Do you get tired of providing the same spellings to children time and again? I produced a classroom resource, an A to Z of high frequency and additional common words, for that reason and also to enable children to become more independent writers. The print-outs are available at the end of this post.

The two A4 sheets of words are placed back to back and laminated together for use every time the children are writing. Each child should have one for reference. Of course, at first it is a good idea to explain the resource to the children, in particular how it is set out. Point out that the numbers are arranged so that children can spell twenty-four for example by finding the spelling of twenty and four and combining them.

Expecting a primary-aged child to find all unknown spellings in a dictionary is unreasonable because it takes the enjoyment out of writing. Of course, children need to learn the skills of using a dictionary, but in the course of everyday writing, a simple reference card is much handier and less discouraging. I have also found that they learn the words better when they have to find them as opposed to being spoon-fed all the time. Of course, I am not advocating that you do not provide any words at all, as more difficult words and topic words are not be available on this card.

I would suggest using the resource from Year 2 upwards, throughout the primary-age range (ages 6 to 11), although the further up the school, as children are more familiar with high frequency words, it may be more appropriate for children with learning difficulties.

You will soon get to know the words that are on the card and then if you see a child has spelled a word incorrectly or if you are asked for the spelling of a high frequency word, you can refer the child to the A to Z card.  With young children with limited reading skills indicate a small section of the card where the word appears and see if the child can find it from the limited selection while you watch.

I hope you find the resource as useful as I have done for helping children to become more independent writers and it has the added bonus that it children become familiar with alphabetical order.

Download the A to Z front page and back page resources.