Spelling and ABC orderGrade 1
1st grade spelling words
A practice chart that picks words from a list of first grade spelling words and gives each one three boxes. Children write it, write it again, then cover it and write from memory. For first graders, with ten words by default.
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On this page
What prints
The page is a chart of four columns. Reading across, the headings are Word, Write it, Write it again, Cover and write. The first column holds a word from the 1st grade list in bold type. The next two boxes are for copying it, and the last is for writing it once the model has been folded away or covered. A name and date line sits at the top. Below the title the instructions tell the child to read the word, say its letters, write it twice, then fold back the page and write it from memory.
There is no answer key, since the correct spelling is printed in the first column.
The word list
The 1st grade list has 40 words, grouped loosely by pattern: short-vowel words like cat, bed and cup, digraphs like fish, ship and chin, blends like frog, stop and jump, silent-e words like cake, bike and rope, and a few common irregular words. The full list as the generator holds it:
cat, dog, sun, hat, red, big, run, sit, top, bed, pig, cup, map, ten, fox, bus, fish, ship, chin, that, then, with, frog, stop, jump, hand, milk, nest, play, tree, like, home, cake, bike, rope, cute, see, look, said, was
Each time you print, the generator shuffles this list and takes as many words as you set, so you get a different mix every time. If you want a fixed set instead, use the "My own words" choice on the general spelling practice worksheet.
The settings
- Sheet is set to "Practice: write each word three times". The other choice is a blank test page.
- Words is set to "1st grade list". Other choices are the 2nd to 5th grade lists and "My own words".
- Number of words runs from 5 to 20. This page opens with 10, a comfortable number for a week.
Worked example: a week with ten words
Say Monday's page includes cat, ship, cake, frog, home, see, look, said, milk and jump.
- On Monday the child reads each word aloud and writes it in the first two boxes, saying each letter as the pencil moves.
- Fold the sheet along the line after the second box, or lay a card over the first two columns.
- In the last box the child spells it from memory. Check against the first column and circle any miss.
- Words like said and look do not follow the sounding-out pattern, so give them extra repetitions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- On Friday, read the words out for a quick test using the spelling test template.
Tips
Keep sessions to ten minutes. Five words a day beats all ten at once for six-year-olds. For reading the same words in context, first grade sight words is a natural companion.