16 Ways to Study Spelling

16 Ways to Study Spelling is a way to practice spelling words. Sometimes it is homework, but it can be done for extra credit any other time. Write the name of the activity at the top of a sheet of paper. Do the activity on the paper with this week's spelling words.

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Base Words
Circle the base word in as many words on your list as possible. For example, the base word in spelling is spell, and the base word in laughed is laugh.

Rhyming Words
Write a rhyming word for each word on your list. For example, a rhyming word for riddle is middle.

Pluralize
Make as many words as possible into plurals. For example, the plural of dog is dogs, and the plural of woman is women.

Letter Mix Up
Choose 5 long words on your list. For each word, make as many new words as possible. For example, word alphabet can make the words pet, bet, pal, and more.

Mark the Vowels
Choose 8 words from your list and mark their short, long, and silent vowels. For example, the word paper has one long ( ˉ ) and one short ( ˘ ) vowel: pāpĕr.

Prefixes & Suffixes
Copy your words onto a sheet of paper. Draw a box around the prefixes and underline the suffixes. For example, in the word misunderstand, the prefix is mis-. In the word running, the suffix is –ing. Prefixes are added chunks that come at the beginning of a word. Suffixes are chunks added to the end of words.

Clues
Create clues for each of your words that would help someone guess the word. For example, a clue for swimmer is someone who swims.

Letter Switch
Choose 3 words from your list. Change at least one letter to make a new word. For example, the word water can be changed to warmer by changing the t to rm.

Add a Chunk
Add a prefix or suffix, when possible, to the words on your list. For example, order can be changed to ordering with a suffix and preorder with a prefix.

Categories
Find a way to put all of your words into 3 categories. Then see if you can split each category into another category! Some examples of categories are words that start with str-, squ-, and thr-.

First Vowel Sort
Separate your words into two lists, depending on whether the first vowel is long or short. For example, silly has a short first vowel, and mail has a long first vowel.

Syllable Sort
Sort your words into lists of 1, 2, 3, 4, and more syllable words. A word with 3 syllables is alph·a·bet, and a word with 5 is re·frig·er·a·tor.

Syllable Split
Copy your words with split syllables. For example, the word student has two syllables and would be split like this: stu·dent.

Accent Sort
Sort your words according to which syllable (first, second, third, etc.) is accented. The accented syllable is the one that gets an emphasis, such as in tel·e·phone (second syllable), prop-er-ty (first syllable), and com·pu·ter (second syllable).

Mark the Accent
Copy your words and underline which syllables are accented. For example, in the word imagination, the 4th syllable is accented: imagination (the a is underlined).

Test Me
Ask an adult to test you on your spelling words. The adult should read the words to you, out of order, and you need to spell them aloud. You can also write them on paper. The adult needs to sign the paper to show the activity was done.