Teaching Year 6 spelling

What Year 6 spelling covers

By the end of Year 6, the National Curriculum expects children to spell the words on the Year 3 to 6 statutory word lists, and to apply the spelling patterns in the Year 5 and 6 appendix: endings such as -cious, -tial, -ant, -able and -ably; the rules for adding suffixes; silent letters; homophones; words with ie and ei; and words with the letter-string ough. Many of these build on patterns first taught in Years 3 and 4.

The other part of the job is using all of this in independent writing. Spelling counts in teacher assessment of writing at the end of Year 6, so a pattern a child can spell in a test but not in a story isn't secure yet.

The SATs spelling paper

The SATs include a spelling paper of 20 words. Each word is read aloud, then read within a sentence, then read again, and children write it into a gap in the printed sentence. Every word is worth one mark. Because the sentence gives the meaning, homophones are fair game, and because the words come from the curriculum's patterns and lists, focused practice on those patterns pays off directly.

Two ways the word lists are organised

The free word lists cover all 1,164 words in the Tiger Shark spelling bank, each with a dictation sentence. They come in two arrangements, and each is useful in a different way:

• By sound. All the ways of spelling one sound on a single sheet: the sound in rain, eight and obey together. This is the best way to teach a choice: children see every option and learn when to use each one.
• By spelling pattern. One set of letters and every sound it makes: ou in account, country and group. This is better for revision and for reading, because it trains children to try more than one sound when they meet an unfamiliar word. The pattern set covers every word in the bank.

A weekly routine that works

1. Introduce the pattern on Monday, with the rule or reason behind it (the guides below cover each one). Let children sort or investigate before you tell them the rule.
2. Practise in short bursts through the week: two-minute dictations using the sentences on the sheets, word sums, sorting and spotting the pattern in reading.
3. Test on Friday with 10 to 20 words, read in the SATs way: word, sentence, word. Include a few words from earlier patterns every week.
4. Check in writing. Ask pupils to proofread one piece of their own writing for the week's pattern. This is where the learning becomes permanent.

Choosing the words yourself, rather than giving every child the same ten, lets you differentiate easily: fewer, more common words for some children and the full list for others.

Guides to every spelling pattern

Each guide explains the pattern, the rules and reasons behind it, the mistakes children make and teaching ideas, with the matching word lists to download.

• The 'shun' endings: -tion, -sion, -ssion and -cian: Using the root word to choose the ending.
• -cious, -tious, -cial and -tial: Word families and the vowel/consonant guideline.
• -ture and -sure endings: Hearing the difference between 'cher' and 'zher'.
• -able or -ible? -ant or -ent?: Suffix pairs you can't hear, plus -ous and -le, -el, -al.
• Adding suffixes: Doubling, dropping e, changing y to i and -ly adverbs.
• Double letters: Why accommodate and embarrass have their doubles.
• Silent letters and ough: Word families, patterns and the spelling voice.
• Long vowel sounds: ay, ee, igh, oa and oo, including ie and ei.
• Other vowel sounds: or, ur, ar, ow, ear, air and oy, with position rules.
• Spellings from Greek and French: ch, ph, -que, -gue, y as i, and soft c and g.
• Homophones, prefixes and tricky words: Meaning, the 'add, don't change' rule and the statutory list.

Common mistakes in how spelling is taught

• Testing without teaching. A list sent home on Monday and tested on Friday measures memory, not spelling. The pattern needs teaching first.
• Too many words, too rarely. Short, frequent practice beats one long session.
• Never revisiting. A pattern learned in October is often gone by May without regular retrieval.
• Ignoring writing. If children never check their own writing for the patterns they've learned, the test score doesn't transfer.

Try it: five quick questions

SATs-style questions to use as a starter or a quick check. Tap to see each answer.

1. Which is correct? decision / decition

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   decision: from decide.

2. Add -ing to hope.

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   hoping: drop the e.

3. Which is correct? accommodate / acommodate

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   accommodate: double c, double m.

4. Which is correct? receive / recieve

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   receive: 'ee' sound after c.

5. Which is correct? possable / possible

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   possible: poss isn't a word on its own.