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5th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 11 of 13

Spelling Smarts

Suffixes and words to know

What your child practices

Children practice US spelling of words with suffixes (-ful, -ly, -ous, -ment, -able, -ible), doubling rules, i before e and commonly misspelled words.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 5.2(B) · spelling with suffix rules and spelling patterns

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Usually just add the suffix: comfort + able = comfortable, govern + ment = government.
  2. Drop a silent e before a vowel suffix (fame → famous), but some words change anyway (argue → argument).
  3. Use “i before e except after c” as a guide, then check the word.

Example: Add -ment to “argue.” Which spelling is correct? “Argue” ends in e. This word drops the e even before -ment. Answer: argument

Spelling Smarts in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 11 of 13 in 5th grade English Language Arts, after Research Ready and before Adages, Puns & Persuasion.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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?

    • laff
    • lauhg
    • laugh
    • lagh

  2. Question 2

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

    • begining
    • beginnig
    • beggining
    • beginning

  3. Question 3

    Which word is spelled correctly?

    • seperate
    • seperete
    • separete
    • separate

  4. Question 4

    Which word is spelled correctly?

    • visable
    • visibel
    • vissible
    • visible

  5. Question 5

    Which word is spelled correctly?

    • receeve
    • receive
    • recieve
    • resieve

  6. Question 6

    Which word is spelled correctly?

    • calender
    • calandar
    • calendar
    • calander

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