Website that lists all spelling rules in the English language?

[quelques_fleur]

So, I have used AAS levels 1 through 4 with my son.  I am glad we started out with this program as it was exactly what we needed to lay a strong foundation for sounding words out, understanding the whys behind the rules and the kinesthetic element of the program was a huge plus for my son in his younger years.  However, he has expressed his disinterest in continuing with the program due to the lack of a challenge in the actual spelling words. So, I've decided to move on to a different program (Spelling Power) but I really do like the way AAS lays out the spelling rules.  Is there a website available that provides all the spelling rules in a similar fashion laid out by AAS?  I want to be sure that we don't miss out on crucial rules that AAS teaches during levels 5 - 7.  So, if I could have a list of all the spelling rules, I can be sure to teach those rules that we haven't covered as well.  AAS is just too expensive of a curriculum for me to buy just for the rules especially if my son is losing motivation to work on spelling because of the books.

Edited March 18, 2016 by quelques_fleur

[kirstenhill]

The Logic of English rules are similar to AAS: https://www.logicofenglish.com/resources/spelling-rules

[ElizabethB]

These are not to be memorized rules, but generalized rules I teach for knowledge and understanding, I teach them alongside the units in Blend Phonics and then Webster's Speller. There is also a syllable division chart that goes along with them that makes the syllable division rules make more sense.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/Resources/spelling%20rules1.pdf

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/Resources/syllable%20division%20chart1.pdf

Edited March 19, 2016 by ElizabethB

[Lori D.]

Not a website but a book: The ABCs and All Their Tricks is a spelling resource covers every letter of the alphabet and all the phonetic sounds/spellings associated with each letter, plus a series of words at different levels of complexity for each. We used this resource to make our own individualized spelling and vocabulary, plus used Megawords with our struggling speller for syllabication rules and vowel patterns. Megawords is designed for grades 4-12. The ABCs could be used at age stage as a reference, but probably works best if using it to DIY for Spelling for grades 5-6 and up.

 

BEST of luck in finding what you're looking for. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Lori D.

[cmarthur]

The Logic of English and the ABCs book are both great resources. I have them both. I enjoyed reading the Logic of English because I felt it laid out the rules in an orderly way. We started Megawords after AAS. It was an easy transition and less teacher intensive. I think we went through AAS4 also.

[Hobbes]

Not a website but a book: The ABCs and All Their Tricks is a spelling resource covers every letter of the alphabet and all the phonetic sounds/spellings associated with each letter, plus a series of words at different levels of complexity for each.

 

This one is excellent. I've been using it to work on rules as needed with my 1st and 2nd graders... the 1st grader for reading fluency and the 2nd grader for spelling. It's been great, since I just wanted a relaxed way to address rules as I saw gaps - I put words on the chalkboard in the kitchen and we discuss at meals. Also, the 'theory' section in the front was helpful for me to read.

[barnwife]

Here are the Logic of English spelling rules.

 

[Lori D.]

PS

And, if it's working great for you, then go with what works, by all means! But I did not care for Spelling Power, as it does not present spelling rules or vowel patterns very well (no logical schedule or structure), and I don't recall that it includes any syllabication work. Spelling Power draws words from the most common 1000 and most common 5000 words, but you can also find those types of lists online if you wish to DIY for Spelling. For example: Most Common 1000 Words, and High Frequency List: 5000 Most Commonly Used Words.

 

One other "word source" for making our Spelling that I found to be extremely handy was Natural Speller, which provides word lists by grade level, and lists them by "word family" -- it is really useful in those later elementary grades, once a lot of the spelling rules have been learned, to have spelling lists with words that all look different, but are using the same spelling rule that is not always a vowel pattern rule.

 

Examples:

homophones (break, brake; way, weigh; peace, piece, etc.)

measurement words (ounce, pound, pint, quart, gallon, dozen, meter, centimeter, kilometer, etc.)

calendar words (months of the year, holidays)

contractions (I'm, we've, they'll, that's, etc.)

common English words that come from French or Spanish (souvenir, carousel, restaurant, debut... barbecue, chocolate, corral, tomato, etc.)

Greek and Latin roots

 

There's a LOT packed into this slim Spelling Book that can be used for a number of years, easily up through grade 7-8:

- spelling rules

- capitalization rules

- antonyms/synonyms

- prefixes, endings, suffixes

- dictionary skills

- alphabetizing

- contractions

- abbreviations

- possessives

- plurals

- syllables

- capitalization rules

Edited March 19, 2016 by Lori D.

[quelques_fleur]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions....so glad I asked this question. I'm feeling better about not forging ahead with AAS Level 5.

 

 

The Logic of English and the ABCs book are both great resources. I have them both. I enjoyed reading the Logic of English because I felt it laid out the rules in an orderly way. We started Megawords after AAS. It was an easy transition and less teacher intensive. I think we went through AAS4 also.

 

These both look like great resources!  What is the appeal of one over another?  Also, I do best when concepts are presented globally so I can see the big picture before I delve in to the different pieces that make up the big picture.  Does one of these books do this better than the other?

[quelques_fleur]

PS

And, if it's working great for you, then go with what works, by all means! But I did not care for Spelling Power, as it does not present spelling rules or vowel patterns very well (no logical schedule or structure), and I don't recall that it includes any syllabication work. Spelling Power draws words from the most common 1000 and most common 5000 words, but you can also find those types of lists online if you wish to DIY for Spelling. For example: Most Common 1000 Words, and High Frequency List: 5000 Most Commonly Used Words.

 

One other "word source" for making our Spelling that I found to be extremely handy was Natural Speller, which provides word lists by grade level, and lists them by "word family" -- it is really useful in those later elementary grades, once a lot of the spelling rules have been learned, to have spelling lists with words that all look different, but are using the same spelling rule that is not always a vowel pattern rule.

<snip>

 

So, the book came in the mail the other day and as I've browsed through it, I noticed that drawback. That's why I wanted a resource for all the spelling rules since I'm not seeing them listed in a logical manner in Spelling Power.  Natural Speller was one I looked at before deciding on Spelling Power but I couldn't really get a good feel for it just from the internet.  I am feeling at a loss right now to find a better fit. I have Spelling Power at home....is it possible to make it fit with the ABCs book or Logic of English book?  Thankfully I got it used, but still, that's money wasted. 

 

Need to take a closer look at Natural Speller now.  Back at square one!

 

[ElizabethB]

Spelling Plus has rules and patterns in one book for k-6, by Susan C. Anthony. If you want the big picture, watch my online spelling lessons, 2 hours total. Also, all the percentages linked in the book The ABCs and All Their Tricks are in my phonogram sound charts and my spelling lessons show how to use them, but even more than the ABCs, she does not cover some of the r controlled words, I went back to the original Hanna study of the most common 17,000 words in English and got those. The charts are linked from my spelling lesson page.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Spelling/spellinglessonsl.html

Edited April 1, 2016 by ElizabethB

[Lori D.]

So, the book came in the mail the other day and as I've browsed through it, I noticed that drawback. That's why I wanted a resource for all the spelling rules since I'm not seeing them listed in a logical manner in Spelling Power... I have Spelling Power at home....is it possible to make it fit with the ABCs book or Logic of English book?  Thankfully I got it used, but still, that's money wasted...

 

Sure! Give it a try -- Spelling Power might work great, esp.  if you add in the rules from other sources. Or, you may find it very useful for word lists and making your own spelling, or just having handy on the shelf those 1000 and 5000 common word lists. :) That's not a waste at all. :)

 

...Natural Speller was one I looked at before deciding on Spelling Power but I couldn't really get a good feel for it just from the internet... Need to take a closer look at Natural Speller now.  Back at square one!

 

 

I used Natural Speller (NS) as another resource. A lot of the info I listed that is contained in NS is very brief -- more like an outline of topics to cover in some way. And I did like the word lists and "word families" for helping to create our own spelling, and to have a "touchstone" for what words are typical for 4th grade, or 5th grade, or... She only has you practice words in the "Look...Say...Think...Write" method that is the primary method of Spelling Power (although Spelling Power also includes loads of additional practice methods to match the different learning styles). So while you may find NS as a useful resource, from your previous posts, I don't think it will be exactly the complete Spelling program you're looking for. :)

[quelques_fleur]

I'm back with my spelling book questions.  So, now I purchased the ABC's and all their tricks. It looks like a great reference book, and definitely useful.  It's not exactly what I was hoping for.  I really need to thumb through these books in person to make a more informed decision!  lol  I figured what I would like is to have all the rules listed out in a logical way with a sample list of words.   So, after reading older posts in the forum, I'm trying to decide between How To Teach Spelling and Uncovering the Logic of English.  Does one do the job of what I am hoping for better than the other? 

Edited March 31, 2016 by quelques_fleur

[nansk]

Uncovering explains the rules but it is only a teacher's guide. You can probably get much of the info from Denise Eide's teacher training videos on youtube.

 

How To Teach Spelling also lists spelling words for each rule, so you can teach out of it. You don't necessarily need the How To Spell workbooks that go with it.

 

 

[nansk]

I'm back with my spelling book questions.  So, now I purchased the ABC's and all their tricks. It looks like a great reference book, and definitely useful.  It's not exactly what I was hoping for. 

Personally I found ABCs and All Their Tricks confusing. I resold it.

Comparitively, I think How To Teach Spelling and the Logic of English Essentials (not the Uncovering book) are open-and-go resources.

[MerryAtHope]

You may want to look at the online samples for AAS 5-7 since you like how the rules are presented. That's when the harder words are introduced (AAS includes the modern words from the Ayers list, which ranks words up to 12th grade, and also words from other lists that rank 9th-12th grade). Maybe he just needs to fast-track until he gets to harder words--learn the rule, teach it back to you, but not spend as much time on the lists & dictations if those words are easy for him already. He can slow down when he gets to harder words. If he doesn't need the tiles and doesn't like them, you can just use them for demonstrations or do everything in writing--use an underline to show when two or more letters are working together as one phonogram when you teach a new one. AAS 5 finishes the phonograms and that's when everything starts to come together--you can get to those longer and harder words when all of the foundation has been laid. I learned rules in AAS 6 that helped me as an adult with a few of my own spelling bugaboos. AAS 7 includes Greek & Latin roots too--my kids really liked the word trees. 

[ElizabethB]

I have How to Teach Spelling, Spelling Plus, and Uncovering The Logic of English. I think Spelling Plus does what you want best. How to Teach Spelling is somewhere between The ABCs and All Their Tricks and Spelling Plus in ease of use. Uncovering the Logic of English is similar to the ABCs but more concise.

[ElizabethB]

I also own Hanna's Spelling, Structure and strategies, which has Hanna's ideas for teaching spelling based on his study. It is an interesting book, but even less something that you can teach from than The ABCs. My spelling sounds of K video is based on his idea of teaching spelling as a puzzle at times to engage interest and involve the student. His example was the sounds of F, I might do that at a later date.