AVKO Sequential
Spelling 6
democrat
aristocrat
diplomat
bureaucrat
democratic democracy
aristocratic aristocracy
diplomatic
diplomacy
bureaucratic bureaucracy
by
Don McCabe
AVKO Educational Research Foundation
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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
bat
cat
scat
flat
pat
spat
mat
rat
bats
cats
scats
flats
pats
spats
mats
rats
batter
flatter
matter
battle
cattle
rattle
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:
batted
batting
flatted
patted
flatting
patting
matted
ratted
matting
ratting
batters
flatters
matters
battered
flattered
mattered
battering
flattering
mattering
battles
battled
battling
rattles
rattled
rattling
battery
flattery
batteries
OR, for a more sophisticated example, from the word act you can build:
act
fact
tract
attract
distract
extract
subtract
contract
acts
facts
tracts
attracts
distracts
extracts
subtracts
contracts
acted
attracted
distracted
extracted
subtracted
contracted
acting
attracting
distracting
extracting
subtracting
contracting
AVKO Educational Research Foundation
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attractive
extractive
action
traction
attraction
distraction
extraction
subtraction
contraction
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Perhaps the most important difference
between the traditional approach to spelling
and the AVKO (Audio-Visual-KinestheticOral) 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.
2.
3.
4.
Say the word.
Use it in a sentence
Repeat the word d.
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
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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.
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
students take out their AVKO Student
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 18 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
sage
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
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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
students take out their AVKO Student
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 makebelieve. 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
students take out their AVKO Student
Response Book for Sequential Spelling and
open it to page 13 or by having them take
out a clean sheet of paper.
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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
students take out their AVKO Student
Response Book for Sequential Spelling and
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.
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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.
25. glued I swear my friend sits glued
to the TV set. glued
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.
After the Seventh Day
Frequently Asked Questions
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
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
avenue
process of immediate student selfcorrection.
 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
AVKO Educational Research Foundation
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.‖
sound (―ul‖ to ―al‖) when the ity ending is
added to make ality words.
 2. Why don't the words used
follow grade levels? Atrocities is an
11th grade word in our school's
regular spelling text.
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).
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
 4. Should the teacher count off for
sloppy handwriting?
 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.
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13
th
 7. My child is in the 5 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 misunderstandings 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.
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14
1st day
2nd day
3rd day
4th day
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
! pilot
! ballot
bigot
idiot
chariot
patriot
zealot
despot
pilots
ballots
bigots
idiots
chariots
patriots
zealots
despots
piloted
balloted
bigotry
idiocy
compatriot
patriotic
ingot
despotic
piloting
balloting
idiotic
idiocies
compatriots
patriotism
ingots
despotism
9.
divot
divots
! ache
! aches
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
pivot
city
capacity
audacity
veracity
verify
mendacity
vivacity
simplicity
pivots
* cities
capacious
audacious
veracious
verifies
mendacious
vivacious
felicity
pivoted
Bay City
incapacity
perspicacity
verification
verified
sage
sagacity
duplicity
pivoting
Bay City‟s
headache
perspicacious
verities
verifying
sagacious
valid
validity
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
complicity
electric
electricity
public
publicity
authentic
accomplice
electrician
electrical
publication
velocity
ferocity
oddity
heredity
inherited
rigidity
scarcity
ferocious
oddities
timid
timidity
humid
humidity
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.
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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.
7.
legality
frugal
partial
partiality
abnormality
abnormalities
national
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.
14.
duty
haughty
duties
haughtier
dutiful
haughtiest
dutifully
haughtiness
15.
naughty
naughtier
naughtiest
naughtiness
16.
mighty
mightier
mightiest
eighty
17.
pity
pities
pitied
pitying
18.
pitiful
pitifully
* flue
flues
19.
20.
21.
22.
Ritz
Fritz
howitzer
seltzer
the Ritz‟s
Fritz‟s
howitzers
Alka Seltzer
* due
undue
Purdue
residue
dues
overdue
Purdue‟s team
residues
23.
* blue
blues
bluing
Tuesday
24.
true
true-blue
avenue
avenues
25.
glue
glues
glued
gluing
* Homophones:
real/reel
blue/blew
dew/due/do
flue/flew/flu
An authentic partner of a fishing rod is a real reel.
John blew up when he saw a dent in his new blue car.
Do you know when the dew is due to arrive?
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.
AVKO Educational Research Foundation