Spell Your Way to Success
What do good spellers do?A quick overview of spelling strategies and rules for students taking the Ontario Literacy Test
Content
Spell Your Way to Success
John F. Ross March 2011
If you are like me, then spelling can be an issue. Do you like to write, yet your inability to spell stops you from putting your pen to journal? Are you nervous about how you will do on the Ontario Literacy Test because of your spelling? Mastering spelling takes practice and some simple strategies.
What Do Good Spellers Do?
They are aware of how words look They listen for sounds and combinations They break words into sound bites They break those bites into sound chunks They stop and think about letter arrangement
The I Before E Rule I before e, except after c or when sounded like "ay³ as in neighbour and weigh. Here are some words that follow the rule: IE words: believe, field, relief CEI words: ceiling, deceit, receive EI words: freight, reign, sleigh
The Exception to the Rule
Some exceptions: foreign, height, leisure, weird CIEN words are another exception to the rule. These include ancient, efficient, and science.
The Y Ending
When a word ends in "y" preceded by a consonant, you should usually change the "y" to "i" before adding the suffix:
± curly becomes curlier ± party becomes parties ± thirty becomes thirties, thirtieth
The Silent E
If a word ends in a consonant followed by a silent "e", drop the "e" before endings beginning with a vowel, but keep the "e" before endings beginning with a consonant:
± ± ± ± engage becomes engaging but engagement care becomes caring but careful fate becomes fatal but fateful scarce becomes scarcity but scarcely
The Double Consonant
Double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel if both of the following are true: the consonant ends a stressed syllable or a onesyllable word, and the consonant is preceded by a single vowel:
± ± ± ± drag becomes dragged wet becomes wetter occur becomes occurred, occurring refer becomes referral, referring
Good Spellers
Experiment with spelling options Don¶t give up Practice Study those words that you are unsure of
Read, Read, Read
http://www.nipissingu.ca/english/hornbook/spelling.htm
John F. Ross March 2011
If you are like me, then spelling can be an issue. Do you like to write, yet your inability to spell stops you from putting your pen to journal? Are you nervous about how you will do on the Ontario Literacy Test because of your spelling? Mastering spelling takes practice and some simple strategies.
What Do Good Spellers Do?
They are aware of how words look They listen for sounds and combinations They break words into sound bites They break those bites into sound chunks They stop and think about letter arrangement
The I Before E Rule I before e, except after c or when sounded like "ay³ as in neighbour and weigh. Here are some words that follow the rule: IE words: believe, field, relief CEI words: ceiling, deceit, receive EI words: freight, reign, sleigh
The Exception to the Rule
Some exceptions: foreign, height, leisure, weird CIEN words are another exception to the rule. These include ancient, efficient, and science.
The Y Ending
When a word ends in "y" preceded by a consonant, you should usually change the "y" to "i" before adding the suffix:
± curly becomes curlier ± party becomes parties ± thirty becomes thirties, thirtieth
The Silent E
If a word ends in a consonant followed by a silent "e", drop the "e" before endings beginning with a vowel, but keep the "e" before endings beginning with a consonant:
± ± ± ± engage becomes engaging but engagement care becomes caring but careful fate becomes fatal but fateful scarce becomes scarcity but scarcely
The Double Consonant
Double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel if both of the following are true: the consonant ends a stressed syllable or a onesyllable word, and the consonant is preceded by a single vowel:
± ± ± ± drag becomes dragged wet becomes wetter occur becomes occurred, occurring refer becomes referral, referring
Good Spellers
Experiment with spelling options Don¶t give up Practice Study those words that you are unsure of
Read, Read, Read
http://www.nipissingu.ca/english/hornbook/spelling.htm
