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3rd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 5 of 13

Spelling Patterns

Vowel teams and word endings

What your child practices

Spelling long vowel sounds with vowel teams (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow, igh, ie) and adding -ed and -ing by doubling a letter, dropping a silent e or just adding the ending.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 3.RF.3; 3.L.2 · spelling vowel teams and word endings

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Two vowels together often make one long sound: ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow, igh.
  2. If a word ends in silent e, drop the e before -ing or -ed: bake → baking.
  3. Short vowel plus one consonant? Double it: hop → hopping.

Example: Add “-ing” to “run”. Which spelling is correct? “Run” has a short u and ends in one consonant. Double the n, then add -ing. Answer: running

Spelling Patterns in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 5 of 13 in 3rd grade English Language Arts, after Punctuation Power and before Prefixes & Suffixes.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Add “-ing” to “rain”. Which spelling is correct?

    rain + ing

    • raineing
    • raining
    • rainning

  2. Question 2

    Which letters finish the word for the picture?

    ⛵b__t
    • ow
    • oa
    • oe

  3. Question 3

    Add “-ed” to “grab”. Which spelling is correct?

    grab + ed

    • grabbed
    • grabd
    • grabed

  4. Question 4

    Which letters finish the word for the picture?

    🥣b__l
    • ow
    • oa
    • oe

  5. Question 5

    Add “-ing” to “bake”. Which spelling is correct?

    bake + ing

    • bakeing
    • baking
    • bakking

  6. Question 6

    Which letters finish the word for the picture?

    🍃l__f
    • ea
    • ai
    • ee

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