What is this skill?
Fifth grade spelling asks for long words, and many have a letter or two that the ear barely picks up: the n in government that people skip when they talk, the silent g in foreign, the rh at the start of rhythm and the sc in conscience. A fifth grader is expected to write words like environment, achievement, independent and definitely in reports without help, and to attempt even harder ones.
In this practice the word is read aloud and never shown. Each question gives a sentence with a blank, such as "Recycling helps protect the ___" or "The ___ planned the school dance," and the child builds the missing word from letter tiles. The early questions use beginning, disappear, knowledge, foreign, immediately, achievement, sincerely and environment. The middle ones use government, independent, embarrass, privilege, exaggerate, committee, definitely and occasionally. The hardest ones use rhythm, conscience, mischievous and accommodate.
Why it matters
By fifth grade a child writes to explain, to persuade and to report, and precise words carry the message. Spelling those words with confidence means more of the child's attention goes to the idea, and the writing reads as careful.
Long words are built from parts: a prefix, a base and a suffix. Dis-appear, in-depend-ent and ac-com-mo-date become manageable when a child sees the chunks. Learning to split a word is a skill that works on any word they have not met, which is why it is a better investment than memorizing one list.
This is also a chance for children to learn that mistakes are expected. These words are hard, and children who learn to look one up and fix it calmly are building a habit of independence that serves them in middle school.
Common mistakes
- Leaving out doubled letters, such as "embarass" for embarrass, "comittee" for committee or "accomodate" for accommodate. Say the word in chunks, and count the double letters out loud.
- Writing the word the way it sounds, such as "goverment," "enviroment" or "definately." The sounds are close, and the missing letter is the part that is usually silent. Underline that part when the word is learned.
- Guessing at the vowels in unstressed syllables. In definitely, independent and occasionally the vowel in the middle sounds like a short "uh," so the ear cannot help. Find the base word (finite, depend, occasion) to see the real vowel.
- Mixing up the order of letters in rhythm or mischievous. These words have to be learned by sight, so look at the word, cover it, write it, then check.
How to help at home
- Use look, say, cover, write, check. Look at the word, say it in chunks, cover it, write it from memory, and then check each letter. It is quick and works well with a word like accommodate.
- Make a memory hook together. Children often remember a silly sentence, such as "a rhythm helps your two hips move," better than a rule. Let your child invent it.
- Ask your child to teach you a word. Explaining why the word is hard cements it.
- Check the printable spelling lists on this site for a weekly list and go over three or four words a night, not a full list the evening before a test.
Worked examples
These are real questions from the Tutorsaurus spelling: challenge words practice, with the answers worked out.
Example 1
Spell the word you hear.
The app reads this aloud: “foreign”
Answer: foreign. Foreign is spelled f-o-r-e-i-g-n. It breaks the i-before-e rule and has a silent g.
Example 2
Spell the word you hear.
The app reads this aloud: “occasionally”
Answer: occasionally. Occasionally is spelled o-c-c-a-s-i-o-n-a-l-l-y. Two c letters, one s, two l letters.
Example 3
Spell the word you hear.
The app reads this aloud: “accommodate”
Answer: accommodate. Accommodate is spelled a-c-c-o-m-m-o-d-a-t-e. It has two c letters and two m letters.