The National Curriculum 2014 has revised the expectations for the spelling rules to be learnt by each year group and has introduced key word lists for KS2. In Year 5, all children will take part in class spelling sessions which will revise the Y3/4 spelling rules and teach the Y5/6 patterns.

Strategies for learning spellings:

Auditory strategies involving the ear and mouth

The English language has 42 sounds but only 26 letters in the alphabet, so the sound a letter makes depends on other letters around it. Therefore, it is important to think about using other strategies. There are ways in which you can use sound to help you spell.

• Listen to the word. Break it into syllables and then identify the phonemes in each syllable (e.g. Sep-tem-ber).
• When letters or parts of words are silent, say the words in an exaggerated way (e.g.  k-nife, bus-i-ness).
• Giving a word a rhythm helps.
• Analogy is using words already known (e.g.  could, would, should).

Visual strategies involving the eye and hand

• Use a highlighter pen to draw your attention to the part of the word you need to learn.
• Look for words within words (e.g. ‘get’ in vegetable, ‘lie’ in believe).
• Use the Look, say, cover, write, check strategy.
• Try writing the word down in two or three different pens, in joined handwriting. The movement will help to fix the spelling in your memory.
• Group together words that may not sound alike but have a shared pattern (boot / foot).

Learning strategies based on mind and method

• Learning about the structure of words can help spelling. For example, find the root of a word and check whether it changes when prefixes or suffixes are added (e.g. smiling: root = smile, take away the 'e' then + ing).
• Mnemonics are a useful memory aid (e.g.  Big elephants can always use small elephants).
• Word origins (etymology) are useful in learning spellings. Etymological dictionaries give the origins of groups of words. This information will help to identify the letter or combination of letters to use.
• Homophones often cause difficulties. Learn them with other words that look the same rather than sound the same (e.g. there, here, where).
• Try a spelling rule (e.g. short vowel and single consonant, double the consonant when adding ing - hop/hopping).