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8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 10 of 12

Precise Words & Spelling

Spelling rules, word parts and exact vocabulary

What your child practices

Children use word families, prefixes, suffixes and spelling rules, choose precise words for a subject, and use word-processing tools to format a document.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 8.2.3.2; 8.2.1.1 · precise, concise words and correct spelling

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Many words ending in f or fe change to v and add -es in the plural: knife → knives.
  2. A derivative is a base word plus a prefix or suffix: help → helpful.
  3. Pick precise subject words, and use word-processor styles to format headings.

Example: What is the plural of “knife”? “Knife” ends in fe. Change it to v and add -es. Answer: knives

Precise Words & Spelling in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 10 of 12 in 8th grade English Language Arts, after Write It Better and before Media Influence.

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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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

    Which word is spelled correctly?

    • necessary
    • necesary
    • neccessary
    • neccesary

  2. Question 2

    When adding -ed to “stop”, you…

    • add an e: stopeed
    • drop the p: stoed
    • double the final consonant: stopped
    • keep it: stoped

  3. Question 3

    Which word is most precise for a science report?

    • turn into stuff
    • disappear somehow
    • evaporate
    • go away

  4. Question 4

    Which pair is a base word and a derivative?

    • help – hop
    • help – hat
    • help – hill
    • help – helpful

  5. Question 5

    Which word is spelled correctly?

    • defanitely
    • definately
    • definitly
    • definitely

  6. Question 6

    Which formatting choice helps readers scan a report?

    • many colors and fonts
    • text in all capitals
    • headings and short paragraphs
    • one huge paragraph

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