Subject: English
Focus: Spellings
Group: Black
Date out: 29.02.16
Date in: 07.03.16
Irregular tense changes
Most past tense verbs in English end with ‘-ed’, but many do not. Many do not follow the rule. They are called
Irregular Verbs. In Old English a change of tense was shown by changing the middle vowel.
 Vowels are the letters ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’, ‘u’, all other letters are consonants.
 Vowels can make a short sound (‘o’ as in ‘hop’) or a long sound (‘o’ as in ‘hope’).
 A suffix is a letter or letters added to the end of a word to make another word.
 Verbs are doing words or actions (run, jump, shout etc).
 Tenses show when something happens and can be past (was, were), present (is, are) or future (will be).
(list 3:15)
Spelling tip:
Practise 1
Practise 2
(copy into space)
(fold and hide)
‘ow’ together can make a long ‘o’ sound (owe).
Can spell word
(check and correct)
blow
grow
throw
flow
know
Spelling tip:
Changing the medial vowel from ‘o’ to ‘e’ changes present tense to past tense in these words.
blew
grew
threw
flew
knew
Spelling tip:
blowing
growing
throwing
flowing
knowing
For most verbs just add the suffix ‘ing’ to form the present tense.
Subject: English
Focus: Spellings
Group: Green and Blue
Date out: 29.02.16
Date in: 07.03.16
Apostrophe for possession in plurals
These words all contain an apostrophe ( ’ ) to show possession (who is the owner or what it belongs to).
The apostrophe is often misused and confused with the plural forms of nouns (a dog’s bone, two dogs, the dogs’
bones).
 When it is one thing (singular noun) the apostrophe goes before the ‘s’ (a dog’s tail).
 When there is more than one (plural) the apostrophe goes after the ‘s’ (the dogs’ tails).
 The apostrophe for plural possession always comes after the plural form of the noun and never goes
inside the word itself.
(list 4:15)
Practise 1
Singular
Plural form
cat’s
cats’
key’s
keys’
pig’s
pigs’
toy’s
toys’
book’s
books’
Singular
Plural form
church’s
churches’
fish’s
fishes’
boss’s
bosses’
fox’s
foxes’
quiz
quizzes’
Singular
Plural form
cargo’s
cargoes’
hero’s
heroes’
echo’s
echoes’
potato’s
potatoes’
tomato’s
tomatoes’
Practise 2
(copy)
(fold and hide)
For most nouns just add ‘s’ to form the plural.
Can spell word
(check and correct)
Nouns ending ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘s’, ‘x’, ‘z’ (hiss/buzz sounds) add ‘es’ to form the plural.
Nouns ending ‘o’ add ‘es’ to form the plural.
Subject: English
Focus: Spellings
Group: Yellow and Red
Date out: 29.02.16
Date in: 07.03.16
Silent letters ‘g’, ‘k’
 Many words in English have silent letters.
 Spoken language changes faster than written language.
 The following words have a letter in them which was probably sounded many years ago but no longer is.
 Silent letters are not sounded but are still needed for accurate spelling.
 Vowels are the letters ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’, ‘u’, all other letters are consonants.
Copy each word, then try to write it without copying. Use the final column to correct any mistakes or to test each
group of words.
(list 5:15)
Spelling tip:
Practise 1
Practise 2
Can spell word
(copy into space)
(fold and hide)
(check and correct)
Silent ‘g’ is often followed by ‘n’ and the ‘n’ is often followed by a vowel.
gnarled
gnaw
gnash
gnome
gnat
Spelling tip:
Silent ‘g’ is often followed by ‘n’ and often in the letter string ‘ign’.
sign
design
resign
reign
foreign
Spelling tip:
knave
knee
knife
know
knuckle
Silent ‘k’ is always followed by ‘n’ and the ‘n’ is always followed by a vowel.