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In this activity, we’re going to be looking at exception words.
Exception words are words which do not follow normal spelling rules and patterns.
They like to be different and stand out among the crowds!
I don’t blame them but this does make the spellings harder to learn.
Here are the exception words we’re going to be looking at in this activity:
|
mention position minute natural straight weight peculiar pressure |
probably promise purpose sentence thought though through possess possession |
strength surprise woman women although various reign suppose |
Read through the list and check you can read each word first.
Here are some handy tips to help us remember the spelling of these exception words:
1. Look for words within the words
Look at the words below:
woman
women
Can you see any smaller words hiding within the words here?
Woman has man hiding in it.
Women has men hiding in it.
This helps us to remember that a woman is one person (like a man) and women is a group of people (like men).
Can you see any words hiding within these words?
purpose
sentence
peculiar
pressure
Can you see pose hiding in purpose?
This could make us think of someone posing on purpose!
Can you see ten hiding in sentence? Someone likes to write ten sentences!
A liar is hiding in peculiar.
Press is hiding in pressure. We press things to apply pressure.
2. Look for words with the same endings
position
mention
Both these words have -tion at the end.
3. Split the word up into its syllables
To help us remember other spellings, we can break them down into syllables.
minute = min + ute
natural = nat + ur + al
probably = prob + ab + ly
surprise = sur + prise
promise = prom + ise
various = var + i + ous
4. Say the word how it is spelt
Read this word aloud and make sure you stress each individual sound. Next time you go to write it, imagine yourself saying every single sound.
strength - s - t - r - e - n - g - th
5. Look for similar letter strings
All of the words below have ough in them.
thorough
thought
though
although
In through, ough makes an ew sound.
In thought, ough makes an or sound.
In though and although, ough makes an oa sound.
The two words below have similar letter strings:
weight
straight
Eigh and aigh make an ay sound in these words.
6. Words with silent letters
The word reign (as in the King's reign on the throne) has a silent g in it.
It's spelt like the reins of a horse but with a silent g before the n.
7. Look for double letters
Possess and possession have lots of double letters between them.
They are possessing all of the s's!
In this activity, you’ll be answering questions about this set of words. Good luck.
