Name __________________________ Class ___________

Oakwood

Amber Badge

Oakwood Spelling

Basic Skills Logs

Use this strategy for words

containing silent letters we might

forget...

Pronounce the letters you normally wouldn’t!

A mnemonic is a way to remember a spelling by making up a silly sentence.

BECAUSE Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants

The Spelling Log system is designed to make sure children can spell a range of commonly used words correctly. It is linked to the National Curriculum. There are four levels:

Red (Words which children should know by the end of Year 1) White (Words which children should know by the end of Year 2) Amber (Words which children should know by the end of Year 4)

Green (Words which children should know by the end of Year 6)

Each section of the log has the statutory words that children are expected to know. Before progressing onto a new section, children will be expected to spell the words correctly, use the words appropriately in a sentence and explain the function of the word in the written sentence. Home Checks There are two boxes for home checks. We’d like you to check your child can spell the words at home and that they can still spell them confidently a fortnight later. This may seem a long time, but it’s about “not just learning for a test”. You can check your child knows how to spell the words and then spend five or ten minutes a day (no longer) talking to them about what the words mean, playing some spelling games or putting the words into sentences. At School When your child has had two home checks on a section, we’ll do two checks in school as well. These might not be on the same day!

The first check will be about spelling the word confidently. The second one will be about using the word in a sentence and talking about how the word works in a sentence.

Finally, we’ll do a “whole log” random test! If your child can read, spell and use the words in all of the sections confidently, they will

earn their

Amber Badge

Helping your child learn spellings

Some general hints and tips...

...and some specific spelling ideas...

More ideas on the covers!

Listen to your child and encourage them to talk about their learning.

Try to work when neither you nor your child is tired.

Remember it is perfectly normal to forget things. More practice will help.

Know when to stop. Even when things are going well, little and often is the golden rule.

Praise your child for their successes. Always finish on a positive note.

Cloud writing. Imagine the word and write it in the air with your finger.

Word cards. Stick spellings around the house so you remember the patterns of letters.

Rainbow writing. Write the word on a piece of paper. Trace over it several times in different colours.

Play ‘Snap!’ and ’Pairs’. Put your spellings on sets of cards and have fun matching them up.

‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check’.

The Calendar Months

Section A1 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

calendar

month

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

The suffix –ly

Section A2 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

sadly

usually

finally

truly

happily

angrily

gently

simply

humbly

nobly

basically

frantically

dramatically

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Five-letter Quickies!

Section A3 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

group

fruit

heart

guide

often

early

earth

learn

guard

heard

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Adding vowel suffixes

Section A4 Home Check 1 Date

Home Check 2 (Two weeks later)

forgetting/forgotten

beginning/beginner

prefer/preferred

gardening/gardener

limited/limitation

collecting/collection

travelling/travelled

borrowing

following

laughing

carried

married/marrying

denied/denying

lie/lying

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Peculiar Plurals

Section A5 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

woman / women

potato / potatoes

library / libraries

history / histories

donkey / donkeys

roof / roofs

yourself / yourselves

address / addresses

length / lengths

strength / strengths

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

The /ɪ/ sound spelt y

Section A6 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

myth

gym

Egypt

rhythm

pyramid

mystery/mysterious

typical

crystal

syllable

oxygen

physical

anonymous

cylinder

symmetry

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Erratic Endings!

Section A7 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

actual / actually

occasion / occasionally

complete / completely

surprise / surprising

busy / business

continue / continually

probable / probably

build / building

imagine / imaginary

believe / belief

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

The suffix –tion

Section A8 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

information

position

sensation

preparation

admiration

generation

accommodation

creation

condensation

solidification

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Easily Confused!

Section A9 Home Check 1 Date

Home Check 2 (Two weeks later)

tough

though

through

thought

enough

possess / possession

possible / impossible

purpose

opposite

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

The /ʌ/ sound spelt ou

Section A10 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

young

touch

double

trouble

country

courage / courageous

encourage

cousin

flourish

nourish

rough

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Odds and Ends!

Section A11 Home Check 1 Date

Home Check 2 (Two weeks later)

consider

experiment

vegetable

forward / forwards

grammar

interest / interesting

material

minute

quarter

perhaps

therefore

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Words ending in –sion.

Section A12 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

division

invasion

confusion

decision

collision

conclusion

compassion

discussion

mansion

revision

persuasion

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Describe it!

Section A13 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

ordinary

regular

particular

peculiar

important

different / difference

difficult

separate

strange

popular

extreme

favourite

natural

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Silent and Deadly!

Section A14 Home Check 1 Date

Home Check 2 (Two weeks later)

knowledge

breath / breathe

island

eight / eighth

nought / naughty

straight

high / height

wait / weight

court / caught

answer

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

The suffix –ous

Section A15 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

poisonous

dangerous

famous

various

tremendous

enormous

jealous

glamorous

outrageous

serious

obvious

curious

hideous

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Endings which sound like /ʃən/, spelt –tion, –sion, –ssion, –cian

Section A16 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

invention

action

completion

permission

extension

expression

comprehension

tension

musician

electrician

magician

politician

mathematician

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Words with endings sounding like /ʒə/ or /tʃə/

Section A17 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

enclosure

creature

furniture

picture

nature

adventure

closure

leisure

pressure

composure

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Prefixes mis/dis

Section A18 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

disappoint

disagree/disagreement

disobey

disconnect

disappear

dishonest

discover

mislead

mislaid

misspell

misjudge

misunderstand

misbehave

misfortune

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Prefixes-in/im/il/ir

Section A19 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

inactive

incorrect

incomplete

inconvenient

inaccurate

inefficient

immature

impatient

impossible

imperfect

illegal

illegible

irregular

irresponsible

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Prefixes re, sub and inter

Section A20 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

redo

refresh

return

reappear

recycle

rewind

subdivide

subheading

submarine

submerge

interact

intercity

international

interrelated

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Prefixes super, anti and auto

Section A21 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

supermarket

supervise

superstar

superfluous

superior

antiseptic

anticlockwise

anticipate

antisocial

autobiography

autograph

automatic

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Words with Greek, French and Latin origins

Section A22 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

scheme

chorus

chemist

echo

character

league

machine

tongue

antique

unique

science

discipline

fascinate

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Words with the /eɪ/ sound spelt ei, eigh, or ey

Section A23 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

vein/vain

weigh/way

eight/eighty

sleigh/slay

neighbour

veil

beige

feint/faint

rain/rein/reign

grey

obey

prey

survey

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Homophones and near homophones

Section A24 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

accept/except

affect/effect

berry/bury

brake/break

here/hear

knot/not

mail/male

missed/mist

peace/piece

plain/plane

scene/seen

weather/whether

whose/who’s

medal/meddle

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Soft c sound

Section A25 Home Check 1

Date Home Check 2

(Two weeks later)

century

centimetre

circle

certain / certainly

centre

bicycle

medicine

exercise

experience

sentence

accident / accidentally

decide / decision

notice

recent / recently

special

School Checks We will check that you can spell the words confidently, say what they mean and explain how the word fits grammatically into a sentence.

Breaking words down into syllables can help children remember the

whole word more easily.

Sep-tem-ber se-ven-teen Sa-tur-day

Use this strategy to help spell words containing letters which are not pronounced or clear. One can talk like Mr Toffee-Nose by exaggerating one’s pronunciation of each letter.

Hmmmm...

in-te-res-ting...

Many words contain the same letter

strings. Learn how to spell each letter string and you can spell many more

words too! other another brother

came name same

There are some words that have real tricky parts.

Circle, underline or highlight just these parts. said

piece Wednesday

Use this strategy for words that have little

words inside them.

spring = There’s a “RING” in spring piece = There is a “PIE” in piece

separate = There’s “A RAT” in separate

Congratulations! You have achieved your

Amber Spelling Badge.

School Signature __________________________ Date ________________

Oakwood