Spelling lists

*zippy*

Hi :hello:

My DD is 11 and off to senior school in Sept. When I went to her primary for parents evening a few weeks ago her teacher said her spelling was not at the same level as her English and would hold her back. She asked that we would work on it during the holidays and she would send home a list for me to use. She came home with a load of stuff as they cleared everything out, but I have just realised the teacher has forgotten to give her the spellings list.

Please does anyone know where I can find spelling lists? I know I had a little book years ago in WH Smiths for 7 year olds, but are there also any online guidelines of words that a 11 year old would be expected to know?

Thanks
zippy x

sarahlouise210

try here .....
http://rossa.blogs.com/weblog/files/sats_spelling_practise.pdf

Counting_Pennies_2

Why not make your own up.

Have a punt in the dictionary and just pluck a few out each day.

You can make it fun finding a variety of different ones, maybe even making a theme.

You could design it around her favourite hobbies or holidays etc. It might make it more memorable for her

Hapless_2

there is a great little book out called essential spelling

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Spelling-English-Skills-Practice/dp/0174244932/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/202-4386915-5573422

I use it for my daughter, the spellings are age grouped too. It's about £3 and apart from Amazon you can get it from WHsmiths. I usually set my daughter 10 words a week, she practises them by writing them out several times then we do a test at the end of the week.

Hapless_2

Oh meant to add (duh) there is also a website where you can download a free programmme which lets you create wordsearches that you can add your own words to.

http://www.schoolhousetech.com/

andyrules

I would focus on the misuse of words like there, their, they're, were, where, wear, we're; common mistakes like profession, disappear, definite, necessary etc. (wrong - proffesion, dissappear, definate, neccesary - easy to remember that , 1 collar - 'c' - and 2 sleeves - 's'!) Any spelling book from Smiths or similar will give you lots of ideas, look at the age bracket for level of difficulty, I use books from there myself occasionally and they are targeted right up to Y6 level. Also look at misuse of apostrophes, using with plurals or, my own pet, 'would of' instead of would've or 'would have'. Focus on common words which occur frequently in writing rather than the odd unusual word. Also look here for more ideas and rules.

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/englishA3.htm

I'm a primary teacher of the, ahem, upper generation, and I personally believe the spelling ability of much of the younger generations is a product of the govt's incessant meddling and pushing children to run before they can walk.

My DD was deemed to be one of the top spellers in her group, a fact which horrifies me as she is a poor speller imo. (Just looked through her latest CV and cringed!!)Having said that, in the long run it didn't affect her grades or uni entry, so don't panic, if your DD is able at writing and understanding she'll be fine.

dee_mum_of_3

hi there!!
the teacher said your daughter wasnt quite upto some of the chldrens standard in her class at spelling?
that was one class-in secondary there will be many more children from many schools each with varying abilities.
as a mum and a nursery nurse with one son at big school(year 10 yikes) and middle one entering year 7 in sept i realise this is likely to be the last big holiday we spend together doing most stuff as a family big school changes things -dont waste the hols worrying about spellings!!
if you are going to pursue this spelling then make it fun-how? the trick i use ,admittedly with smaller children is to make up silly sentences including the spelling im trying to teach another way is to make up daft rhymes my eldest a fab speller learnt to spell inconvenient by saying IN-CON VEN-I(AND WINKING)-ENT, spelling doesnt come easy to some children and my middle son has to learn the boring way writing out words 5 times covering and remembering.
ahh well good luck!! hope she has a fab time in Sept!!

aimee21j

As an English teacher i find that my kids in school have problems with high frequency words. If you look at the link below you will find high frequency words. We also do lots of work with homophones (words which sound the same but are spelt differently and have different meanings). I also recommend the look, cover, spell strategy. Encourage her to have a spellings dictionary. I gave all my kids a little book with each page lettered and when they don't know how to spell a word, they will ask me and we will try to spell it together using phonics. It is then written on the necessary page and they can refer to it later.
If you can encourage her to read at home you will find that she will fly with her spellings. Even if she gets stuck, break it up phonetically and you may be able to see where the problem lies and then focus on words with that sound in them.

Hope this helps.
Aimee

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/publications/literacy/nls_framework/486193/ sorry for really long link.

*zippy*

Thank you all for the great replies. :T

I know where to start now, and some great links I can use.

DD has had an amazing year at school and has progressed from struggling to having some great results, she has also become a bookworm, which will help.

Thanks dee, yes teacher did say not to go mad and let her enjoys her holidays, but just do a little at a time