6spelling 6th Grade Spelling
  Katy I.S.D.
6th Grade Academic Spelling Lists


The following information is found in Everyday Spelling by Foresman and Wesley. Please note that a teacher may add additional words to the weekly lists, so it is important to know these additional words for the weekly spelling quizzes as well.


*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!


Unit 1: Getting Letters in Correct Order
Spelling Focus: Watch for letter combinations that are hard to keep in order. Pay close attention to those parts: poetry, through, building.

poetry, *beautiful, thirteen, tongue, pieces, neighborhood, thousand, *through, unusual, building, license, remodel, grateful, enemy, instrument, perform, prefer, judged, adjusted, soldier

Helpful Hint: First write the words you think are easy to spell. Then write the words that are harder for you to spell. Take care as you write each word.



Unit 2: Short Vowels
Spelling Focus: Short a is usually spelled a: admire. Short e is usually spelled e: method. Short i is usually spelled i: swimming. Short o is usually spelled o: modern. Short u is usually spelled u: clumsy.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

admire, canyon, lemonade, method, distance, *swimming, modern, comedy, husband, clumsy, magnify, cannon, decorate, strict, injury, tissue, honesty, property, hundredth, dungeon

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing four words with short a, three words with short e, five words with short i, four words with short o, and four words with short u.



Unit 3: Words with ei and ie
 Spelling Focus: Long e can be spelled ei and ie: ceiling, field.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

ceiling, receipt, deceive, neither, *field, achieve, belief, brief, relief, apiece, leisure, protein, receiver, seize, conceited, shield, niece, diesel, grief, yield

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing eleven words with ie and nine words with ei.



Unit 4: Vowel Sounds in rule and view
Spelling Focus: The vowel sound /u/ (with two dots above the letter) can be spelled u-consonant-e, ew: reduce, sewer. The vowel sound /yu/(with two dots above the letter u) can be spelled iew, ue, u: review, value, United States.

reduce, attitude, sewer, New York, review, value, continue, humid, United States, universe, costume, absolutely, assume, renew, viewpoint, interview, preview, rescue, uniform, reunion

Helpful Hint: Sort the list words by writing five words that have a vowel sound spelled u-consonant-e, seven words that have a vowel sound spelled ew or iew, and eight words that have a vowel sound spelled u or ue.



Unit 5: Adding -ed and -ing
Spelling Focus: Here are five things to remember when adding -ed and -ing:
The base word sometimes does not change: answered, answering.
If the base word ends in e,drop the e: decided, deciding.
If a two-syllable word ends with an accented syllable, often double the final consonant: omitted, omitting.
If the base word ends in y, change the y to i before adding -ed: satisfied.
If the base word ends in y, keep the y before adding -ing: satisfying.

answered, answering
decided, deciding
included, including
omitted, omitting
satisfied, satisfying
delayed, delaying
remembered, remembering
exercised, exercising
interfered, interfering
occurred, occurring

Helpful Hint: Sort the list words by writing seven words in which the base word was not changed when -ed or -ing was added, one word in which the y was changed to i, four words in which the final consonant was doubled, and eight words in which the final e was dropped.



Unit 6: Review Words from Units 1-5 (10 words from each unit, total of 50 words)

adjusted, unusual, brief, uniform, beautiful, admire, grief, United States, building, canyon, leisure, answering, enemy, comedy, neither, decided, instrument, distance, niece, deciding, judged, dungeon, absolutely, exercising, neighborhood, lemonade, assume, included, perform, method, continue, including, pieces, modern, humid, occurred, poetry, property, New York, omitted, thirteen, swimming, rescue, remembered, thousand, tissue, review, remembering, through, apiece



Unit 7: Homophones
Spelling Focus: A homophone is a word that sounds exactly like another word but has a different spelling and meaning: their, there, they're.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

*their, *there, *they're, wring, ring, chili, chilly, scent, sent, cent, oversees, overseas, patients, patience, cereal, serial, coarse, course, counsel, council

Helpful Hint: First write the homophone groups that are most confusing to you. Then write the rest of the homophones.



Unit 8: Unexpected Consonant Spellings
Spelling Focus: Sometimes two or three letters together stand for only one consonant sound: doubt,science, autumn, guilty, league.

doubt, fascinate, science, scenic, autumn, column, guilty, league, guardian, disguise, subtle, debt, reminiscent, descend, condemn, solemn, guidance, vague, fatigue, intrigue

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing five words with sc, three words with bt, eight words with gu or gue, and four words with mn.



Unit 9: One Consonant or Two?
Spelling Focus: Many words have double consonants that stand for only one sound: college, address.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

connect, command, mirror, accomplish, according, allowance, *college, address, Mississippi, recess, committee, immediate, barricade, interrupt, broccoli, collect, afford, possess, Tennessee, announce

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing five words with two or three sets of double consonants, five other words with double s, m, or n, and ten words with double c, r, l, or f.



Unit 10: Using Apostrophes
Spelling Focus: An apostrophe takes the place of omitted letters in contractions: we'd. An apostrophe is used in forming possessives: coach's, coaches', men's.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

*it's, *let's, *that's, we'd, *don't, *there's, coach's, coaches', man's, men's, *you're, she'd, mustn't, o'clock, guide's, guides', director's, directors', city's, cities'

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing six contractions ending in 's or 'd, four other listed contractions, five singular possessive nouns, and five plural possessive nouns.



Unit 11 Compound Words I
Spelling Focus: Some compounds are written as one word: myself. Others are written as two words: tape recorder.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

*myself, *themselves, hallway, homeroom, *everything, ice cream, locker room, tape recorder, root beer, dead end, teenage, teammate, skateboard, *everybody, doughnut, air conditioner, polka dot, roller coaster, ice pack, solar system

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing the ten closed compounds in alphabetical order, and the ten open compounds in alphabetical order.



Unit 12: Review Words from Units 7-11 (10 words from each unit, total of 50 words)

cent, cereal, chili, doubt, overseas, scent, sent, there, autumn, debt, descend, disguise, guidance, intrigue, league, reminscent, scenic, science, solemn, accomplish, according, afford, allowance, barricade, broccoli, collect, college, mirror, coach's, don't, it's, man's, mustn't, o'clock, that's, there's, air conditioner, dead end, doughnut, everything, hallway, ice cream, ice pack, locker room, myself, roller coaster, root beer, solar system, tape recorder, teammate



Unit 13: Words with ci and ti
Spelling Focus: The sound /sh/ can be spelled ci and ti: especially, dictionary. The sound /ch/ can be spelled ti: question.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

social, precious, commercial, *especially, national, dictionary, motion, position, population, question, artificial, financial, gracious, glacier, suggestion, cautious, mention, fraction, exhaustion, digestion

Helpful Hint: Sort the list words by writing eight words with ci, and twelve words with ti.



Unit 14: Easily Confused Words
Spelling Focus: Some words are easily confused because they have similiar pronunciations and spellings: since, sense.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

since, sense, choose, chose, *finally, finely, *except, accept, beside, besides, recent, resent, access, excess, later, latter, metal, medal, personal, personnel

Helpful Hint: Write the word pairs that you use correctly. Then write the pairs that you aren't sure of. Underline the part of each word that is spelled differently from the other word in the pair.



Unit 15: Using Just Enough Letters
Spelling Focus: Pronouncing a word correctly and picturing how it looks can help you avoid writing too many letters.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

similar, *doesn't, experience, forward, exactly, partner, drawar, expensive, develop, familiar, pigeon, tickling, penalty, frustrated, athletic, celebration, circling, helicopter, trembling, sparkling

Helpful Hint: First write the words that are easiest for you to spell correctly. Then write the words that are the most difficult for you to spell correctly. Underlind the parts of any words that cause you problems.



Unit 16: Irregular Plurals
Spelling Focus: Some plurals are formed by adding -s or -es. Sometimes the spelling of the singular form changes.

scarfs, staffs, shelves, wolves, ourselves, solos, stereos, volcanoes, quizzes, pants, sheriffs, reefs, chiefs, knives, thieves, studios, dominoes, buffaloes, scissors, measles

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing five plurals in which f is changed to v + -es, four other plurals in which -es is added, eight plurals in which just -s is added, and three plurals that don't change from the singular.



Unit 17: Related Words I
Spelling Focus: Related words often have parts that are spelled the same but pronounced differently: human, humane.

human, humane, clean, cleanse, nature, natural, major, majority, poem, poetic, equal, equation, unite, unity, bomb, bombard, muscle, muscular, resign, resignation

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing three pairs of words in which g, c, or b changes from silent to sounded, and seven pairs of words in which a vowel sound changes.



Unit 18: Review Words from Units 13-17 (10 words from each unit, total of 50 words)

cautious, commercial, especially, exhaustion, gracious, population, position, precious, question, social, suggestion, accept, access, beside, choose, chose, except, excess, finally, later, personnel, recent, sense, since, athletic, celebration, exactly, expensive, experience, frustrated, similar, tickling, trembling, dominoes, knives, ourselves, quizzes, reefs, scissors, shelves, thieves, volcanoes, wolves, clean, human, humane, major, natural, nature, poem



Unit 19: Vowels in Unstressed Syllables
Spelling Focus: In some words the vowel sound you hear is a schwa sound /the upsidedown e/. It gives no clue to its spelling: different.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

*different, register, carnival, variety, atmosphere, *favorite, pattern, understand, sentence, instance, elegant, aquarium, communicate, gasoline, factory, definite, Chicago, heavily, garage, illustrate

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing seven words that have two schwa sounds each, six words in which this sound is spelled e or i, three words in which this sound is spelled a or u, and four words in which it's spelled o.



Unit 20: Vowels in Final Syllables
Spelling Focus: Vowels in final syllables often sound alike even when they are spelled differently: slogan, citizen; propeller, collector; level, double.

slogan, citizen, forgotten, propeller, collector, level, tunnel, double, single, example, urban, orphan, kindergarten, encounter, conquer, appetizer, dishonor, tractor, easel, recycle

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing seven words ending in er or or, seven words ending in el or le, and six words ending in en or an.



Unit 21: Vowel Sounds with r
Spelling Focus: The vowel sound /or--with the "carrot top" over the o/ can be spelled or and ore: report, explore. The vowel sound /er--with one dot above the e/ can be spelled er, ear, or, ur: expert, research, worth, disturb.

report, order, explore, ignore, expert, service, research, worth, worst, disturb, sword, forty, enormous, therefore, determine, permanent, earning, thorough, attorney, purchase

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing six words with /er--with one dot above the e/ spelled or or ur, six words with /er--with one dot above the e/ spelled er or ear, and eight words with /or--with the "carrot top" over the o/ spelled or or ore.



Unit 22: Suffixes -ation, -ion, -tion Spelling Focus: When adding suffixes some base words may change. A final e or y may be dropped. Some words have other changes.

relaxation, exploration, occupation, destination, infection, collection, reaction, situation, television, convention, orientation, recommendation, determination, generation, reflection, destruction, attention, deduction, reception, solution

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing seven words with -ation, five words with -tion, and eight words with -ion.



Unit 23: Words from Many Cultures
Spelling Focus: Many words in English come form other languages and may have unexpected spellings: picnic.

moose, cobra, alligator, vanilla, banana, tomato, mustard, hula, picnic, barbecue, crocodile, coyote, koala, macaroni, catsup, polka, ballet, waltz, banquet, buffet

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing six words that name animals, six words that name things we eat, and eight words that name dances, meals, or feasts.



Unit 24: Review Words from Units 19-23(10 words from each list, total of 50 words)

aquarium, atmosphere, carnival, Chicago, communicate, different, garage, gasoline, sentence, understand, variety, collector, conquer, encounter, example, forgotten, level, orphan, single, slogan, tunnel, determine, enormous, expert, explore, purchase, research, sword, therefore, worth, attention, collection, convention, determination, exploration, occupation, reaction, reception, reflection, ballet, banquet, catsup, cobra, koala, macaroni, mustard, picnic, polka, vanilla, waltz



Unit 25: Including All the Letters
Spelling Focus: Some words have more letters than you expect. To spell these words, pronounce each syllable carefully or exaggerate the pronunciation of troublesome letter: probably, cabinet.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

*probably, cabinet, separate, wondering, *clothes, temperature, average, *beginning, restaurant, promise, aspirin, desperate, awfully, fishhook, twelfth, skiing, unwritten, roughly, schedule, overrule

Helpful Hint: First write the words you use most in your writing. Then write the words you use least.



Unit 26: Suffixes -ate, -ive, -ship
Spelling Focus: When adding suffixes -ate, -ive, or -ship to base words,
--do not change most base words: origin, originate
--drop the e in words ending in e: create, creative

originate, fortunate, activate, attractive, inventive, negative, creative, friendship, championship, leadership, affectionate, considerate, obligate, productive, defective, constructive, ownership, membership, hardship, relationship

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing seven words with the suffix -ship, seven words with the suffix -ive, and six words with the suffix -ate.



Unit 27: Opposite Prefixes
Spelling Focus: When adding prefixes pre-, post-, over-, under-, in-, ex-, make no change in the base word.

pretrial, prearrange, postdate, postwar, overcook, overlook, overflow, undercover, include, exclude, premeditated, prehistoric, precaution, postponement, postgraduate, overpopulated, undernourished, underweight, inhale, exhale

Helpful Hint: Sort the list words by writing seven words with the prefix over- or under-, nine words with the prefix pre- or post-, and four words with the prefix in- or ex-.



Unit 28: Related Words II
Spelling Focus: Related words often have parts that are spelled the same but pronounced differently: direct, direction; history, historical.

direct, direction, history, historical, fact, factual, critic, criticize, produce, production, magic, magician, electric, electrician, distract, distraction, remedy, remedial, origin, original

Helpful Hint: Sort the list words by writing four word pairs in which the sound of c changes, three word pairs in which the sound of t changes, and three word pairs in which a vowel sound changes.



Unit 29: One Word of Two?
Spelling Focus: Some words that are often used together are never written as one word: a lot, want to. For other words you must think about their meanings to decide whether to write one word or two: all ways, always.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

*a lot, want to, all ways, *always, away, a way, a little, below, *because, together, forget, around, a while, *awhile, forever, *again, tonight, tomorrow, become, going to

Helpful Hint: Sort the list words by writing those that are one word, and those that are two words.



Unit 30: Review Words from Units 25-29 (10 words from each list, total of 50 words)

average, awfully, beginning, cabinet, clothes, desperate, probably, restaurant, roughly, twelfth, wondering, affectionate, championship, constructive, creative, defective, inventive, productive, relationship, include, overflow, overlook, overpopulated, prehistoric, undercover, undernourished, underweight, critic, direction, distract, distraction, electric, historical, magic, magician, origin, original, produce, remedy, a lot, always, around, a way, away, because, become, below, going to, together, want to



Unit 31: Words with No Sound Changes
Spelling Focus: Some words have letters for sounds that you don't hear: business. In some words the vowel sound you hear gives no clue to its spelling: opposite.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

interested, *usually, American, toward, *business, vegetable, *really, opposite, difficult, *Christmas, magazine, apologize, multiply, jealousy, *elementary, oxygen, Maryland, sensitive, laughter, disease

Helpful Hint: First write the words that are most difficult for you to spell. Then write the rest of the words. Underline any letters that cause you problems.



Unit 32: Negative Prefixes
Spelling Focus: When adding prefixed il-, in-, im-, and ir-, make no change in the base word. All of these prefixes mean "not."

illegal, inexpensive, inaccurate, indirect, informal, impolite, improper, imperfect, irresponsible, irregular, illogical, illegible, incapable, incredible, impatient, imbalance, immature, irrational, irresistible, irreplaceable

Helpful Hint: Alphabetize the three words with il-, the six words with in-, the six words with im-, and the five words with ir-.



Unit 33: Suffixes -ance, -ence, -ant, -ent
Spelling Focus: When adding suffixes -ance, -ence, -ant, and -ent, there is no sound clue to help you decide whether to use an a or e.

entrance, performance, appearance, clearance, independence, difference, excellence, brilliant, important, intelligent, insurance, confidence, coincidence, pollutant, ignorant, hesistant, apparent, persistent, convenient, consistent

Helpful Hint: Sort the list words by writing five words with the suffix -ance, five words with the suffix -ence, five words with the suffix -ant, and five words with the suffix -ent.



Unit 34: Compound Words II
Spelling Focus: Keep all the letters when writing a closed compound. Hyphenate numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine, compounds with in-law and self, and compounds made up of a noun and a verb.

*denotes a word that is misspelled the most by students your age!

*basketball, everywhere,*outside, summertime, *something, baby-sit, roller-skating, drive-in, self-control, part-time, afterthought, cheerleader, quarterback, bookstore, courthouse, ice-skated, ninety-five, brother-in-law, water-skied, old-fashioned

Helpful Hint: Write each of these groups in alphabetical order.
--the ten closed compounds
--the ten hyphenated compounds



Unit 35: Words from Greek and Latin
Spelling Focus: The Greek word part auto- means "self" and tele- means "far off." The Latin root port means "to carry" and phon means "voice" or "sound."

automobile, autograph, telescope, telecast, telephone, microphone, headphones, portable, import, export, automatic, autobiography, autopilot, telegram, telegraph, symphony, saxophone, megaphone, transport, passport

Helpful Hint: Sort the words by writing a word from tele- and phone, four more words from tele-, five more words from phon, five words from port, and five words from auto-.



Unit 36: Review Words from Units 31-35 (10 words from each list, total of 50 words)

American, Christmas, difficult, interested, jealousy, magazine, Maryland, really, sensitive, toward, illegal, illogical, impatient, improper, incapable, incredible, inexpensive, irrational, irresistible, irresponsible, apparent, appearance, brilliant, excellence, hesistant, ignorant, important, intelligent, performance, persistent, afterthought, brother-in-law, cheerleader, courthouse, drive-in, everywhere, old-fashioned, outside, roller-skating, summertime, automobile, autopilot, headphones, megaphone, quarterback, saxophone, symphony, telecast, telephone, telescope
Last updated  2008/09/28 09:57:52 PDTHits  9471