sample 306-sequential-spelling-volume-6

AVKO Sequential Spelling 6

democrat democratic democracy aristocrat aristocratic aristocracy diplomat diplomatic diplomacy bureaucrat bureaucratic bureaucracy

by

Don McCabe

AVKO Educational Research Foundation

2

Dedication

This book is dedicated to: All the members of the AVKO Educational Research Foundation,

but especially to the memory of one of its first members,

Mary Clair Scott without whose work and devotion to the cause of literacy,

the AVKO Foundation might never have gotten off the ground,

Betty June Szilagyi who was my first and by far my most important teacher,

Devorah Wolf without whose encouragement and commitment

to the ideals of AVKO this edition would not be possible,

Ann, Robert, and Linda McCabe all of whom have sacrificed much of their time and energy

helping AVKO grow as well as all those friends and relatives

who have been a source of encouragement.

May this book help you to help others improve their abilities to read and write.

Copyright © 2006, 2003, 1992, 1975 AVKO Educational Research Foundation, Inc. Printed in the United States of America.

Permission is hereby given for individual parents, tutors, and educators to reproduce any list for classroom use.

Reproduction of these lists for entire schools or school districts is strictly forbidden.

AVKO Educational Research Foundation, 3084 Willard Road, Suite 306, Birch Run, Michigan 48415

Publisher's Cataloging in Publication Data McCabe, Donald J.

1. Spelling—Miscellanea 2. Reading—Miscellanea 3. Curriculum—Miscellanea 4. Literacy.

Library of Congress Subject Headings: Spelling, Reading, Curriculum

Library of Congress Classification Number: LB1050.2F79

Library of Congress Card Number: To be determined

Dewey Decimal Classification Number 428.4

ISBN: 1-56400966-1

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The Basic Concepts of Teaching Spelling

by Word Families

You may have used the concept of

rhyming words that have the same letter

endings to help your students learn to read.

For example, you may have introduced the

word at, then also shared cat, bat, sat, and

maybe even scat. Unfortunately, you have

never had any source book for finding all

the rhyming words with the same spelling

patterns. [NOTE: In the latest academic

jargon word families are now called

―rimes.‖ The consonants, consonant blends,

and digraphs that precede the word family

(or rime) are now called onsets. Use

whatever term you wish with your students.

In this book, I generally use the terms base

or word family rather than the new jargon

word ―rime.‖]

The Patterns of English Spelling (formerly

Word Families Plus) is now available to be

used as a source book so that you can teach

any word family. This is not just a simple

collection of word lists. This book consists

of complete patterns to help your students

(and quite often parents and teachers!) see

patterns that exist and to lock in on those

patterns with their ―computer‖ brains. For

example, I believe that if you can teach your

students (or anyone) the word at, you can

also teach them:

bat bats batted batting

cat cats

scat scats

flat flats flatted flatting

pat pats patted patting

spat spats

mat mats matted matting

rat rats ratted ratting

batter batters battered battering battery batteries

flatter flatters flattered flattering flattery

matter matters mattered mattering

battle battles battled battling

cattle

rattle rattles rattled rattling

OR, for a more sophisticated example, from the word act you can build:

act acts acted acting active action

fact facts

tract tracts traction

attract attracts attracted attracting attractive attraction

distract distracts distracted distracting distraction

extract extracts extracted extracting extractive extraction

subtract subtracts subtracted subtracting subtraction

contract contracts contracted contracting contraction

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Perhaps the most important difference

between the traditional approach to spelling

and the AVKO (Audio-Visual-Kinesthetic-

Oral) approach is that we use tests as a

learning device and not as a method of

evaluation. I believe that the natural

method of learning is learning from

mistakes, correcting their own mistakes

when they make them—so they can learn

from them. That is why I want students to

correct their own mistakes when they

make them—not hours, days, or even weeks

later.

Use a Dry Erase Board

to give AVKO Sequential

Spelling Tests

The First Day On the first day of class when it comes

time for spelling, you should announce to

your students:

I have some good news and some bad

news. First the bad news. Today and every

day until the end of school we are going to

have a spelling test. The good news is that

each one of you will correct your own

paper. But before we start, I want each of

you to take out a sheet of paper and put

your name on it. Did everybody spell their

name correctly? Good. That's my first test.

My next test is like a doctor's test. It's not

for a grade so don't worry about it. Okay?

Now write the following sentence:

Everybody has some kind of

personality.

If any of your students shows signs of

struggling with the sentence, just ask that

child to try to spell just the word

personality. If your child still finds it

difficult to put down anything, ask him to

just put down – in any order – some of the

letters he thinks might be in the word

personality.

Collect the papers. On the 8th day, you

will be able to demonstrate that those

students who couldn't spell personality on

the first day, were able to correctly spell it

without ever having seen or studied the

word. And remember that only 15% of all

5th graders can be expected to spell the

word personality, and only 26% of all 6th

graders. Even those who may miss the word

will have a spelling much closer to the

correct spelling than they did on the first

day. We will expect that you will point that

out to your students on the 8th day.

If each child has his own copy of the

AVKO Student Response Book for

Sequential Spelling, have them open their

books to page 3. Note the location of Day 1.

It is in the middle column of page 3. This is

so that when a child starts in the left-hand

column on page one (which happens to be

the 61st day!) you can point out to him that

the author, Don McCabe, wanted him to

make a mistake right away, just so that you

could show them the AVKO motto on the

bottom of the page:

Mistakes are

Opportunities to Learn

The reason for this arrangement is to

prevent students from copying the base

word that they had the day before and then

just adding the -s, -ed, or -ing ending as the

case may be. Just as students don't learn by

copying from others, they don't learn by

copying from themselves.

If your students don’t have a Student

Response Book, have them use a notebook

with single sheets of paper. Use one sheet

for each day’s spelling lesson.‖

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In the column marked 1st day, I want you

to write the word “pilot” as in: Lucky

Lindy was quite a pilot. pilot. Now, I want

everyone of you to try. At least guess what

letters pilot begins with. If you don't get it

right, it's no big deal! So you erase it and

write it right. Isn't that why erasers are put

on the ends of pencils?

While your students are attempting to

write the word pilot, there may be some

rubber necks or elastic eyeballs in action.

This is not the time to jump on the child

doing it, but it is the time to ask your

students how much they are going to learn

from someone else's mistakes. Tell them

once again that they are correcting their

own papers. Try to impress upon them that

it doesn't make any sense to cheat. After

everybody has attempted writing pilot, you

now ask your students: What are the first

two letters in pilot?

Most will shout out, ―P, I.‖ Now, you

write on your dry erase board in black just

the letters p and i. Now you ask what the

last three letters of pilot are. Again, there

will be shouts, ―L, O, T.‖ You now write

the –lot in green. If any mistakes have been

made, have them use their erasers and write

it right. At this point some of your students

may question why the sound ―lut‖ is spelled

l-o-t. L-O-T spells the word lot (―LAH’t‖).

Perhaps this is the time to let them know

that this year in spelling they will be

learning to spell a great many words that

only seem to contradict the rules of phonics

they have been taught earlier.

Words whose base has more than one

syllable nearly always have a different (but

consistent!) pattern. Examples of words

with a single syllable base are: hot, hotter,

lot, short, stand, understand,

understanding, misunderstandings. Note

well that words with a single syllable base

may have structural endings and prefixes

that make them have many syllables and

lots of letters such as the word

misunderstandings that has five syllables

and seventeen letters. But a short five-letter

word such as pilot cannot be reduced to a

meaningful one syllable base. Nor can

words such as crucial, social, special,

precious, anxious, color (Am.) colour (Br.)

or bureau. This is a very important concept.

Yet it is one which is rarely taught in our

colleges and universities. For a complete

discussion of this see McCabe, The

Mechanics of English Spelling. If your

local library does not have this booklet, it is

available free from the AVKO Foundation.

All we ask is that you pay $3.00 to cover

the cost of postage and handling.

Depending upon the age of your students

and their attitudes, you may try to get them

to spell aloud the word with you as they

trace over their correct spelling. In other

words, by hearing the word (Audio), seeing

the word (Visual), writing the word

(Kinesthetic), and saying the word (Oral),

your students are using a multi-sensory

approach to learning that research has

demonstrated is a powerful method.

Then you give the second word. ballot.

After you vote, make sure the ballot goes

into the ballot box. ballot. Each child tries

to spell the word. You write bal in black,

lot in green. One of your students may ask

why we don’t pronounced the letters b-a-l-l

as ―baw’l‖). Congratulate him for asking

an intelligent question. Yes, you would

think we would first say the word ball and

then add ―AH’t‖ but since that word ballot

has no relationship at all with the word ball,

a different set of rules goes into play. These

rules often have to do with accented and

unaccented syllables. But we don’t need to

go into them. Though it’s true that ball is

pronounced ―BAW’l‖ and o-t is

pronounced ―AH’t,‖ the word ballot is not

pronounced ―BAWL lot.‖ Instead it is

pronounced ―BAL lut.‖

1. Say the word. 2. Use it in a sentence 3. Repeat the word d. 4. Give the correct spelling.

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5. Have the students check their spelling and correct their own misspelling.

6. Go to the next word.

The third word is bigot. A person who

hates other people just because of their race,

their religion, or their ethnicity is often

called a bigot. bigot. Write the big in

black and the ot in green.

Number 4 is idiot. No one likes to be

called an idiot. idiot. Write the id in

black, the letter i in green and the ot in

black. You might want to point out that in

the ―big‖ or fancy words, the letter i is often

pronounced just as if it were a long E.

5. chariot The Romans used to have

chariot races. chariot

6. patriot A person who loves his country

is called a patriot. patriot

7. zealot (―ZELL lut‖) A person who is

extreme in his politics or religion (too much

zeal!) can be called a zealot. zealot

8. despot A dictator is often called a

despot. despot

9. divot After a golfer hits a shot, he

should replace his divot. divot

10. pivot A basketball player can pivot on

either foot. pivot

11. city I grew up in a large city. city

12. capacity What is the capacity of

Yankee Stadium? capacity

13. audacity Tony had the audacity to

call the minister ―Pops.‖ audacity

14. veracity We just had to check the

veracity of that statement. veracity

15. verify We had to verify that Tony did

indeed call him ―Pops.‖ verify

16. mendacity A liar is known for his

mendacity. mendacity

17. vivacity A person with a sparkling

personality has vivacity. vivacity

18. simplicity Simplicity is a simple

word to spell. simplicity

19. complicity Tony’s friend was accused

of complicity. complicity

20. electric I love to cook with an

electric fry pan. electric

21. electricity I really hate it when the

electricity goes off. electricity

22. public You should be careful what you

say in public. public

23. publicity Madonna loves all the

publicity that she can get. publicity

24. authentic The author said the

signature was authentic. authentic

25. authenticity Newspapers should be

concerned about authenticity.

authenticity

Now tell your students that if they have

made all their corrections they will receive

an A on their paper. You should be able to

quickly write A's on all of the papers. If

little Alfred E. Neumann wrote chairot for

chariot and failed to catch his mistake and

correct it, you should NOT give him an A.

Obviously you really shouldn't give him an

E. So don't give him anything except

encouragement that tomorrow he will have

a chance to do better and get an A. But

make sure that he corrects his misspelling.

Don't just put a check mark. Have him

erase chairot or cherryut and spell chariot

correctly.

Special Note: The word city is

pronounced ―SIT tee.‖ The ending –icity is

pronounced ―ISS uh tee.‖ For a more

complete explanation of this phenomenon

see McCabe’s The Mechanics of English

Spelling.

Second Day

Have your students take out their AVKO

Student Response Book for Sequential

Spelling and open it to page 5. Or have

them take out a clean sheet of paper.

Today, the first word is pilots. Pilots fly

airplanes. pilots

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Number two is ballots. It took them an

hour to count all the ballots. ballots

Number three is bigots as in: Nobody

really likes bigots. bigots

Number 4 is idiots. You shouldn’t call

them idiots even if they are. idiots

Number 5 is chariots. Rich young Romans

used to race their chariots through the

streets. chariots

6. patriots Don’t you think patriots

ought to be patriotic? patriots

7. zealots Every religion has its own

zealots. zealots

8. despots Despots usually rule with an

iron fist. despots

9. divots Good golfers usually replace

their divots. divots

10. pivots Tom usually pivots off his left

foot. pivots

11. cities Most cities are run by a mayor

and a city council. cities

12. capacious A football stadium should

be capacious. capacious

13. audacious People with chutzpah are

often audacious. audacious

14. veracious Goodness gracious Vera,

truth is veracious. veracious

15. verifies A good lawyer verifies his

client’s alibi. verifies

16 mendacious Chronic liars are simply

mendacious. mendacious

17. vivacious People with sparkling

personalities are vivacious. vivacious

18. felicity Felicia is noted for her felicity

towards others. felicity

19. accomplice He didn’t do it alone. He

had an accomplice. accomplice

20. electrician An electrician can repair

an electric motor. electrician

21. electrical Electricians can repair

almost anything electrical. electrical

22. publication The public deserves a

good publication to read. publication

23. velocity What is the velocity of a

speeding bullet? velocity

24. ferocity Pit bulls are known for their

ferocity. ferocity

25. atrocity The bombing of London was

an atrocity. atrocity

The Third Day

We begin the third day by having the

students take out their AVKO Student

Response Book for Sequential Spelling or a

clean sheet of paper.

On this, the third day, you will begin the

slow process of programming your

students’ God-given computer brains to

form the various ending sounds like –ic, -

ical, -ically, -cious, -acity, -icity, etc.

correctly. There is no need at this time to

encumber a child’s mind with rules.

However, if one of your precocious students

asks you about the rules, you should give

them whatever explanation you deem

appropriate. You can start by saying:

1. piloted Who piloted The Spirit of

St. Louis? piloted

2. balloted Everyone in the town

balloted by noon. balloted

3. bigotry Every culture has some

bigotry in it. bigotry

4. idiocy Voting for Mickey Mouse is

political idiocy. idiocy

5. compatriot My compatriot voted

for Minnie Mouse. compatriot

6. patriotic Most of us are patriotic.

patriotic

7. ingotDoes anybody have a gold

ingot I can borrow? ingot

8. despotic Adolph Hitler was a

despotic ruler. despotic

9. ache I hate it when my back begins

to ache. ache

10. pivoted He pivoted on his right

foot. pivoted

8


11. Bay City Have you ever been to

Bay City, Michigan? Bay City

12. incapacity His incapacity to write

cost him a promotion. incapacity

13. perspicacity You expect a genius

to show perspicacity. perspicacity

14. verification Your statement needs

some verification. verification

15. verified The mayor verified my

statement. verified

16. sage A sage should be sagacious. sage

17. sagacity A sage should be known

for his sagacity sagacity

18. duplicity To be two-faced is to

show duplicity. duplicity

19. oddity Having a dead man run for

office is an oddity. oddity

20. heredity Who we are is the result

of heredity and environment. heredity

21. inherited I am sure I inherited my

hair from my mother. inherited

22. rigidity The opposite of rigidity is

flexibility. rigidity

23. scarcity There is a scarcity of

humor among the wealthy. scarcity

24. ferocious Lions, tigers, bears and

pit bulls are ferocious. ferocious

25. atrocities Unspeakable atrocities

were committed at Dachau. atrocities

Note: You may treat the word ache as an

“outlaw” that refuses to follow the rules if you wish. Actually, the word ache does follow a simple rule. Medical and religious terms usually come from the Greek. In these words, the “k”

sound is usually spelled “ch” as in Christ,

chronic, and stomach ache.

The Fourth Day

The fourth day we begin by having the


Response Book for Sequential Spelling and

open it to page 9 or by having them take out

a clean sheet of paper.

Then give the following words in

sentences: So that your students can learn

from immediate self-correction after any

mistake, show the words after each

sentence. The simple word lists for days 1-

8 are found on pages 17-18.

1. piloting Mark Twain knew a lot

about piloting. piloting

2. balloting Balloting plays an important role in a democracy.

balloting

3. idiotic Some of these sentences

are idiotic. idiotic

4. idiocies Are idiots known for their

idiocies? idiocies

5. compatriots My compatriots are

all friends. compatriots

6. patriotism Is patriotism the last

refuge of a scoundrel? patriotism

7. ingots I could use a few ingots of

gold or silver. ingots

8. despotismIt‟s no fun living under

despotism.despotism

9.! aches Someday you‟ll know what

aches and pains really are. aches

10. pivoting Thomas keeps pivoting

on the wrong foot. pivoting

11. Bay City’s Bay City’s Center

Street has many old mansions. Bay

City’s

12. headache These sentences are

giving me a headache. headache

13. perspicacious A child prodigy is

expected to be perspicacious.

perspicacious

14. verities Does Vera know the

eternal verities very, very well?

verities

15. verifying We were just verifying

the meaning of truth. verifying

16. sagacious Goodness gracious,

that sage is sagacious. sagacious.

17. valid I hope you have a valid ticket.

valid

18. validity The validity of his claim

was being contested. validity

9


19. oddities Some oddities of life are

unexplainable. oddities

20. timid Football is not for the timid.

timid

21. timidity Linebackers are not noted

for their timidity. timidity

22. humid It‟s very humid in a sauna.

Do you know why? humid

23. humidity It‟s not the heat that

bothers me – it‟s the humidity.

humidity

24. ferociously The caterpillars

attacked ferociously. ferociously

25. atrociousI hope nobody here

thinks their spelling is atrocious.

atrocious

The Fifth Day

On the 5th day we begin by having the


Response Book for Sequential Spelling or

by having them use a clean sheet of paper.

Then give the following words in

sentences: So that your students may learn

from immediate self-correction after any

mistake, show the words after each sentence

as follows:

1. profound “Why do we use the pronoun „He‟ when talking about God?”

is a profound question. profound

2. profundity A profundity is a

profound statement. profundity

3. real If it‟s real, it can‟t be make-

believe. real

4. reality Reality is simply that which

is real. reality

5. legal If it‟s legal, it‟s not against the

law. legal

6. legality Lawyers specialize in

checking the legality of actions.

legality

7. frugal A miser tends to be very,

very frugal. frugal

8. frugality The habit of being frugal

is what frugality is. frugality

9. trivial That bit of knowledge may

seem trivial to you. trivial

10. triviality Unimportant trivia is what

triviality is all about. triviality

11. treaty The two countries signed a

peace treaty. treaty

12. beauty My 57 Chevrolet was a

thing of beauty. beauty

13. duty It‟s my duty to teach you.

Your duty is to learn. duty

14. haughty Cinderella‟s sisters were

extremely haughty. haughty

15. naughty I would rather be naughty

than haughty. naughty

16. mighty That‟s mighty nice of you

to say that. mighty

17. pity It‟s a pity we didn‟t learn these

words last year pity

18. pitiful The dying deer was a pitiful

sight. pitiful

19. Ritz I just love Ritz crackers. Don‟t

you? Ritz

20. Fritz Fritz loves Ritz crackers and

so does Rita. Fritz

21. howitzer A howitzer is a gun used

by the artillery. howitzer

22. seltzer Have you ever had any

plain seltzer water? seltzer

23. blue Why is the sky blue? blue

24. true Why can‟t you be true, dear?

true

25. glue Many youngsters have died

sniffing glue. glue

The Sixth Day

The 6th day we begin by having the



open it to page 13 or by having them take

out a clean sheet of paper.

10


1. special Would you like to do

something special today? special

2. specialty My specialty is spelling

weird words! specialty

3. specialties Do you have any weird

specialties? specialties

4. artificialI know someone who has

an artificial tree. artificial

5. artificiality I don‟t go for

artificiality. artificiality

6. partial In fact, I am partial to

reality. partial

7. partiality But I shouldn‟t show my

partiality. partiality

8. impartial Really, I try to be very

impartial. impartial

9. impartiality In fact, I try to

demonstrate my impartiality.

impartiality

10. aching Oh, my aching back!

aching

11. treaties Canada and the U.S. have

signed many treaties. treaties

12. beauties Those fish you caught

were real beauties. beauties

13. duties I expect that all of you will

do your duties duties

14. haughtier The older child is usually

haughtier than the younger. haughtier

15. naughtierThe younger child is

usually naughtier than the older.

naughtier

16. mightier Is the pen truly mightier

than the sword? mightier

17. pities My sister pities me. pities

18. pitifully Her attitude toward me is

pitifully outdated. pitifully

19. Ritz’s We talked to the Ritz’s

doorman. Ritz’s

20. Fritz’s Have you seen Fritz’s

room? Fritz’s

21. howitzers We destroyed most of

Iraq‟s howitzers. howitzers

22. Alka Seltzer I think I might need an

Alka Seltzer. Alka Seltzer

23. blues Have you ever felt like

singing the blues? blues

24. true-blue My aunt and uncle are

true-blue conservatives. true-blue

25. glues My brother glues the things

he breaks back together glues

Note: You might want to play with the

homophones special tee, special tea, and

specialty. You can even have special tees for

golfers, special teas for tea drinkers, and a

special tease for practical jokers.

The Seventh Day

The 7th day we begin by having the



open it to page 15 or by having them take

out a clean sheet of paper.

1. formal Not many people wear

formal dress to dinner. formal

2. formality“How do you do?” is a

common formality used in addressing

people. formality

3. formalities Introductions are

formalities that can be boring

formalities

4. normal It is normal to be bored

sometimes. normal

5. abnormal It is certainly abnormal

to be constantly excited. abnormal

6. abnormality A wart is a common

harmless abnormality. abnormality

7. abnormalities All abnormalities

are not harmless. abnormalities

8. origin Darwin1 was interested in the

origin of all species. origin

9. original I own an original painting.

It was signed by me. original

1 Charles Darwin is a name your students should at

least be acquainted with. You do not have to share

Darwin’s beliefs. Some people do, but many do not.

11


10. originality My first grade teacher thought my excuse (my pet tiger ate

my homework) showed originality.

originality

11. toothache It‟s no fun to get a

toothache. toothache

12. beautiful All mothers are beautiful

to their children. beautiful

13. dutiful All children should be

dutiful to their mothers. dutiful

14. haughtiest Cinderella‟s stepmother

was the haughtiest. haughtiest

15. naughtiest I was the naughtiest

child in our family. naughtiest

16. mightiest I also had the mightiest

mouth. mightiest

17. pitied I have never liked being

pitied. pitied

18. * flue Have you ever cleaned a

chimney flue? flue

19. * due My rent is due at the end of

the week. due

20. undue There is too much undue

commotion. undue

21. Purdue Did the speaker say that he

graduated from Purdue? Purdue

22. residue The chemical residue was

smelly and disgusting. residue

23. bluing My friend puts too much

bluing into the wash. bluing

24. avenue Let‟s stroll down the

avenue and cross a street. avenue

25. glued I swear my friend sits glued

to the TV set. glued

After the Seventh Day

Every single day there is a twenty-five

word spelling test. Some days the tests are

easier than others, but please don't panic on

days like the 16th day when the word

circumstantial is presented. REMEMBER:

AVKO is not concerned about teaching the

spelling of any one word per se. AVKO is

concerned with the teaching of basic sounds

for both spelling and reading.

In the case of words like decorum and

forum what is important is the teaching of

the -orum ending, the roots, and the

structural endings, as well as the initial

consonant sounds, consonant blends,

prefixes, etc.

REMEMBER: Please speed your

students through the tests. Give the word.

Put it in a sentence. Say the word. Spell

the word. Have your students (if you can)

trace the corrected spelling as they spell it

aloud in group chorus. Go on to the next—

but make sure your students make an

attempt at the spelling before you give the

correct spelling. Copying your spelling

does not help them learn. Correcting their

own misspelling does.

Immediate Feedback

The most common mistake made in

administering the AVKO Sequential

Spelling Tests is to give the entire test and

then correct. This method just won't work.

• Give each word separately.

• Say the word. Give it in a sentence.

• Let your students attempt the spelling.

• Give the correct spelling. Let each child

correct his own.

• Then give the next word. Repeat the

process of immediate student self-

correction.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are those asterisks (*) and

exclamation marks doing next to

some words?

The asterisks (*) merely serve as a

reminder that the word so marked has a

homophone (same pronunciation,

different spelling), has a heteronym (same

12


spelling, different word and different

pronunciation), or does not follow the

normal pattern. For example, ache **

should logically be spelled ―ake.‖ But

instead of k we use the letters ―ch.‖

2. Why don't the words used

follow grade levels? Atrocities is an

11th grade word in our school's

regular spelling text.

Regular spelling texts as a general rule

pick grade levels for words according to

when the words first begin to occur in the

curriculum. This would seem to make

sense, but it does bring about some rather

odd sequences. Since the word ice may not

occur in the curriculum until the fourth

grade when it appears in the science class,

its introduction is delayed until that time

even though nice may occur in the first

grade and twice in the second grade, and

price in the fifth and rice in the sixth.

AVKO believes in giving students the

opportunity to discover for themselves the

phonics necessary for decoding through the

back door of spelling and without preaching

rules that may or may not be useful. We

teach the word atrocities only after the -

icity- and -icities sounds have been taught

in 18 different words.

3. Why do you have so many

words that are outside the

vocabulary of normal adults, such as

the word “frugality”?

We don't believe it hurts anyone to learn a

new word — but that is not why we use it.

We use the word frugality as an added

practice in sounding out spellings of words

having the initial /fr/ sound and practice in

spelling the ending -ality. It also gives the

student a pleasant surprise and ego boost

when he discovers he can spell a word that

he believes he has never heard nor seen

before — just because he knows basic

phonics. It also gives you a chance to point

out how the ending al in words like real,

normal, and legal often have a change in

sound (―ul‖ to ―al‖) when the ity ending is

added to make ality words.

4. Should the teacher count off for

sloppy handwriting?

Since the students get to correct their own

spelling, they should be expected to write

clearly and legibly. In fact, we recommend

that these sequential spelling tests be used

for handwriting practice because the

patterns, being repetitive, can be a help in

developing legible handwriting. We further

recommend that if your students print, that

they use Getty-Dubay Italic, D'Nealian™

manuscript, or AVKO. If your students

write, we strongly recommend any of the

three mentioned. But whatever system you

use or your school system requires, we

believe that the writing must be legible.

So, yes, by all means, take off for sloppy

handwriting (provided the student has no

physical disability and has sufficient small

motor skills to write legibly).

5. Do I have to use all the words

that are in the tests? Can I drop

some? Can I change some?

No. Yes. Yes. No, you don't have to use

them all. You can drop some. You know

your students better than we do. Yes, you

can substitute other words for the ones we

have selected. The Patterns of English

Spelling is your best reference to select

from. If for example, you would rather start

with the -at, bat, rat, cat, sat family, be our

guest. You can use your pencil to write in

your choices. Every child is different.

Don't be afraid to trust your own judgment.

6. Can I give the same test more

than once during the day?

Yes. If your students can profit from that,

fine. We recommend, however, that you

allow a minimum of an hour to pass

between retests. We also recommend that

the absolute maximum number of times that

Sequential Spelling be given is four times

in one day, whether repeats or new lessons.

13


7. My child is in the 5th

grade. May

I use Sequential Spelling 1 to start

one hour, Sequential Spelling 2 to

start the 2nd hour, 3 for the third,

etc.? I want my child to be as good

a reader and speller as he can be.

Why not? If it works, it works. If it

doesn't, then try something else. You

could try going through four days of

Sequential Spelling 1 every day until it is

finished and then move through four days

of Sequential Spelling 2 every day, and

continue on through four levels of

Sequential Spelling in one year.

8. Why are some words in bold

print?

The words in bold print are those that

are the most commonly used words and the

most important to learn. You will also

notice that some words (such as the words

doesn't and shouldn’t) which don't

follow regular patterns are repeated many

times throughout the series. If your

students learn to spell any of the words that

are not in bold face, that is so much gravy.

What we want the students to learn is to

spell the most common words and to learn

the most common patterns that occur in

words. You will discover that most of these

patterns consist of only two, three, or four

letters. A big word like misunder-

standings can be broken into the

following patterns: mis•un•der•st•and•ing•s.

9. Do I have to teach all the

homophones and homographs

listed?

Absolutely no. We have listed them for

your convenience. If you wish to teach

them, fine. If you don't, fine. We only ask

that when they come up that you definitely

use the word in a sentence that helps your

students pick the right word. For example.

Don't just say mined. Your students may

think about the word mind. Instead, Say

something like: ―mined. Coal is still being

mined in Pennsylvania. mined.‖

10. What does TPES stand for at the bottom of the pages?

TPES stands for The Patterns of English

Spelling. This book contains all the words

that share a common spelling pattern placed

on the same page (or pages in the case of

families like the -tion family). In our

Sequential Spelling Series we list most of

the words in each family, but not all. If a

parent (or teacher) wants to include more or

to give special assignments to the students,

we have included the page references.

11. Can I use the words in

Sequential Spelling for composition?

Yes, of course. Having your students

create sentences out of the words is good

exercise for their minds and will allow you

to determine if they truly understand what

the words really mean. You may also have

them write the entire sentence that you

dictate. That will help you help them

handle the problems created by speech

patterns, such as the ―wanna’s‖ ―whutcha

gonna’s‖ etc.

12. Is there anything I can use to

help my students’ reading that will

also reinforce the spelling?

AVKO’s New Word Families in Sentence

Context may be used in conjunction with

Sequential Spelling. The page number given for

The Patterns of English Spelling (TPES) also

works for the Word Families in Sentence

Context. This book may also be obtained from

the AVKO Educational Research Foundation.

14


1st day 2nd day 3rd day 4th day

1. ! pilot pilots piloted piloting

2. ! ballot ballots balloted balloting

3. bigot bigots bigotry idiotic

4. idiot idiots idiocy idiocies

5. chariot chariots compatriot compatriots

6. patriot patriots patriotic patriotism

7. zealot zealots ingot ingots

8. despot despots despotic despotism

9. divot divots ! ache ! aches

10. pivot pivots pivoted pivoting

11. city * cities Bay City Bay City‟s

12. capacity capacious incapacity headache

13. audacity audacious perspicacity perspicacious

14. veracity veracious verification verities

15. verify verifies verified verifying

16. mendacity mendacious sage sagacious

17. vivacity vivacious sagacity valid

18. simplicity felicity duplicity validity

19. complicity accomplice oddity oddities

20. electric electrician heredity timid

21. electricity electrical inherited timidity

22. public publication rigidity humid

23. publicity velocity scarcity humidity

24. authentic ferocity ferocious ferociously

25. authenticity atrocity atrocities atrocious * Homophones: cities/city’s/cities’ Our city’s mayor has been in many cities as the other cities’ mayor. Note

that what comes before the apostrophe determines whether the possessive is singular or plural.

! Special Note: The -ot ending in words such as pilot, ballot, bigot, etc., does not rhyme with

hot, lot, or tot. These words have a base of more than one syllable and different phonic rules

apply. Although the word city is pronounced ―SIT tee,‖ the structural ending –city as in

publicity is pronounced ―suh tee.‖ For a more complete explanation of these phenomena see

McCabe’s ―The Mechanics of English Spelling‖ in The Teaching of Reading and Spelling: a

Continuum from Kindergarten through College.

15


5th day 6th day 7th day 8th day

1. profound special formal person

2. profundity specialty formality personal

3. * real specialties formalities ** personality

4. reality artificial normal personalities

5. legal artificiality abnormal nation

6. legality partial abnormality national

7. frugal partiality abnormalities nationality

8. frugality impartial origin nationalities

9. trivial impartiality original moral

10. triviality my aching back originality morality

11. treaty treaties ! toothache ! aching

12. ! beauty beauties beautiful beautifully

13. duty duties dutiful dutifully

14. haughty haughtier haughtiest haughtiness

15. naughty naughtier naughtiest naughtiness

16. mighty mightier mightiest eighty

17. pity pities pitied pitying

18. pitiful pitifully * flue flues

19. Ritz the Ritz‟s * due dues

20. Fritz Fritz‟s undue overdue

21. howitzer howitzers Purdue Purdue‟s team

22. seltzer Alka Seltzer residue residues

23. * blue blues bluing Tuesday

24. true true-blue avenue avenues

25. glue glues glued gluing

* Homophones: real/reel An authentic partner of a fishing rod is a real reel.

blue/blew John blew up when he saw a dent in his new blue car.

dew/due/do Do you know when the dew is due to arrive?

flue/flew/flu The fly with the flu flew through the chimney flue.

** PRETEST WORD ** personality Remember on the first day you had your students write the sentence:

―Everybody has some kind of personality.‖ Now you can hand the papers back to demonstrate to them how without

studying they have learned a very difficult word. Only one out of four sixth grade students can spell personality.

! Insane Words: The word beauty (―bYOO tee‖) can be taught as an outlaw word because it appears not to follow

any rules. Actually the word comes from the French beau (―BOH‖) which means good as in good looking. The

pattern –eau is consistently pronounced ―OH‖ as in bureau, plateau, Trudeau, Clemenceau, Eau Clair, etc. In words

such as beauty and beautiful we have Anglicized the pronunciation but kept the original French spelling.

sample 306-sequential-spelling-volume-6

Documents

avko foundation

word family

avko sequential spelling

ideals of avko

spelling patterns

source book

new jargon word rime

patterns of english