass ) passed passing passed
passes )
play (s) played playing played
put (s) put putting put
read (s) read reading read
ride (s) rode riding ridden
run (s) ran running ran
say (s) said saying said
see (s) saw seeing seen
sleep (s) slept sleeping slept
send (s) sent sending sent
spring (s) sprang springing sprung
stop (s) stopped stopping stopped
swim (s) swam swimming swum
talk (s) talked talking talked
take (s) took taking taken
tell (s) told telling told
throw (s) threw throwing thrown
trip (s) tripped tripping tripped
try ) tried trying tried
tries )
use (s) used using used
walk (s) walked walking walked
watch ) watched watching watched
watches )
wake (s) woke waking woken
will would
win (s) won winning won
work (s) worked working worked
NB. The Present Tense words all appear in the Core Spelling Lists
168
APPENDIX M: CONFUSED USAGE
To, too, two I went to the shop
We had an ice-cream too
I ate two ice-creams
Teach/learn My teacher will teach me but it is up to me to learn
May/can May I leave the room? (asking permission)

Can you read? (are you able to read)
Loose/lose My belt is loose

Don’t lose your money
Less/fewer I eat less than you (refers to quantity)

There are fewer children in 5A than 5B (refers to number)
Past/passed I walked past the shop

I passed my exam (always a verb)
Bought/brought I bought a cake from the bakery (from to buy)

I brought the little puppy home (from to bring)
Father/farther My father is a kind man

The farther I ran the more tired I became
Practice/practise I went to sports practice

I am going to practise my spelling
IRREGULAR PLURALS
baby-babies lady-ladies
beach-beaches life-lives
child-children lunch-lunches
Christmas-Christmases man-men
cloth-clothes money-monies
energy-energies mouse-mice
family-families myself-ourselves
fish-fish pass-passes
foot-feet person-people
half-halves policeman-policemen-police
ice-ice woman-women
knife-knives
169
APPENDIX N: PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES
Prefix Meaning Derivatives
Junior
re- again, back on reappear, recall, reclaim, redo, reduce, refinish, rejoin, reline, relive,
remain, remount, repaint, repay, replace, reply, return, rewrite
un- not unclear, uncommon, unconscious, undo, unequal, uneven, unfair, unfit,
unglue, unhappy, unhook, unkind, unknown, unlace, unload, unlock,
unpack, unsteady, untidy, untie, untouched, unwilling, unwind
Suffix Meaning Derivatives

Junior
-ary, -ery that which, aviary, bakery, boundary, cannery, creamery, dictionary, fernery, forgery,
place where granary, library, nursery, revolutionary, rockery, shrubbery
-er more “in degree” faster, fatter, lighter, sicker, shorter, slower, smarter, stronger, taller
-er one who adventurer, baker, beater, believer, boarder, boxer, buyer, camper,
carpenter, cleaner, dancer, doer, foreigner, fruiterer, grocer, helper,
jumper, packer, painter, player, preacher, robber, runner, swimmer,
teacher, thinker, walker, winner, worker, writer
-est most “in degree” cleanest, deepest, easiest, farthest, latest, longest, loudest, skinniest,
tightest, widest
-ful full of awful, beautiful, careful, cheerful, delightful, dreadful, eventful, faithful,
fearful, graceful, hopeful, helpful, joyful, masterful, peaceful, playful,
plentiful, skilful, successful, thankful, thoughtful, truthful, wonderful
-ly in the manner of, actively, attentively, eagerly, easily, fatherly, finally, friendly, happily,
like homely, kindly, justly, lonely, lovely, manly, motherly, patiently, quietly,
rapidly, really, sadly, sickly, silently, slowly, swiftly, truly
-y like bushy, cloudy, dirty, hilly, juicy, rocky, smoky, stony, stormy, woolly
170
Middle
a-, ab- away from abide, abloom, abnormal, abode, abound
bi- two, twice biannual, bicycle, biennial, bimetal, bimonthly, biped, bipolar, biscuit,
biweekly
dis- apart from, not disallow, disappear, disappoint, disarm, discontinue, discount, discredit,
disenchant, dislocate, disobey, distract
fore- in front, before forearm, forebode, forecast, forecastle, forefinger, forefoot, forefront,
foreground, forehand, forehead, foremast, forenoon, foresee, foretell
in- not inaccessible, inactive, inaccurate, inarticulate, incapable, inclement,

incomplete, inconvenient, incorrect, independent, indifferent, indirect,
infirm, insane, insincere, invisible
mid- middle midair, midday, midnight, midocean, midpoint, midships, midstream,

midsummer, midway, midweek, midwinter
over- over, above, overactive, overbold, overcharge, overcoat, overcrowded, overdress,

too much overeat, overflow, overgrown, overhang, overhead, overlay, overpay,
overreact, overrun, overtax, overturn
peri- around perimeter, periscope
pre- before precaution, precede, preclude, precursor, predate, predict, prefabricate,

prefer, prefix, premarital, prepare, prepay, presume, pretend, prevent,
previous
re- again, back on reappear, recall, reclaim, redo, reduce, refinish, rejoin, reline, relive,
un- not unclear, uncommon, unconscious, undo, unequal, uneven, unfair, unfit,
under- beneath unicellular, unicycle, unilateral
171
Middle
-able capable of, conquerable, drinkable, eatable, enjoyable, lovable, miserable, payable,
able to perishable, portable, presentable, readable, reliable, suitable, valuable,
washable, workable
-age state of being, acreage, anchorage, bondage, breakage, carriage, coinage, cottage,
place of, result of courage, luggage, marriage, orphanage, parsonage, personage, sausage,
shrinkage, village, wastage
-al relating to annual, biannual, biennial, canal, central, commercial, crystal, dental,
belonging to electrical, equal, final, local, natural, residential, royal, technical,
theatrical, usual
-ar one who beggar, liar, scholar
-en to make or ashen, blacken, brazen, broken, earthen, fallen, fatten, flatten, flaxen,
become golden, leaden, lengthen, roughen, shorten, silken, straighten, whiten,
widen, wooden, woollen
-ent one who agent, correspondent, opponent, student
tightest, widest
-ible capable of audible, divisible, horrible, incredible, legible, terrible, visible
-ice state of being advice, cowardice, justice, notice, practice, service
-ish having nature of bluish, childish, clownish, fiendish, foolish, sickish, sixish, whitish
-ish rather or like boyish, blackish, brownish, childish, foolish, girlish, selfish
-ist one who artist, biologist, botanist, chemist, communist, cyclist, dentist, florist,
humourist, journalist, loyalist, naturalist, optimist, pessimist, pianist,
realist, socialist, specialist, typist, violinist
-ive relating to active, captive, corrective, destructive, effective, expensive, explosive,

festive, impressive, inventive, native, objective, protective, talkative
172
Middle
(Cont’d)
-less without ageless, armless, careless, childless, cloudless, faithless, fatherless,

fearless, graceless, helpless, homeless, hopeless, merciless, motherless,
penniless, priceless, sleepless, waterless, witless, worthless
-ment state of being amazement, amusement, argument, commitment, employment, equipment,

excitement, government, instrument, judgement, measurement, movement,
payment, placement, punishment, refinement, refreshment, settlement,
treatment
-ness state of being blackness, blindness, brightness, business, darkness, emptiness, gladness,
goodness, greatness, happiness, illness, joyfulness, kindness, laziness,
likeness, openness, sadness, sickness, sweetness, thickness, weakness,
weariness, wickedness, worthiness
-or one who actor, auditor, captor, creditor, debtor, doctor, executor, governor,
inspector, sailor, supervisor, tailor, visitor
-ory place where directory, dormitory, factory, observatory, territory
-tion, -ion the act of action, attention, attraction, celebration, champion, collection, companion,
competition, composition, condition, conversation, correction, destination,
dictation, direction, division, education, election, examination, exhibition,
expedition, narration, nation, permission, population, procession,
protection, rejection, television, vacation
173
Senior
ante- before antecede, antechamber, antenatal, antepenult, anteroom, antetype
anti- against antiaircraft, antibacterial, antibody, anticatalyst, antichristian, anticlerical,

antidote, antifreeze, antiseptic, antisocial, antitank, antitoxin, antiwar
auto- self autobiography, autobus, autograph, autoharp, autohypnosis, automatic,

automobile, automotive
circum- around circumference, circumnavigate, circumpolar, circumscribe, circumstance
co- together, with cobelligerents, coefficient, coexist, cohabit, coheir
counter- against counteract, counterattack, counterbalance, counterclaim, counterculture,

counterrevolution, counterspy, counterweight
de- away, down deactivate, debar, debase, debrief, decamp, decrease, degrade, dehumidify,
delouse
dis- apart from, not disallow, disappear, disappoint, disarm, discontinue, discount, discredit,
disenchant, dislocate, disobey, distract
en- to make enable, encamp, encircle, enclose, encourage, endanger, endear, enfeeble,
enlarge, enrich, enslave, ensure
ex- from, out, beyond excogitate, excommunicate, excuse, exfoliate, expense, experience,
explain, explore, export, exsanguinate, extend, extract
extra- outside, beyond extracurricular, extragalactic, extrajudicial, extralegal, extraordinary,

extrasensory, extraterritorial
fore- in front, before forearm, forebode, forecast, forecastle, forefinger, forefoot, forefront,
foreground, forehand, forehead, foremast, forenoon, foresee, foretell
il- not illegal, illegible, illiterate, illogical
im- not immaterial, immature, immeasurable, imperfect, impersonal, impolite,

improper, impure
in- not inaccessible, inactive, inaccurate, inarticulate, incapable, inclement,

incomplete, inconvenient, incorrect, independent, indifferent, indirect,
infirm, insane, insincere, invisible
inter- between, among interact, intercede, intercept, interchange, intercontinental, interface,

interhouse, interleave, intermingle, intermix, international, interrupt,
intersection, interstate, interstellar, intertwine, interweave, interview
ir- not irradiate, irrational, irregular, irrelevant, irreligious, irremovable,

irreplaceable, irrepressible, irresponsible, irreverent, irreversible
174
Senior
(Cont’d)
mid- middle midair, midday, midnight, midocean, midpoint, midships, midstream,
midsummer, midway, midweek, midwinter
mis- wrong misadventure, misapply, misbehave, miscast, miscue, misdeeds,

misdirected, misfit, misfortune, mishap, misjudge, mislaid, mislead,
misname, misplaced, misread, misspell, misstep, mistake, misunderstand,
misuse
non- not
nonabrasive, nonburnable, nonconductor, nondurable, nonentity,
nonsmoker, nonviolent, nonvocal, nonvoter, nonunion
over- over, above,
too much overactive, overbold, overcharge, overcoat, overcrowded, overdress,
overeat, overflow, overgrown, overhang, overhead, overlay, overpay,
overreact, overrun, overtax, overturn
peri- around
perimeter, periscope
post- after
postdate, postpone, postoperative, postwar
pre- before
precaution, precede, preclude, precursor, predate, predict, prefabricate,
prefer, prefix, premarital, prepare, prepay, presume, pretend, prevent,
previous
pro- before, in front,
forward, forth procreate, produce, profess, profile, profound, project, pronoun, provoke
re- again, back on

reappear, recall, reclaim, redo, reduce, refinish, rejoin, reline, relive,
sub- under
subdivide, subheading, subject, submarine, submerge, subnormal,
subordinate, subplot, subside, subsoil, substandard, subtract, subtropical,
suburban, subway
super- above, over
supercede, supercharge, superego, superheat, superhighway, superhuman,
superintendent, superman, supernatural, supermarket, supernova,
superstitious, superstructure, supervise
tele- far away
telegram, telegraph, telephone, telephoto, telescope, television
trans- across
trans-Atlantic, trans-Australian, transcribe, transfer, transfusions, translate,
translucent, transmigrant, transmit, transplant, transpolar, transport,
transpose
un- not
unclear, uncommon, unconscious, undo, unequal, uneven, unfair, unfit,
under- beneath
undercharge, underclothes, underfed, underground, undergrowth,
undermine, underneath, underpay, underweight
uni- one
unicellular, unicycle, unilateral
175
Senior
-able capable of, conquerable, drinkable, eatable, enjoyable, lovable, miserable, payable,
able to perishable, portable, presentable, readable, reliable, suitable, valuable,
washable, workable
-age state of being, acreage, anchorage, bondage, breakage, carriage, coinage, cottage,
place of, result of courage, luggage, marriage, orphanage, parsonage, personage, sausage,
shrinkage, village, wastage
-al relating to annual, biannual, biennial, canal, central, commercial, crystal, dental,
belonging to electrical, equal, final, local, natural, residential, royal, technical,
theatrical, usual
-ance, state of being absence, abundance, acceptance, allowance, attendance, difference,

-ence disturbance, endurance, excellence, ignorance, importance, innocence,
guidance, obedience, patience, presence, sentence, science
-ant one who assistant, attendant, irritant, merchant, servant
-ar belonging to lunar, particular, popular, regular, singular, solar, triangular
-ar one who beggar, liar, scholar
-ee one who is addressee, employee, examinee, payee
-en to make or ashen, blacken, brazen, broken, earthen, fallen, fatten, flatten, flaxen,
become golden, leaden, lengthen, roughen, shorten, silken, straighten, whiten,
widen, wooden, woollen
-ent one who agent, correspondent, opponent, student
tightest, widest
-fy make or form into clarify, glorify, horrify, identify, justify, modify, notify, qualify, simplify,
testify
176
Senior
(Cont’d)
-hood state of being adulthood, babyhood, boyhood, brotherhood, childhood, falsehood,

fatherhood, girlhood, maidenhood, manhood, motherhood, neighbourhood,
parenthood, priesthood, womanhood
-ible capable of audible, divisible, horrible, incredible, legible, terrible, visible
-ic pertaining to, like angelic, artistic, athletic, atmospheric, classic, critic, dramatic, historic,
volcanic
-ice state of being advice, cowardice, justice, notice, practice, service
-ish having nature of bluish, childish, clownish, fiendish, foolish, sickish, sixish, whitish
-ish rather or like boyish, blackish, brownish, childish, foolish, girlish, selfish
-ism state of being antagonism, baptism, Buddhism, criticism, heroism, Hinduism, hypnotism,
magnetism, Mohammedanism
-ist one who artist, biologist, botanist, chemist, communist, cyclist, dentist, florist,
humorist, journalist, loyalist, naturalist, optimist, pessimist, pianist, realist,
socialist, specialist, typist, violinist
-ity, -ty state of being acidity, beauty, cruelty, opportunity, plenty, property, prosperity, purity,
rarity, reality, safety, sovereignty
-ive relating to active, captive, corrective, destructive, effective, expensive, explosive,
festive, impressive, inventive, native, objective, protective, talkative
-less without ageless, armless, careless, childless, cloudless, faithless, fatherless,
fearless, graceless, helpless, homeless, hopeless, merciless, motherless,
penniless, priceless, sleepless, waterless, witless, worthless
-ment state of being amazement, amusement, argument, commitment, employment, equipment,
excitement, government, instrument, judgement, measurement, movement,
payment, placement, punishment, refinement, refreshment, settlement,
treatment
-ness state of being blackness, blindness, brightness, business, darkness, emptiness, gladness,
goodness, greatness, happiness, illness, joyfulness, kindness, laziness,
likeness, openness, sadness, sickness, sweetness, thickness, weakness,
weariness, wickedness, worthiness
-or one who actor, auditor, captor, creditor, debtor, doctor, executor, governor,
inspector, sailor, supervisor, tailor, visitor
-ory place where directory, dormitory, factory, observatory, territory
177
Senior
(Cont’d)
-ous full of adventurous, courageous, dangerous, enormous, famous, furious, glorious,

humorous, joyous, marvellous, nervous, outrageous, prosperous
-ship state of being championship, fellowship, friendship, hardship, horsemanship, kingship,

lordship, marksmanship, ownership, partnership, penmanship,
relationship, sportsmanship, township, worship
-tion, -ion the act of action, attention, attraction, celebration, champion, collection, companion,
competition, composition, condition, conversation, correction, destination,
dictation, direction, division, education, election, examination, exhibition,
expedition, narration, nation, permission, population, procession,
protection, rejection, television, vacation
178
APPENDIX O: MNEMONICS
 A piece of pie
 You hear with your ear. Have you heard me?
 There is a lie in belief
 My pal is the Principal
 Animals eat meat
 People go on a bus to business
 The middle 'lls' are parallel
 Ice is a noun - so is practice
 Is is a verb and so is practise
 Never end a friendship
 An island is land surrounded by water
 The vowel 'e' is the only one in cemetery
 Cars are stationary
 Paper is stationery
 We greet people we meet
 If you're fast you go past and you won't last
 An ass and an ant are my assistants
 All pledge allegiance to the giant
 The canoe leaks like a shoe
 You fri the end of your friend
 Place names all have here in them – here, there, where, and everywhere
 Question openers begin with wh-who, where, what, when, why
 The fourth number in four
 Affect has an a for action
 The two twins are twenty
 Too has another o as well as to
 Necessary has one collar and two socks
 A special agent is someone in the CIA
 Don’t let the cat catch the mouse
 Separate has ‘a rat” in it
 Saturday is the day you are (u r) glad to see come each week
 Loose tooth
 In a diary you write about yourself so i comes first
 If you buy it you bought it
 If you bring it you brought it
 You can hear your heart
179
APPENDIX P: THE DEMONS
Children often misspell the following words. Find those you cannot spell and learn them.
The words have been gathered by teachers form the written expression.
List 1
again didn’t little some tried
allowed every many than two
always father mean their until
asked first money them very
because for noise then went
before friend off there were
beginning from once they when
believe front people this where
came getting said threw with
coming know school too writing
List 2
ache brought frightened necessary thought
all right children guess niece threw
aloud clothes hoping often through
animals coarse interesting onion together
another cousin judge received tonight
around daughter junior senior wanted
awful different ladies separate weigh
babies doctor library something would
beautiful escape money surprise
bought February morning they’re
List 3
angels decided excited occasion science
answer definite foreign parallel similar
arguing develop forty permanent sincerely
bicycle disappeared ghost picture statue
boundary disease government possession successful
burglar doctor guard principal taught
business doesn’t independent principle tongue
cemetery edge knot probably travelled
corridor eighth mechanic pyjamas truly
countries engine medicine safety
List 4
accommodation benefit disguise hygiene ninety
accurate brief enormous interrupt occurred
actually bulletin enthusiastic invention opposite
admittance celery exaggerate league orchestra
aluminium colonel exhibit leisure sufficient
annually committee familiar magazine temperature
apparatus conscious finally majority thermometer
athletic description gradually material unusual
aviator difficult guarantee mortgage variety
banana disappointed guilty nephew village
180
APPENDIX Q: WORDS FROM OTHER LANGUAGES
GREEK INDIAN (India) CHINESE SCOTCH (Gaelic) FRENCH
atomic jungle tea clan bizarre
botany calico mandarin slogan garage
church loot aztec whiskey façade
drama cot chocolate antique
pyjamas TURKISH valet
PERSIAN rajah horde elite
WEST INDIAN
bazaar
bandanna barbecue kiosk cliché
caravan
bungalow cannibal coffee sundae
chess
shampoo canoe janissary personnel
giraffe
cheetah hammock yoghurt compere
jackal
dinghy hurricane ballet
khaki
potato HAWAIIAN hangar
magic
ARABIC tobacco ukelele chef
orange
zero meringue
paradise
apricot ESKIMO SPANISH café
peach
algebra igloo renegade bouquet
scarlet
harem kayak cigar
shawl
sultan mosquito MEXICO
tulip
gazelle AFRICAN vanilla chocolate
turban
admiral gorilla mustang prairie
AUSTRALIAN cotton zebra cockroach judge
aboriginal almanac banana rodeo soldier
budgerigar lemon chimpanzee guitar chauffeur
boomerang assassin voodoo ranch connoisseur
swagman crimson zombi tornado restaurant
kangaroo coffee yam palomino
outback syrup stampede CELTIC
mallee zenith JAPANESE patio basket
alcohol hara-kiri taco valley
LATIN kimino plaza hill
bonus HEBREW tycoon banana
neutron camel jujitsu lasso IRISH
veto cinnamon judo Colleen
via sapphire karate ITALIAN shamrock
MALAY umbrella
gingham DUTCH GERMAN stanza SCANDINAVIAN
cockatoo hops sauerkraut piano outlaw
sarong scum kindergarten macaroni riding
emu bully blitz casino ski
bamboo busy delicatessen cameo fiord
raffia yacht pretzel arcade maelstrom
orang-utan cruise fahrenheit balcony
gong dock weiner bandit
deck rucksack opera
AMERICAN skate toy carnival
INDIAN freight zinc studio
canoe sleigh luck violin
tobacco waffle girl zany
tepee reef snorkel volcano
tomahawk spaghetti
hickory PORTUGUESE RUSSIAN pizza
pecan banana tsar piccolo
skunk cobra vodka model
chipmunk molasses commissar
moccasin marmalade mammoth
moose
toboggan
totem
181
APPENDIX R: ROOT WORDS
ANGLO-SAXON ROOTS A few examples – knife, knock, plot, plough
LATIN ROOTS
(base form)
audio, auditus I hear audience, audible
ago, actus I act, I do agent, active
anima life animal, animated
cado, casus I fall cadence
capio, captus I take captive captive, captivate
caput, capitis the head capital
cedo, cesses I go, I yield cede
centum a hundred century
cito, citatus I rouse excite
civis a citizen civilian, civil
clamo I shout exclaim
claudo, clausus I shut enclose, include
colo, cultus I till (the soil) cultivate
cor, cordis the heart core, courage
corpus, corporis the body corpse
curro, cursus I run current
curo care curious, accurate
decem ten decimal, decimate
dens, dentis a tooth dental, dentist
dico, dictus I say diction, predict
duco, ductus I lead deduce, deduction
facio, factus I make factory
fero I bear fertile, different
fides faith confident
finis the end finish, final
flecto, flectus I bend reflect, flexible
fortis strong fortify, fortitude
frago, fractus I break fracture, fragment
jacio, jactus I throw reject, inject
lego, lectus I choose elect, election, electoral
magnus great magnify, magnitude
manus the hand manufacture
mater a mother maternal, matron
maneo I stay permanent
mare the sea submarine
memor mindful memorable, memory
minor small minority
mitto, missus I send permit, transmit
moveo, motus I move removal, motor
multis many multitude
navis a ship navy, navigator
pater a father paternal
pello, pulsus I drive propeller, repel
pendo I hang pendant, pendulum
pes, pedis the foot pedal
pono, positis I place postpone
populus the people popular
porto I carry reporter, supported
scando I climb descent
182
ANGLO-SAXON ROOTS A few examples – knife, knock, plot, plough
scribo, scriptus I write describe, transcribe

sentio, sensus I feel sensitive
solus alone solitary, solo
specio, spectus I see inspector
spiro I breathe inspire, expire
strud, structus I build destroy
tendo I stretch tend, tendency, attend
eneo I hold tenet, tenable
terra the earth territory, terrace
traho, tractus I draw tract, tractable, traction
unus one unite, uniform
veneo, ventus I come prevent, eventually
verto, versus I turn avert, convert, revert
video, visus I see video, visible, videogame
volvo, volutus I roll revolve, revolution
GREEK ROOTS
astron a star astronomy, astronaut

auto self autograph, automatic
baros weight barometer
bios life biology, biodegradable
deka ten decade
demos people, common people democracy
graphos something drawn or written graphic, graphics, graphite
logos a word logic, dialogue
metron a measure meteorology, metronome
phono sound phoneme, phonemic
therme heat thermal, thermometer
zoion animal zoo, zoology
183
APPENDIX S: b baby
b bb
be
184
c duck
ke c ck
k ch qu
185
ch chook
_ch tch ch_
186
d David
d dd de
187
f coffee
gh ph f
ff
188
g giggle
g gg
189
h hand
h
190
j jam
ge g j
dge
191
l lolly
l ll le
192
m mummy
mm m me
mb
193
n number
n on ne
nn
kn
gn
194
ng ring
ng n
195
p poppy
p pp pe
196
qu queen
qu
197
r run
r rr wr
198
s snake
s c ce
ss se st
ps
199
s treasure
si s
200
s shark
sh ti ch
si
201
t tough
t tt te
202
th thumb
th
203
v vase
v ve
204
w wind
wh w
205
x fox
x
206
y yesterday
y
207
z zebra
s zz se
ze
208
a cab
a
209
a lady
ei a_e ai
eigh
ay
210
air hair
air are ear
aer
211
ar large
ar a
212
e bed
e ea
213
ear dear
ere ear eer
eir
ier
er
214
ee seek
e ee ea
ei
ie
ey y i
215
er fern
ur er ir
ear
216
i tin
i
217
i tiger
i i_e y
ie
ye
igh
218
o block
o a
ou
219
o open
oa o_e ow
oe
220
o foil
oi oy
221
oo boot
oo ew ue
222
oo look
oo u
223
or door
au aw ore
ar
or
a our
oa oar oor
224
ow cow
ou ow
225
u treasure
u er ar
ure
or
a ou
226
u duty
u u_e
ue ew
227

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MUSGRAVE HILL STATE SCHOOL

2. SCOPE OF THE PROGRAM 5

5. AFFIXES – MORPHOLOGICAL SYLLABIFICATION 34

10. SCHOOL LEVEL EVALUATION 101

11. RESOURCE LIST 102

A. Phonic Elements Chart 103

NB: Page 150 does not exist

This document was developed and compiled by:

Lorraine Shaw Deputy Principal

 Tricky words/Basic sight words

Teach “c” as in cat Alternatives to “c” as in cat eg

 School Level Assessment of Phonics in Term 4 each year

 Core Spelling Lists (Lists A to G See Appendix C) (p 108-111)

CORE SPELLING LISTS

Alternatives to “ea” as in “teach”

 School Level Assessment of Phonics in Term 4 each year

 Core Spelling Lists (Lists A to G See Appendix C) (p 108-111)

CORE SPELLING LISTS

Teach “ea” as in Alternatives to “ea” as in “teach”

 School Level Assessment of Phonics in Term 4 each year

Concept of a Word 1. Syllables Sentence Formulation Vocabulary

There are 4 components under the umbrella of Metalinguistics – Word Awareness,

 WORD AWARENESS – is the understanding of a word as a part of speech. It

 PHONEMIC AWARENESS – is the ability to perceive spoken and written words as

 SYNTACTIC AWARENESS – is the ability to accurately evaluate the

 SEMANTIC / PRAGMATIC AWARENESS – is the understanding of the use of

Research has shown that Metalinguistics awareness, particularly phonemic awareness is

 Say to the child: “Tell me, is …..

 Labelling items in the room with words.

Further ideas and information:

Some ideas for Syllable Activities:

Further ideas and information:

There are 2 skill levels:

 Step 1. Say to the child:

If the child has no difficulty, continue on with the next component.

 Step 2. Probe the child’s understanding of the instruction

Some ideas for Rhyme Activities:

Further ideas and information:

“A Sound Way” p 83-110

☺ Some ideas for Alliteration Activities:

Further ideas and information:

“A Sound Way” p 111 – 119

Sound analysis incorporates the 3 concept areas of

Some Ideas for Analysis Activities:

Further ideas and information

(syllable level) - trip

Some ideas for Blending Activities:

Further ideas and information

Some ideas for Segmenting Activities:

Further ideas and information

Some ideas for Manipulating Activities

 Say a word backwards

Further ideas and information

Some ideas for Syntactic Awareness (Sentence Formulation/Grammar) activities:

 Repeating key words is useful.

Some ideas for Semantic Awareness (Vocabulary and Meaning) Activities:

 Developing dictionary and thesaurus skills

Wonderful Whispers Funny Fingers

Developed and designed by Camilla Balym

Delightful Describer AiryFairy

SOME POINTS TO CONSIDER

TEACHING PHONICS AT MUSGRAVE HILL

I had to do my work as it was not neat enough.

hope _____ , sense _