Personal

Dictionary

My Common Mistakes

TRUE SPELLING PHONETIC SPELLING

CATEGORIES

NUMBERS MONTHS OF THE YEAR DAYS OF THE WEEK

Zero 0 January – 01 Monday

One 1 February – 02 Tuesday

Two 2 March – 03 Wednesday

Three 3 April – 04 Thursday

Four 4 May – 05 Friday

Five 5 June – 06 Saturday

Six 6 July – 07 Sunday

Seven 7 August – 08

Eight 8 September – 09

Nine 9 October – 10 COLORS

Ten 10 November – 11 Red

Eleven 11 December – 12 Orange

Twelve 12 Yellow

Thirteen 13 Green

Fourteen 14 PETS Blue

Fifteen 15 dog Purple

Sixteen 16 cat Brown

Seventeen 17 fish Black

Eighteen 18 bird Pink

Nineteen 19 turtle Gray

Twenty 20 horse Turquoise

Thirty 30 lizard Silver

Forty 40 snake Gold

Fifty 50 guinea pig

Sixty 60 rabbit FAMILY

Seventy 70 bunny mom dad

Eighty 80 sister brother

Ninety 90 grandma grandpa

Hundred _00 grandmother grandfather

Thousand _,000 abuela abuelo

Ten-Thousand _ _,000 aunt uncle

Hundred-Thousand _ _ _,000 daughter son

Million _,000,000 step-sister

step-brother

HOLIDAYS

Valentine’s Day

February 14 t h cards red

p ink f l owers p resents

chocol ate cup id hear t

l ove candy candies

Saint Patrick’s

Day

March 17 t h g reen l eprechaun

pot of gol d p inch ra inbow

I r i sh c l othes basket

Easter

bunny rabbi t chocol ate

eggs col or dye

hop basket g rass

candy je l l y beans h id e

hunt p resents money

Fourth of July

Ju l y f i reworks l ight

sky l oud scared

p icn ic f reedom f l ag

independence spark l er s food

Halloween

October 31 s t candy candies

cos tume skel e ton haunted house

ghos t w i tch t r ick or t reat

jack-o- l ante rn pumpkin carve

Thanksgiving

November d inner tu rkey

s tu f f ing fam i l y eat a te m a s h e d p o t a t o e s thankfu l P i l g r ims

I nd ians cornucopia shopping

Christmas

December 25 t h t ree present

Santa Cl aus re indeer Rudol ph

e l f e l ves red , g reen ornament

s ta r angel cook ie

l ights n augh ty n ice m i l k

What should I write about?

Word Bank for ___________

Word Bank for ___________

Word Bank for ___________

Word Bank for ___________

Word Bank for ___________

Word Bank for ___________

Word Bank for ___________

Word Bank for ___________

A a

a another

about any

after anything

above apple

across April

add + are

address arm

afraid army

after around

again art

against as

age ask

ago asked

all at

all right August

almost aunt

always away

am

America

an

and

animal

B b

baby between but

back big buy

bad bird by

ball birthday

balloon black

bank blow

baseball blue

basketball boat

be body

bear bones

beautiful book

become born

bed both

been bottom

before box

begin boy

beginning break

behind bring

believe brother

bell brown

below build

best burn

better busy

C c

California city cried

call class cry

came classroom cut

can clean

can’t (can not) climb

car close

care clothes

carefully cloud

carry coast

cat cold

catch color

caught come

center coming

cents cook

chance cool

check copy

child corn

children cost

chocolate cough

choose couldn’t (could not)

Christmas count

church cousin

circle cow

D d

dad done

dance don’t (do not)

dark dollars

day door

dear down

December draw

decimal dress

decorate drink

deep drive

desert dry

desk during

dictionary

did

didn’t (did not)

died

different

difficult

Disneyland

divided

division ÷

do

does

doesn’t (does not)

dog

E e

each explain

ear eyes

earth

Easter

easy

eat

egg

eight 8

end

empty

end

enough

equal

especially

even

ever

every

everybody

everyone

everything

everywhere

example

except

experiment

F f

face fire fun

fair first funny

fall fish

family fit

far five 5

farm floor

fast flower

father fly

favorite follow

February food

feel foot

feeling football

feet for

fell forest

felt found

few four 4

field fraction

fight free

fill Friday

filled friend

finally from

find front

fingers fruit

finished full

G g

game grow

garden guess

gas gun

gave

get

getting

gift

girl

give

glass

go

God

goes

gold

gone

good

got

grade

grass

great

green

grew

ground

H h

had her

hair here

half high

Halloween hill

Hanford him

happen his

happened hit

happy hold

hard hole

has home

hat hope

have horse

haven’t (have not) hospital

having hot

he hour

head house

hear how

heart huge

heat hundred 100

heavy hunt

held

hello

help

I i

I

ice

ice cream

idea

if

I’ll ( I will)

important

in

Indians

interesting

into

is

isn’t (is not)

it

it’s (it is)

its

I’ve (I have)

J j

jam

January

jar

Jefferson jelly jellyfish John F. Kennedy

job

July

jump

jump rope

June

junior high

just

K k

kangaroo

keep

key

kick

kill

kind

king

kite

kitten

knee

knew

know

L l

lady life

laid light

lake like

land Lincoln

large line

last list

later listen

laugh little

lay live

lead long

learn look

leave loose

Lee Richmond lost

left loud

leg love

Lemoore low

less

let

let’s (let us)

letter

lie

M m

machine mine

made minute Magic Mountain miss

make mom

making money

man monkey

many Monroe

march month

March moon Martin Luther King more

match morning

may most

May mother

maybe motorcycle

me mountains

mean mouth

meat move

meet movie

men much

middle music

might must

mile my

milk

million

N n

name

near

neck

need

never

new

next

nice

night

no

none

north

nose

not

nothing

November

now

number

O o

o’clock

ocean

October

octopus

of

off

office

old

on

once

one

only

open

or

orange

other

our

out

outside

over

own

P p

paint practice

paper present

part president

party pretty

pass principal

past probably

pay problem

people pull

person push

pet put

pick

picture

piece

place

plan

planet

plant

play

please

point

poison

poor

possible

power

Q q

quarter

queen

question ?

quick

quiet

quit

R r

rabbit rope

race rose

rain round

ran rule

reach run

read

ready

real

really

red

remember

rest

rich

ride

right

ring

river

road

rock

roll

roller blade

roller skate

room

Roosevelt

S s

safe should special

said shout spider

same show spring

Santa Claus side star

Saturday sight start

save sing store

saw sister story

say sky street

school sleep summer

science slow surprise

sea small

seat smell

second smile

see snow

send so

sent soccer

sentence some

September someone

seven something

sharp sometime

she song

ship soon

shoe sound

short space

T t

table this train

take those tree

talk though triangle Δ

tall thought trip

tattle thousand trouble

teacher three truck

team through true

tell time try

temperature tiny Tuesday

ten tired turn

terrible to two 2

test today

Thanksgiving together

that told

the tomorrow

their tonight

them too

then took

there tool

these top

they touch

they’re (they are) town

thing think toy

third trade

U u

umbrella

uncle

under

understand

United States

until

up

upon

upstairs

us

use

usually

V v

vacation

valley

vegetable

very

Visalia

visit

voice

W w

wait we’re (we are) woman

walk what won’t (will not)

wall wheel wood

Wal-Mart when word

want where work

war which world

warm white would

was who wouldn’t (would not)

wash whole write

Washington why writing

wasn’t (was not) wide written

watch wife wrong

water wild wrote

way will

we win

wear wind

weather window

wedding wing

weigh winter

weight wish

well witch

we’ll (we will) with

went without

were Woodrow Wilson

X x

X-axis

X-ray

Xerox machine

xylophone

Y y

yard

year

yell

yellow

yes

you

you’ll (you will)

your

you’re (you are)

young

yourself

yo-yo

Z z

zebra

zen

zero

zipper

zoo

Grammar Rules for Reference

Grammar Punctuation Noun: a naming word

The dog ate the bone.

Period: ends a sentence

The cat sat on the mat.

Verb: a doing word

The dog ate the bone.

Comma: indicates a pause in the sentence

The cat, who was called Penny, sat on the

mat.

Adjective: a word used to describe a noun

The shaggy dog at the tasty bone.

Question Mark: indicates a question

Did the cat sit on the mat?

Sentence: a set of words which can stand alone

The dog ate the bone.

Exclamation Mark: indicates a strong emotion

Take that cat off the mat!

Pronoun: used in place of a noun

The dog ate the bone. It was tasty.

*Apostrophe: to show letters are missing from a

word

The cat’s on the mat.

(The cat is on the mat.) Adverb: a word used to describe a verb

The dog ate the bone loudly.

*Apostrophe: to show ownership

The cat’s mat is where it sat.

Conjunction/Joining Word: a word used to join

words, phrases, or sentences

The dog ate the bone and enjoyed it.

Quotation Marks/Inverted Commas: used to

enclose direct speech

The boy said, “The cat sat on the mat.”

Capitalization

FFIIRRSSTT WWOORRDD IINN AA SSEENNTTEENNCCEE

You are my best friend in the world.

PPRROONNOOUUNN II

Kim and I are going to the movies tonight.

NNAAMMEESS OOFF PPEEOOPPLLEE AANNDD TTIITTLLEESS

Dr. Mann and Mrs. Colvard

OOPPEENNIINNGG OOFF AA LLEETTTTEERR

Dear Mr. Butler,

FFIIRRSSTT WWOORRDD IINN AA CCLLOOSSIINNGG OOFF AA LLEETTTTEERR

Your friend, From,

TTIITTLLEE OOFF AA WWOORRKK

New York Times

Where the Red Fern Grows

PPRROOPPEERR NNOOUUNNSS

Dallas Cowboys Ford Mustang

FFIIRRSSTT WWOORRDD IINN AA DDIIRREECCTT QQUUOOTTAATTIIOONN

Mike yelled, “Watch out for that tree!”

Grammar Rules for Reference

Present Tense: What is happening RIGHT NOW Singular Pronoun = am Pronoun = is Plural Pronoun = are

I walk

go

say

have

get

make

am walking

am going

am saying

am having

am getting

am making

I am ___.

She

He The girl

The cat

My mom

Michael

Everyone

It

walks

goes

says

has

gets

makes

is walking

is going

is saying

is having

is getting

is making

She is ___.

It is ___.

They

We

You

walk

go

say

have

get

make

are walking

are going

are saying

are having

are getting

are making

We are ___.

They are ____.

You are ____.

Past Tense: What has ALREADY HAPPENED Examples: Yesterday, This morning, Last night, Last summer, Last Christmas

Pronoun = was Plural Pronoun = were

I

She

He

The girl

The cat

My mom

Michael

Everyone

It

walked

went

said

had

got

made

was walking

was going

was saying

was having

was getting

was making

They

We

You

walked

went

said

had

got

made

were walking

were going

were saying

were having

were getting

were making

Future Tense: What WILL HAPPEN Examples: Tonight, Tomorrow, This coming summer, Next Christmas

Singular Pronoun =

will be or am going to

Pronoun =

will be or is going to

Plural Pronoun =

will be or are going to I will walk

will go

will say

will have

will get

will know

will make

am going to be

walking

am going to

walk

will be walking

She

He

The girl

The cat

My mom

Michael

Everyone

It

will be

will walk

will go

will say

will have

will get

will know

will make

is going to be

walking

is going to walk

will be walking

They

We

You

will be

will walk

will go

will say

will have

will get

will know

are going to be

walking

are going to

walk

will be walking

Grammar Rules for Reference

IRREGULAR VERBS

become - became

begin - began

bend - bent

bet - bet

bite - bit

break - broke

bring - brought

buy - bought

catch - caught

choose - chose

come - came

cost - cost

cut - cut

drive - drove

drink - drank

eat - ate

fall - fell

feel - felt

find - found

forget – forgot

forgive - forgave

give - gave

hear - heard

hold - held

keep - kept

leave - left

lose - lost

pay - paid

put - put

quit - quit

run - ran

see - saw

sell - sold

send - sent

sit - sat

sleep - slept

speak - spoke

stand – stood

swim - swam

take - took

teach - taught

tell - told

think - thought

throw - threw understand - understood

wake - woke

win - won

write - wrote

Plural Noun +s Plural Noun +es (Words that end in ch, x, s, ss)

1 snake 2 or more=snakes 1 witch 2 or more witches

1 ski 2 or more=skis 1 box 2 or more boxes

1 banana 2 or more=bananas 1 bus 2 or more buses

1 phone 2 or more=phones 1 kiss 2 or more kisses

Irregular Plural Nouns

Special Case Nouns +ies (With words that end in a

consonant and a “y”, you will need to:

drop the “y” and add “ies”

child = children

woman = women

man = men

person = people

goose = geese

mouse = mice

baby = babies

carry = carries

city = cities

cry = cries

puppy = puppies

candy = candies

EDITING REVISING

Capitalization/Letter Formation

Did I capitalize the first letter in my sentence,

names, and places?

Do I have capital letters in the wrong places?

Do I have letter reversals?

Did I check my Bb & Dd letters?

Did I indent my paragraphs?

Is each sentence connected to my topic?

Does each sentence make sense?

Did I use transition words or phrases?

Did I use interesting vocabulary?

Can I add more to make my story better?

Can I delete some sentences that don’t

belong?

Did I use a variety of sentences (simple,

compound, complex)?

Can I rearrange my sentences to make my

ideas flow better?

Organization

Does my story have a beginning, middle,

end?

Does my story have a topic sentence,

supporting sentences, examples, conclusion?

Are my events in order?

Punctuation

Do my sentences have end marks?

Did I add commas for lists of 3+ subjects?

Did I add quotation marks for speaking?

Spelling

Are my words spelled correctly?

Did I use a dictionary to double check?

SENTENCE STARTERS & TRANSITIONS

Topic Transitions

Reason/Fact/Details

Transitions

Example

Transitions

Conclusion Transitions

After One way Examples of

Explanations of

Evidence of

Events that

Experiences that

Expert opinions

Everyday life

Elaboration

All in all

Certainly

Clearly

Truly

Definitely

In conclusion

Obviously

Surely

To sum up

Although Another way

As long as The final way

As soon as First of all

Even though In addition

In order to Equally important

Since First

Unless Next

When The final

Wherever One example

Whether Another example

While Finally

PRINT Cursive A a A a B b B b C c C c D d D d E e E e F f F f

G g G g H h H h

I i I i J j J j

K k K k L l L l

M m M m N n N n O o O o P p P p

Q q Q q R r R r S s S s T t T t

U u U u V v V v

W w W w X x X x Y y Y y Z z Z z

Same Sound / different meanings Same Spelling / different meanings

Homonyms Homophones Homographs Heteronyms

Different Spelling Different Sound

see (with your eye)

sea (the ocean) see

sea see

sea n/a n/a

to (preposition)

too (as well)

two (2)

to

too

two

to

too

two

n/a n/a

there

their (possessive)

they're (contraction)

there

their

they're

there

their

they're

n/a n/a

bough (tree limb)

bow (front of a boat)

bow (at the waist)

bow (tied with ribbon)

bow (shoots arrows)

bough

bow

bow

bow

bow

bough

bow bough

bow

bow

bow

bow

bow

bow

bow

bow

bow

lead (to guide)

lead (the metal)

led (guided)

lead

led

lead

led

lead

lead lead

lead

lie (untruth)

lie (lie down) lie

lie n/a

lie

lie n/a

fair (appearance)

fair (county fair)

fair (reasonable)

fair

fair

fair

n/a fair

fair

fair

n/a

bass (fish)

bass (low note) n/a n/a

bass

bass bass

bass

tear (in the eye)

tear (rip) n/a n/a

tear

tear tear

tear

Figurative Language

Type Definition Example

Metaphor a comparison that does not include the words “like” or “as”

you are my sunshine

Simile a comparison that includes the words “like” or “as”

busy as a bee, slow like honey

Hyperbole extreme exaggeration used to make a point mile-high ice cream cones

Personification the act of giving human qualities to animals or objects

the sun greeted me this morning

Idiom an expression whose meaning is different from the meaning of its individual words

She had butterflies in her stomach just

before she went on stage.

Imagery vivid description that includes details that appeal to the senses

the roar of trees

Alliteration the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words

The wild and woolly walrus waits and

wonders when we'll walk by.

Onomatopoeia a word whose sound suggests its meaning

“Ka-POW” “WHACK”

Understatement a statement that is weakened to convey a stronger meaning

Describing an atomic explosion as being "somewhat noisy."

Cliché an expression or phrase used so often it becomes stale and loses meaning

No pain, no gain

Symbol an object that stands for an idea Symbols referring to death: skulls, candle blowing out, coffin

Palindrome a word or phrase that can be read forwards or backwards

Kayak Anna, MOM, DAD

Pun a play on words that relies on words that have multiple meanings

The conductor minds the train and a teacher

trains the mind.

Synonyms: Same Antonyms: Opposite fast also means quick opposite of fast is slow

kid also means child opposite of kid is adult

lady also means woman opposite of lady is man

Common Roots

Latin Root Definition Example

aqua water aquarium, aquamarine

circum around circumference, circumstance

dict to say dictation, dictator

fract break fracture, fraction

jud judge judicial, prejudice

mort death mortal, mortician

multi many multimedia, multiple

rupt to break bankrupt, disruption

spect to look inspection, spectator

struct to build destruction, restructure

Greek Root

Definition

Example

auto self autobiography, automobile

bio life biology, biography

chron time chronological, chronic

graph writing graphic, phonograph

homo same homonym, homogenous

logy study of biology, psychology

meter/metr measure thermometer, perimeter

morph form; shape morphology, morphing

Common Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefix Definition Example

anti- against anticlimax

de-, dis- opposite; not or opposite of devalue, discover

en-, em- cause to enact, empower

fore-, pre- before; front of foreshadow, forearm, preview

in-, im- in income, impulse

in-, im-, il-, ir-, non- not indirect, immoral,

illiterate, irreverent, nonviolent

inter- between; among interrupt

mis- wrongly misspell

over- over; too much overeat

re- again rewrite

semi- half, partly, not fully semifinal

un- not; opposite of unusual

Suffix Definition Example

-able, -ible is; can be affordable, sensible

-ed past tense verbs; adjectives the dog walked, the walked dog

-er, -or one who;

person connected with teacher, professor

-er more; the most taller; tallest

-ful full of helpful

-ing verb forms;

present participles sleeping

-ion, -tion, -ation, -ition act; process submission, motion,

relation, edition

-ity, -ty state of activity, society

-less without hopeless

-ly, -y how something is lovely; gloomy

-ment, -ness state of being/act of; state

of/condition of contentment; openness

-ous, -eous, -ious having qualities of riotous, courageous, gracious

-s, -es more than one trains, trenches