The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · No. 148 · Part 10: Words alike and irregular spellings
120. Words said alike, spelled differently: ascent, assent; die, dye
Goal: Your child spells common pairs of words that sound alike, choosing the right spelling by meaning.
You'll need
- The book, open to this table
- A slate, small whiteboard, or paper and pencil
- A few index cards or slips of paper (optional)
What's in the book
Two pages of pairs that sound alike, each with its meaning: ascent, steepness, and assent, agreement; cannon, a large gun, and canon, a law of the church; council and counsel; die, to expire, and dye, to color; doe and dough; fair and fare; here and hear; hole and whole; knight and night; know and no.
The lesson, step by step
Review
Your child spells "air" and "heir", "all" and "awl", and says what each means.
Read the pairs
Read the pairs with their meanings. You read a word and its meaning; your child reads the other. Some of them:
ascent, steepness.
assent, agreement.
die, to expire.
dye, to color.
doe, a female deer.
dough, bread not baked.
Pick the common ones
Many of these pairs are rare words. Choose about eight your child will really use (die and dye, here and hear, knight and night, know and no, flour and flower...) and put them on cards: one word per card, meaning on the back.
Match game
Spread out the cards. Your child pairs up the words that sound alike, then reads the meanings on the back.
Dictation
Say a short sentence; your child writes the sound-alike word in it: "I hear the bell." "Come here." "It is night." "The knight rode a horse."
Wrap up
Your child explains why English needs two spellings for one sound: so readers know which word you mean.
Afterwards
The lists run over several pages. Do a page a day, always choosing the useful pairs to practice.