Grade 6 Spelling

Spelling the quiet, unclear vowel in the middle of longer words, like the i in cabinet and the e in elegant.

schwa: cab-i-net, el-e-gant

Spelling the quiet er sound at the end of words that use -ar or -or instead of -er, like calendar and visitor.

-ar, -or: calendar, visitor

Spelling the quiet ul sound at the end of words, which can be -al, -el or -il, like rehearsal, channel and utensil.

-al, -el, -il: rehearsal, channel, utensil

Spelling words that end in a quiet -um or -ium, like album, maximum and stadium.

-um, -ium: album, stadium

Choosing between -ary, -ery and -ory at the end of words where the vowel is hard to hear.

-ary, -ery, -ory: ordinary, scenery, laboratory

Spelling words whose middle syllable is often swallowed in speech, like average, camera and restaurant.

hidden syllables: av-er-age, cam-er-a

Choosing between -ant and -ent, two endings that sound the same, like pleasant and excellent.

-ant/-ent: pleasant, excellent

Choosing between -ance and -ence in longer words, like attendance, guidance, evidence and existence.

-ance/-ence: guidance, evidence

Choosing between -able and -ible in harder words, and keeping the e in words like noticeable.

-able/-ible: available, edible

Spelling words that end in -ous, -ious or -eous, like adventurous, obvious and spontaneous.

-ous/-ious/-eous: obvious, gorgeous

Choosing between -cial and -tial, which both say shul, like crucial and essential.

-cial/-tial: crucial, essential

Spelling job words that end in -cian or -ian, where -cian comes from words like music, magic and electric.

-cian/-ian: musician, librarian

Doubling the last consonant before an ending when the last syllable is stressed, like referring and committed.

re-FER + ing = referring

Keeping a single consonant before an ending when the stress is not on the last syllable, like benefited and limited.

BEN-e-fit + ed = benefited

Remembering every double letter in tricky longer words, like accommodate, opportunity and satellite.

cc, mm, pp, ll: accommodate, opportunity

Remembering the silent c that follows s in words like muscle, fascinate and descend.

sc: muscle, descend

Remembering the silent letters in words like autumn, campaign, debt, island and glisten.

mn, gn, bt, s: autumn, campaign, debt

Spelling words with a silent h or a ch that sounds like k, like rhinoceros, chorus and stomach.

rh, h, ch = k: rhubarb, chorus

Using the Latin roots aud (hear) and voc (voice) to spell and understand words like audible and vocal.

aud (hear), voc (voice): audience, vocal

Using the Latin roots fer (carry, bring) and fact (make, do) to spell words like transfer and manufacture.

fer (carry), fact (make): transfer, factory

Using the Latin root mit or miss (send, let go) to spell words like transmit, emission and intermission.

mit, miss (send): transmit, mission

Using the Latin root pend or pens (hang, weigh, pay) to spell words like pendulum, suspend and expenditure.

pend (hang, weigh): pendulum, suspend

Using the Latin root ject (throw) to spell words like projector, trajectory and adjective.

ject (throw): project, reject

Using the Latin roots vert and vers (turn) to spell words like vertical, universe and anniversary.

vert, vers (turn): convert, reverse

Using the Greek roots chron (time) and cycl (circle, wheel) to spell words like chronological and encyclopedia.

chron (time), cycl (circle): chronological, cyclone

Using the roots hydr (Greek) and aqua (Latin), which both mean water, to spell words like hydrogen and aquaculture.

hydr, aqua (water): hydrogen, aquaculture

Using the Greek root log (word, reason) and the ending -ology (study of) to spell words like geology and dialogue.

log, ology (word, study): geology, dialogue

Using the Greek root phon (sound, voice) to spell words like symphony, euphonium and homophone.

phon (sound): symphony, microphone

Using the Greek roots astro or aster (star) and sphere (ball) to spell space and earth science words.

astro (star), sphere (ball): astronaut, atmosphere

Spelling Greek science words with silent or unusual letters, like psychology, chlorophyll and pneumatic.

psych, chlor, morph, derm: psychology, chlorophyll

Spelling look-alike words with different meanings, like principal and principle, and choosing the one the sentence needs.

principal/principle, stationary/stationery

Spelling more look-alike words with different meanings, like conscience and conscious, and precede and proceed.

conscience/conscious, council/counsel

Spelling homophones, words that sound the same but are spelled differently, like aloud and allowed, and coarse and course.

aloud/allowed, cereal/serial

Spelling well-known tricky words by remembering the hard part, like the le in privilege and the u in guarantee.

remember the tricky part: privilege, guarantee

Spelling more commonly misspelled words, like lightning, vacuum, acquire and souvenir.

remember the tricky part: lightning, millennium

Spelling ei and ie words that break or follow the rule, like seize, perceive, protein, ancient and species.

ei words: perceive, seize, protein