Spelling

Why is spelling still so important?

Spelling is important for three reasons:

• Communication: Spelling is a critical component of communication
• Literacy: Spelling and reading skills are closely related and help develop overall literacy
• Employment: Spelling quality has a direct impact on employment opportunities

Break Down Words:

Let’s break down words into individual sounds (phonemes) and syllables. This will help you understand the structure of words and make spelling easier.

1. Word: “apple”
   • Phonemes: /æ/ /p/ /ə/ /l/
   • Syllables: ap-ple (2)
2. Word: “sunshine”
   • Phonemes: /s/ /ʌ/ /n/ /ʃ/ /aɪ/ /n/
   • Syllables: sun-shine (2)
3. Word: “happiness”
   • Phonemes: /h/ /æ/ /p/ /i/ /n/ /ə/ /s/ /ɪ/ /s/
   • Syllables: hap-pi-ness (3)
4. Word: “elephant”
   • Phonemes: /ɛ/ /l/ /ɪ/ /f/ /ə/ /nt/
   • Syllables: el-e-phant (3)
5. Word: “butterfly”
   • Phonemes: /b/ /ʌ/ /t/ /ə/ /r/ /fl/ /aɪ/
   • Syllables: but-ter-fly (3)
6. Word: “caterpillar”
   • Phonemes: /k/ /æ/ /t/ /ə/ /r/ /p/ /ɪ/ /l/ /ə/ /r/
   • Syllables: cat-er-pil-lar (4)
7. Word: “computer”
   • Phonemes: /k/ /ə/ /m/ /p/ /juː/ /t/ /ər/
   • Syllables: com-put-er (3)
8. Word: “giraffe”
   • Phonemes: /dʒ/ /ə/ /r/ /æ/ /f/
   • Syllables: gi-raffe (2)
9. Word: “watermelon”
   • Phonemes: /w/ /ɔː/ /t/ /ə/ /r/ /m/ /ɛ/ /l/ /ə/ /n/
   • Syllables: wa-ter-mel-on (4)
10. Word: “school”
    • Phonemes: /sk/ /uː/ /l/
    • Syllables: school (1)

Are groups of words that share the same base word or root and have similar phonetic patterns. Here are more examples of word families:

Word Family: “-at”

1. cat
2. bat
3. hat
4. mat
5. rat
6. sat
7. fat
8. pat

Word Family: “-an”

1. can
2. fan
3. man
4. pan
5. tan
6. van
7. plan
8. scan

Word Family: “-et”

1. bet
2. get
3. jet
4. pet
5. set
6. vet
7. wet
8. yet

Word Family: “-ig”

1. big
2. dig
3. fig
4. pig
5. rig
6. twig
7. wig

Word Family: “-op”

1. hop
2. mop
3. pop
4. top
5. shop
6. stop

Word Family: “-un”

1. bun
2. fun
3. run
4. sun
5. spun

Word Family: “-ake”

1. bake
2. cake
3. lake
4. make
5. snake
6. take

Word Family: “-in”

1. bin
2. fin
3. pin
4. tin
5. win
6. twin
7. grin

Word Family: “-ell”

1. bell
2. cell
3. fell
4. sell
5. well
6. shell
7. smell

Word Family: “-uck”

1. duck
2. luck
3. pluck
4. stuck
5. truck
6. cluck