This is the Spelfabet Workbook 2 version 3 teaching sequence, both the parent/aide (print up to 5 copies) and teacher clinician (print up to 30 copies) editions. Decodable books to help young children practise these patterns include the Sounds Write Initial Code books Unit 11 (4 books), and the Dandelion Launchers Units 11-15 (5 books), the Dandelion Readers Units 11-20 and the Phonics With Feeling Initial Code Review books. The last four Moon Dogs set 2 books, the Magic Belt and That Dog books, and the Forward With Phonics resources are more suitable for older learners. Most Australian suppliers can be found here.
| Sounds/spellings, word types and suffixes introduced | High-frequency words (tricky bits are in bold) |
| ch as in chip | were |
| tch as in catch (the usual spelling of /ch/ after ‘short’ vowels) | |
| sh as in shop | finish, fish, shop, shot, wish |
| th as in think (voiceless) | with |
| th as in this (voiced) | that, their, them, then, these, they, this |
| ck as in back (the usual spelling of /k/ after ‘short’ vowels) | back, black, duck, kick, pick, sick |
| ng as in long | thing |
| k as in milk and desk – words are here in column 3 | |
| n as in bank, junk, think | pink, thank, think |
| qu as in quack, quit, squid (use column 1 list) | |
| wh as in when (use column 1 list) | what, where, who |
| Suffix -ing as in jumping (use column 1 list) | doing, jumping |
| Final syllable -le as in jungle | apple, jungle, little, uncle |
| ve as in have (use column 1 list) | live, give, have |
| Compound words with CVC base words – see column 1 | |
| Compound words with base words containing adjacent consonants– see column 2 | |
| Compound words with base words containing consonant digraphs– see column 3 | |
| Plural suffix ‘es’ as in boxes, and third person present verb suffix ‘es’ as in misses | |
| Comparative suffix ‘er’ as in longer – see this page column 2 | ever, never, sister, monster, under |
| Superlative suffix ‘est’ as in longest – see this page column 3 | |
| Possessive suffix ‘s | |
| Adjectival suffix ‘y’ as in lucky – see column 2, see also this page column 1 | |
| Other word-final y as in body and family – see column 3 | |
| Agent noun suffix as in singer and blender – see column 3 here. | |
| Changing y to i before adding suffix ‘er’ or ‘est’ as in messier and stickiest | lollies |
| Contractions like don’t and wouldn’t | don’t, I’m, that’s, wasn’t |
| When to double final consonants before a suffix starting with a vowel: * Past tense and participle ‘ed’ – column 2 here, columns 2 and 3 here and column 2 here, * Present participle ‘ing’ – column 2 here, * Adjectival ‘y’ – (column 2), * Comparative ‘er’ and Superlative ‘est’ – column 2 & 3 here, * Agent Noun ‘er’ – column 3 here. | getting, running, shopping, stopped, swimming |
| Suffix ‘en’ as in fresh-freshen – see column 1 here. | |
| Suffix less as in restless – see column 1 here. | |
| Suffix ly as in sadly – see column 2 here. | |
| Suffix ment as in equipment – see column 1 here. | |
| Suffix ness as in illness – see column 1 here. | |
| Two-syllable words with primary and secondary stress | chicken, dragon, forest, happen, present, rabbit, second, until |
| Words ending in ic as in traffic – see columns 5 & 6 here. | |
| Two-syllable words with first-syllable stress – see column 1 here | |
| Two-syllable words with last-syllable stress – see column 2 here | |
| Homographs | Ms, Mrs, Miss, Mr, Dr |
| Words with written syllables we don’t usually say | chocolate, every, everything |
The Spelfabet shop has affordable, downloadable spelling teaching resources.
