Elementary Spelling Words and Practice Activities

How Can I Help My Child Prepare for Elementary Spelling Tests?

Most elementary school teachers give weekly spelling tests to students. You can help your child get a better grasp of his or her spelling words if you review them at home with practice activities. While flashcards and repetition are effective, most children won't enjoy studying their words this way. You can create fun exercises at home to make spelling practice more pleasant and valuable.

Several websites generate word searches and scrambles with any list you input. If your child is artistic, another activity he or she can try is creating a short story with all of the words from the weekly spelling list. Your son or daughter will write and illustrate the story to gain extra practice writing out the words, learning the definitions and using the words in sentences.

To really give your child an edge, you may create your own spelling word lists that differ from what is being taught in the classroom. By exposing your child to more advanced words, you can help him or her be better prepared for the next grade level.

Spelling Word List in Order of Difficulty for Elementary Students

1. Ask - If you have a question, raise your hand and ask the teacher.
2. Bus - Jane took the bus to school this morning.
3. Dark - My mom makes me come inside after it gets dark outside.
4. Flag - Every morning, we face the flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance.
5. Globe - In geography class, our teacher has us use the globe to find different places on Earth.
6. Jump - I'm good at basketball because I can jump pretty high.
7. Laugh - The movie was funny, and it made me laugh.
8. Mailbox - My sister ran out to the mailbox this morning in hopes of finding a birthday card from our grandmother.
9. Naughty - Our dad always says if we're naughty, we don't get dessert after dinner.
10. Poisonous - I always stay away from spiders because they might be poisonous.
11. Retrieve - I threw the bone, but my dog wasn't paying attention and didn't retrieve it.
12. Simplicity - I love the simplicity of that painting.
13. Theater - My family went to the movie theater last night, but I stayed home because I hadn't finished my homework yet.
14. Voice - My choir teacher said I have a good voice, but I'm still too nervous to sing at the assembly.
15. Wring - Our dryer is broken, so we have to wring our clothes out in the bathtub before hanging them up to dry.