sample 305-sequential-spelling-volume-5

AVKO Sequential Spelling 5

include inclusive inclusion exclude exclusive exclusion conclude conclusive conclusion intrude intrusive intrusion

by

Don McCabe

AVKO Educational Research Foundation

2


Dedication

This book is dedicated to: All the members of the AVKO Educational Research Foundation,

but especially to the memory of one of its first members,

Mary Clair Scott without whose work and devotion to the cause of literacy,

the AVKO Foundation might never have gotten off the ground,

Betty June Szilagyi who was my first and by far my most important teacher,

Devorah Wolf without whose encouragement and commitment

to the ideals of AVKO this edition would not be possible,

Ann, Robert, and Linda McCabe all of whom have sacrificed much of their time and energy

helping AVKO grow as well as all those friends and relatives

who have been a source of encouragement.

May this book help you to help others improve their abilities to read and write.

Copyright © 2006, 2003, 1992, 1975 AVKO Educational Research Foundation, Inc. Printed in the United States of America.

Permission is hereby given for individual teachers, tutors, and educators to reproduce any list for classroom use.

Reproduction of these lists for entire schools or school districts is strictly forbidden.

AVKO Educational Research Foundation, 3084 Willard Road, Suite 305, Birch Run, Michigan 48415

Publisher's Cataloging in Publication Data McCabe, Donald J.

1. Spelling—Miscellanea 2. Reading—Miscellanea 3. Curriculum—Miscellanea 4. Literacy.

Library of Congress Subject Headings: Spelling, Reading, Curriculum

Library of Congress Classification Number: LB1050.2F79

Library of Congress Card Number: To be determined

Dewey Decimal Classification Number 428.4

ISBN: 1-56400-965-3

3


The Basic Concepts of Teaching Spelling

by Word Families

You may have used the concept of

rhyming words that have the same letter

endings to help your students learn to read.

For example, you may have introduced the

word at, then also shared cat, bat, sat, and

maybe even scat. Unfortunately, you have

never had any source book for finding all

the rhyming words with the same spelling

patterns. [NOTE: In the latest academic

jargon word families are now called

―rimes.‖ The consonants, consonant blends,

and digraphs that precede the word family

(or rime) are now called onsets. Use

whatever term you wish with your students.

In this book, I generally use the terms base

or word family rather than the new jargon

word ―rime.‖]

The Patterns of English Spelling (formerly

Word Families Plus) is now available to be

used as a source book so that you can teach

any word family. This is not just a simple

collection of word lists. This book consists

of complete patterns to help your students

(and quite often parents and teachers!) see

patterns that exist and to lock in on those

patterns with their ―computer‖ brains. For

example, I believe that if you can teach your

students (or anyone) the word at, you can

also teach them:

bat bats batted batting

cat cats

scat scats

flat flats flatted flatting

pat pats patted patting

spat spats

mat mats matted matting

rat rats ratted ratting

batter batters battered battering battery batteries

flatter flatters flattered flattering flattery

matter matters mattered mattering

battle battles battled battling

cattle

rattle rattles rattled rattling

OR, for a more sophisticated example, from the word act you can build:

act acts acted acting active action

fact facts

tract tracts traction

attract attracts attracted attracting attractive attraction

distract distracts distracted distracting distraction

extract extracts extracted extracting extractive extraction

subtract subtracts subtracted subtracting subtraction

contract contracts contracted contracting contraction

4


Perhaps the most important difference

between the traditional approach to spelling

and the AVKO (Audio-Visual-Kinesthetic-

Oral) approach is that we use tests as a

learning device and not as a method of

evaluation. I believe that the natural

method of learning is learning from

mistakes, and that is why I want students to

correct their own mistakes when they

make them—so they can learn from them.

We developed the AVKO Sequential

Spelling Tests to utilize the word family

approach sequentially and to apply the very

simple techniques of having students

correct their own mistakes when they

make them—not hours, days, or even weeks

later.

Use a Dry Erase Board

or Something Similar to

Give AVKO Sequential

Spelling Tests

The First Day On your first day of using Sequential

Spelling 5, share with your students:

I have some good news and some bad

news. First the bad news. Today and every

day until we finish this book, we are going

to have a spelling test. The good news is

that each one of you will correct your own

paper. But before we start, I want each of

you to take out a sheet of paper and put

your name on it. Did you spell your name

correctly? Good. That's my first test. My

next test is like a doctor's test. It's not for a

grade so don't worry about it. Okay? Now

write the following sentence:

Write this at your convenience. In

other words, right now.

If any of your students shows signs of

struggling with the sentence, just ask them

to try to spell the word convenience only.

If they still find it difficult to put down

anything, ask them to just put down—in

any order—some of the letters that might be

in the word convenience.

Now collect their papers.

Collect the papers. On the 19th day, you

will be able to demonstrate that the students

who couldn't spell convenience on the

first day, were able to correctly spell it

without ever having seen or studied the

word. And remember that only 4% of all

5th graders can be expected to spell the

word convenience. Even those who may

miss the word will have a spelling much

closer to the correct spelling than they did

on the first day. We will expect that you

will point that out to your students on the

19th day.

If your students have their own copy of

the AVKO Student Response Book for

Sequential Spelling, have them open their

books to page 3. Note the location of Day 1.

It is in the middle column of page 3. Day 2

is in the middle column on page 5. Day 3 is

in the middle column on page 7. Day 4 is in

the middle column on page 9, and so forth.

Please note the AVKO motto on the bottom

of these pages:

Mistakes are

Opportunities to Learn

The reason for this arrangement is to

prevent students from copying the base

word that they had the day before and then

just adding the -s, -ed, or -ing ending as the

case may be. Just as students don't learn by

copying from others, they don't learn by

copying from themselves.

If your students don’t have a Student Response Book, have them use a notebook with single sheets of paper. Use one sheet for each day’s spelling lesson.

5


In the column marked 1st day, I want you

to write the word child as in: A child is

neither a baby nor an adult. child. Now, I

want everyone of you to try. At least guess

what letters child begins with. If you don't

get it right, it's no big deal! So you erase it

and write it right. Isn't that why erasers

are put on the ends of pencils?

While your students are attempting to

write the word child, there may be some

rubber necks or elastic eyeballs in action.

This is not the time to jump on the child

doing it, but it is the time to ask your

students how much they are going to learn

from someone else's mistakes.

Tell them once again that they are

correcting their own papers. Try to impress

upon them that it doesn't make any sense to

cheat. After everybody has attempted

writing child, you now ask your students:

What are the first two letters in child?

Most will shout out, ―SEE AY‘ch!‖ (C-

H). Now, you write on your dry erase board

in black just the letters c and h. Now you

ask what the last three letters of child are.

Again, there will be shouts, ―YH ELL

DEE‖ (I-L-D). You now write the –ild in

green. If any mistakes have been made,

have them use their erasers and write it

right.

Depending upon the age of your students

and their attitudes, you may try to get them

to spell aloud the word with you as they

trace over their correct spelling. In other

words, by hearing the word (Audio), seeing

the word (Visual), writing the word

(Kinesthetic), and saying the word (Oral),

the students are using a multi-sensory

approach to learning that research has

demonstrated is a powerful method.

Then you give the second word.

children. Most little children are

very, very ticklish. children.

Each child tries to spell the word. You

write ch in black, ild in green, ren in red.

One of your children may ask why there

isn't a double l in children (―chill drun‖).

Congratulate him for making an intelligent

error. Yes, you would think we would just

add -ill to the letters ch to get chill and

then add the d and ren. However, we

don‘t. We spell the base word child and

then add ren for its plural. It‘s the same

kind of goofy spelling that makes the plural

of man, men.

The third word is Linden. In Linden,

Michigan they have Linden trees.

Linden.

Number 4 is ward. My brother is a

nurse in the maternity ward. ward.

If a child asks why we don‘t use the letters

-ord (as in the word cord) for the last three

letters of the word ward, congratulate the

child for thinking and asking such a good

question. You might want to point out that

in English the letters w- and -r fight over

who controls the sound of the vowel. By

itself, the letter -r when following the letters

a, e, i, o, u alters the sound. The letter w-

when preceding the vowels a and the letter

combinations or and ar changes them. You

can write words ending -ar, -arm, -ard, -

art, etc. such as harm, card, dart, etc.

Then substitute the w as in war, warm,

ward, and wart. The change of sound is

highly evident. The same is true with the -

or words. Write -ord and -ork words such

as cord, ford, lord, fork, pork, and

stork. Now write wor and add letters to

make words such as word, work, worth,

worm, etc.

5. warden The game warden caught

the poacher. warden

6. hyphen You use a hyphen when

you spell re-elect. hyphen

7. alien Alf is my favorite alien life

form. alien

8. kitchen A cook’s place is in the

kitchen. kitchen

6


9. chicken Some people have

chicken almost every Sunday. chicken

10. kitten Most people love to play

with a little kitten. kitten

11. haven A raven haven is a shelter

that protects ravens. haven

12. heaven Many people believe that

there are angels in heaven. heaven

13. seven Seven is considered to be

a lucky number. seven

14. oven There is a cake baking in

the oven. oven

15. citizen My friend just became an

American citizen. citizen

16. deaden Most people want

something to deaden pain. deaden

17. gladdenI think to gladden is

better than to sadden. gladden

18. madden You know what to

madden means, right? madden

19. garden I have a beautiful weed

garden. garden

20. gardener I am not the best

gardener in the world. gardener

21. sharpen No, you can’t go

sharpen your pencil. sharpen

22. thicken You really should thicken

that hasty pudding. thicken

23. thickener You can use flour as a

thickener. thickener

24. freshen I would really like to

freshen up. freshen

25. happen Never let that happen to

you. happen

Now tell your students that if they have

made all their corrections they will receive

an A on their paper. You should be able to

quickly write A's on all of the papers.

If your little Alfred E. Neumann wrote

heven for heaven and failed to catch his

mistake and correct it, you should NOT give

him an A. Obviously you really shouldn't

give him an E. So don't give him anything

except encouragement that tomorrow he

will have a chance to do better and get an A.

But make sure that he corrects his

misspelling. Don't just put a check mark.

Have him erase heven or haevan and spell

heaven correctly.

Second Day

Have your students take out their AVKO

Student Response Book for Sequential

Spelling or their special folder with the

paper you had them carefully fold the day

before. If you are working with the paper,

have them fold under yesterday's work so

that only a blank column shows. The

purpose is to keep them from using the

words that they had the day before as a

mental crutch.

Obviously, if your students have the

AVKO Student Response Book for

Sequential Spelling this problem does not

exist because the second day slot is on page

5, the third day is on page 7, the fourth day

on page 9, the fifth day on page 11, etc.

You can begin by telling your students:

Today, the first word is token. You

need a token to get on the subway.

token

Number two has two words.

children’s clothes. K-Mart has a

good selection of children’s clothes.

children’s clothes

Number 3 is seaman as in: The captain of the ship was an able-bodied

seaman. seaman

Number 4 is seamen. The navy

needs able-bodied seamen. seamen

Number 5 is wardens. Game wardens

aren’t popular with poachers. wardens

7


6. hyphens We use hyphens to break up words at the end of a line.

hyphens

7. aliens People who come from other

countries are called aliens. aliens

8. kitchens I love houses with large

kitchens. kitchens

9. chickens Don’t count your

chickens before they hatch. chickens

10. kittens That cat had five kittens.

kittens

11. havens Havens are shelters.

havens

12. heavens The sky is often referred

to as the heavens. heavens

13. sevens The gambler tried to roll

sevens three times in a row. sevens

14. ovens Some ovens are gas and

others are electric. ovens

15. citizens How many of you are

American citizens? citizens

16. deadens Novocain™ deadens

pain. deadens

17. gladdens A smile gladdens my

heart. gladdens

18. maddens A smart aleck answer

maddens me. maddens

19. gardens I love to walk through

Japanese gardens. gardens

20. gardeners I think artists make

good gardeners. gardeners

21. sharpens Doing crossword

puzzles sharpens the mind. sharpens

22. thickens Flour thickens gravy.

thickens

23. thickeners Flour and corn starch

are both thickeners. thickeners

24. freshens A good rain freshens

the air. freshens

25. happens Tom’s real name

happens to be Thomas. happens

The Third Day

We begin the third day by having the

students take out their AVKO Student

Response Book for Sequential Spelling or

by having them take their spelling sheet

from their special folder. We feel that it is

easier to have students open a response

book to page 7 than it is to keep track of

loose sheets of paper. On this, the third

day, you will begin the slow process of

programming your students‘ God-given

computer brains to form the ending -ened

correctly. There is no need at this time to

encumber a child's mind with rules about

adding –ed.

1. tokens The man had two subway

tokens in his pocket. tokens

2. omen A comet was often thought to

be a good omen. omen

3. Chinaman A Chinaman is not a

person who makes dishes. Chinaman

4. Chinamen Many Chinese do not

like the term Chinamen. Chinamen

5. stamen A flower has a stamen.

stamen

6. hyphenate You should hyphenate

a word like co-op. hyphenate

7. alienate Please do not alienate

me. alienate

8. Dresden Have you ever seen any

Dresden china? Dresden

9. siren Is that a police siren I hear?

siren

10. mitten How can a stupid kitten

lose a mitten? mitten

11. raven Quoth the raven, “real

easy.” raven

12. dozen What is a baker’s dozen?

dozen

8


13. seventeen You owe me

seventeen dollars. seventeen

14. vixen A female fox is called a

vixen. vixen

15. citizenship My friend has applied

for his citizenship papers. citizenship

16. deadened The Novocain™

deadened the pain. deadened

17. gladdened Seeing them win

gladdened my heart. gladdened

18. maddened Seeing them lose

maddened me. maddened

19. gardened We gardened all day

long. gardened

20. sharpener Do you have your own

pencil sharpener? sharpener

21. sharpenedYou should have

sharpened your pencil earlier.

sharpened

22. thickened The plot thickened.

thickened

23. freshenerWe need some air

freshener in here. freshener

24. freshened They opened the

windows and freshened the air.

freshened

25. happened What happened next?

happened

The Fourth Day

We begin the fourth day by having the


Response Book for Sequential Spelling and

open it to page 9 or by having them take out

their special spelling sheet.

Then give the following words in sentences

and so that your students can learn from

immediate self-correction after any mistake,

show the words after each sentence. The

simple word lists for days 1-8 are found on

pages 18-19.

1. oxen Have you ever plowed a field

with a pair of oxen? oxen

2. omensSome people see good and

bad omens everywhere. omens

3. chairman Some people prefer

“chairperson” to “chairman.” chairman

4. chairmen Most chairmen of committees don’t mind either title.

chairmen

5. stamen Sam Stayman knows what

a flower’s stamen is. stamen

6. hyphenation Many words require

hyphenation, such as twenty-one.

hyphenation

7. alienationA feeling of alienation

often leads to paranoia. alienation

8. alien nation Another phrase for

“foreign country” is “alien nation.” alien

nation

9. sirens When the sirens blew, we

knew there was a fire. sirens

10. mittens I don’t believe that three

little kittens lost their mittens. mittens

11. ravens What’s the difference

between ravens and crows? ravens

12. dozens You’ve asked that

question dozens of times. dozens

13. seventy Would you like to write

this sentence seventy times? seventy

14. vixens Female foxes are called

vixens. vixens

15. citizenry Flint’s citizenry was upset by its rating as the murder capital

of the USA. citizenry

16. deadening The silence was both

deafening and deadening. deadening

17. gladdening The news of a peace

agreement was gladdening to all of us.

gladdening

9


18. maddening The way some people oppose manger scenes is

maddening. maddening

19. gardening My uncle’s favorite

activity is gardening. gardening

20. sharpening My aunt knows all

about the sharpening of knives.

sharpening

21. sharpeners We have several

pencil sharpeners around our house.

sharpeners

22. thickening Corn starch can be

used as a thickening agent in cooking.

thickening

23. fresheners We don’t need

artificial air fresheners where we live.

fresheners

24. freshening The smell of new

mown hay is air freshening for me.

freshening

25. happening So what’s happening

in your neck of the woods? happening

The Fifth Day

We begin the 5th day by having the


Response Book for Sequential Spelling or

by having them take out a new sheet of

paper, fold it, and use the first column.

So that your students can learn from

immediate self-correction after any mistake,

say the word, read the sentence, say the

word. After they have finished writing each

word, write the word on a dry erase board

and spell it aloud.

1. sicken I hope the thought of more

work doesn’t sicken you. sicken

2. open I wonder if the hardware store

is open today. open

3. opener Does anybody know where a

can opener is? opener

4. strengthen It doesn’t hurt to

strengthen our resolve to do better.

strengthen

5. harden We certainly don’t want to

harden our hearts. harden

6. awaken I love to awaken to the

sounds of birds chirping. awaken

7. loosen As my dog grew, I had to

loosen his collar. loosen

8. threaten You should rarely ever

threaten another person. threaten

9. sweeten You certainly don’t have

to sweeten honey with sugar. sweeten

10. frighten Please don’t frighten a

child with wild stories. frighten

11. tighten Make sure that you

tighten the knot or it’ll come undone.

tighten

12. fasten Make sure you fasten the

gate. fasten

13. fastener A button is a type of

fastener. fastener

14. listen If you listen carefully, you

can hear me when I whisper. listen

15. * sign It’s just a sign of the times.

sign

16. design We need to come up with

a new design for our cover. design

17. resign I think that Mr. Jones plans

to resign before he gets fired. resign

18. * align Do you know how to align

the front end of our truck? align

19. malign You really shouldn’t

malign another person’s character.

malign

20. signal When you give a sign to

someone, you’re giving a signal.

signal

21. falcon Would you like to have a

pet falcon? falcon

10


22. deacon My brother is a deacon in

the church. deacon

23. * dragon Did St. George really kill

a dragon? dragon

24. siphon Do you understand the

principle of a siphon? siphon

25. * lion Do you remember how

Daniel met a lion? lion

Homophones: sine/sign dragon/draggin‘

lion/lyin‘

The Sixth Day




open it to page 13 or by having them take

out their special spelling sheet.

1. sickens The thought of eating

chocolate-covered maggots sickens

me. sickens

2. opens The general store opens at

9:00 A.M. opens

3. openers We don’t need automatic

door openers. openers

4. strengthensExercise and calcium

strengthens the bones. strengthens

5. hardens Subzero weather hardens

the ice. hardens

6. awakens Sunlight pouring through

a window awakens us. awakens

7. loosens What will happen if he

loosens the reins? loosens

8. threatens Every time Jim

threatens to quit, we all smile and say,

“Oh!” threatens

9. sweetens Honey sweetens just

about anything. sweetens

10. frightens A loud noise frightens

just about everybody. frightens

11. tightens A frightened dictator

tightens his hold on his people.

tightens

12. fastens Super glue fastens

ceramics better than screws. fastens

13. fasteners Can you name at least

five kinds of fasteners? fasteners

14. listens A good student listens to

what his teacher says. listens

15. signs Street signs should be

easy to read at night. signs

16. designs My cousin designs work

clothes. designs

17. resigns If Jonathan resigns, who

will take his place? resigns

18. aligns When Bob aligns a front

end, he does a great job. aligns

19. maligns If Timothy maligns someone, there’s usually a good

reason. maligns

20. signals The quarterback calls the

signals. signals

21. falcons My next-door neighbor

has a pair of falcons. falcons

22. deacons The deacons of our

church are highly respected. deacons

23. dragons Do you know where real

dragons can be found? dragons

24. siphons Terry occasionally

siphons gasoline from his car for his

tractor. siphons

25. lions Both Androcles and Daniel

had a way with lions. lions

The Seventh Day




open it to page 15 or by having them take

out their special spelling sheet.

11


1. sickenedThe prospect of eating

fried worms really sickened me.

sickened

2. opened When he opened his

mouth, he inserted his foot. opened

3. strengthener The doctor ordered a

special muscle strengthener.

strengthener

4. strengthened The general wanted

the army strengthened. strengthened

5. hardened His heart was so

hardened, he couldn’t forgive himself.

hardened

6. awakened We awakened to the

sound of church bells. awakened

7. loosened He loosened all the lug

nuts before he removed them. loosened

8. threatened The defendant

shouldn’t have threatened the judge.

threatened

9. sweetened My mother sweetened almost everything with honey.

sweetened

10. frightened The sight of a

Halloween witch frightened the little

boy. frightened

11. tightened Jack very carefully

tightened up all the loose lug nuts.

tightened

12. fastened Do you know how wood

can be fastened to steel? fastened

13. listener A good listener pays close attention to what is being said.

listener

14.listened You should have listened

more carefully to what I said. listened

15. signed Who signed the

Declaration of Independence? signed

16. designed Who designed the first

submarine? designed

17. resigned Richard resigned from

the office that he held. resigned

18. aligned What political party is

your group aligned with? aligned

19. maligned We were maligned by

some very ugly lies. maligned

20. signature Your signature needs

to be consistent. signature

21. beacon A lighthouse gives off a

beacon of light. beacon

22. bacon Why didn’t Jesus ever eat

any bacon? bacon

23. wagon As a child, I always

wanted a little red wagon. wagon

24. siphoned I siphoned just enough

gas to start my tractor. siphoned

25. dandelion The name dandelion means “teeth of a lion” in French.

dandelion

After the Seventh Day

Every single day there is a twenty-five

word spelling test. Some days the tests are

easier than others, but please don't panic on

days like the 16th day when the word

circumstantial is presented.

REMEMBER: AVKO is not concerned

about teaching the spelling of any one word

per se. AVKO is concerned with the

teaching of basic sounds for both spelling

and reading. In the case of words like

circumstantial, residential, and

presidential, what is important is the

teaching of the -tial ending, the roots, and

the structural endings, as well as the initial

consonant sounds, consonant blends,

prefixes, etc.

REMEMBER: Please speed your

students through the tests. Give the word.

Put it in a sentence. Say the word. Spell

the word. Have the students (if you can)

trace the corrected spelling as they spell it

aloud in group chorus. Go on to the next—

12


but make sure your students make an

attempt at the spelling before you give the

correct spelling. Copying your spelling

does not help them learn. Correcting

their own misspelling does.

Immediate Feedback The most common mistake made in

administering the AVKO Sequential

Spelling Tests is to give the entire test and

then correct. This method just won't work.

• Give each word separately.

• Say the word. Give it in a sentence.

• Let the students attempt the spelling.

• Give the correct spelling. Let each

student correct his own.

• Then give the next word. Repeat the

immediate student self-correction.

Questions most

frequently asked

concerning Sequential

Spelling

1. What are those asterisks (*)

and exclamation marks doing next to

some words?

The asterisks (*) merely serve as a reminder

that the word so marked has a homophone

(same pronunciation, different spelling), has a

heteronym (same spelling, different word and

different pronunciation), or does not follow the

normal pattern. For example, gyp ** should

logically be spelled ―jip.‖ But instead of j we

use the letter ―g.‖ Instead of i the letter y is

used. Likewise, the word proper ** should

logically be spelled ―propper‖ just like hopper,

and copper, and stopper, but it isn't.

2. Why don't the words used

follow grade levels? The word

composition is an 8th grade word in

our school's regular spelling text.

Regular spelling texts as a general rule pick

grade levels for words according to when the

words first begin to occur in the curriculum.

This would seem to make sense, but it does

bring about some rather odd sequences. Since

the word ice may not occur in the curriculum

until the fourth grade when it appears in the

science class, its introduction is delayed until

that time even though nice may occur in the

first grade and twice in the second grade, and

price in the fifth and rice in the sixth. AVKO

believes in giving students the opportunity to

discover for themselves the phonics necessary

for decoding through the back door of spelling

and without preaching rules that may or may

not be useful. We teach the word unofficially

only after the digraphs-ci- and -al (―sh‖ + ―ul‖)

sounds have been taught in 38 different words.

3. Why do you have so many

words that are outside the

vocabulary of normal adults, such as

the word “lyre?”

We don't believe it hurts anyone to learn a

new word — but that is not why we use it. We

use the word lyre as an added practice in

sounding out spellings of words having the

initial /l/ sound and practice in spelling the

ending -yre. It also gives the child a pleasant

surprise and ego boost when he discovers he

can spell a word that he believes he has never

heard nor seen before — just because he knows

basic phonics. It also gives you a chance to

point out how the letters i and y often

interchange and that liar and lyre are

homophones.

4. Should I count off for sloppy

handwriting?

Since the students get to correct their own

spelling, they should be expected to write

clearly and legibly. In fact, we recommend that

these sequential spelling tests be used for

handwriting practice because the patterns,

being repetitive, can be a help in developing

legible handwriting. We further recommend

that if your students print, that they use Getty-

Dubay Italic, D'Nealian™ manuscript, or

AVKO. If your students write, we strongly

recommend any of the four mentioned. But

whatever system you use or your school system

requires, we believe that the writing must be

legible. So, yes, by all means, take off for

sloppy handwriting (provided the child has no

13


physical disability and has sufficient small

motor skills to write legibly).

5. Do I have to use all the words

that are in the tests? Can I drop

some? Can I change some?

No, you don't have to use them all. You can

drop some. You know your students better than

we do. Yes, you can substitute other words for

the ones we have selected. The Patterns of

English Spelling is your best reference to select

from. If for example, you would rather start

with the -at, bat, rat, cat, sat family, be our

guest. You can use your pencil to write in your

choices. Every child is different. Don't be afraid

to trust your own judgment.

6. Can I give the same test more

than once during the day?

Yes. If your students can profit from that,

fine. We recommend, however, that you allow

a minimum of an hour to pass between retests.

We also recommend that the absolute

maximum number of times that Sequential

Spelling be given is four times in one day,

whether repeats or new lessons.

7. My child is in the 5th

grade.

May I use Sequential Spelling 1 to

start one hour, Sequential Spelling 2

to start the 2nd hour, 3 for the third,

etc.? I want my child to be as good a

reader and speller as he can be.

Why not? If it works, it works. If it doesn't,

then try something else. You could try going

through four days of Sequential Spelling 1

every day until it is finished and then move

through four days of Sequential Spelling 2

every day, and continue on through four levels

of Sequential Spelling in one year.

8. Why are some words in bold

print?

The words in bold print are those that are

the most commonly used words and the most

important to learn. You will also notice that

some words (such as the words doesn't and

shouldn’t) which don't follow regular patterns

are repeated many times throughout the series.

If your students learn to spell any of the words

that are not in bold face, that is so much gravy.

What we want the students to learn is to spell

the most common words and to learn the most

common patterns that occur in words. You will

discover that most of these patterns consist of

only two, three, or four letters. A big word like

misunderstandings can be broken into the

following patterns: mis•un•der•st•and•ing•s.

9. Do I have to teach all the

homophones and homographs

listed?

Absolutely no. We have listed them for your

convenience. If you wish to teach them, fine.

If you don't, fine. We only ask that when they

come up that you definitely use the word in a

sentence that helps your students pick the right

word. For example. Don't just say mined.

Your students may think about the word mind.

Instead, Say something like: ―mined. Coal is

still being mined in Pennsylvania. mined.‖

10. What does TPES stand for at

the bottom of the pages?

TPES stands for The Patterns of English

Spelling. This book contains all the words that

share a common spelling pattern placed on the

same page (or pages in the case of families like

the -tion family). In our Sequential Spelling

Series we list most of the words in each family,

but not all. If you want to include more or to

give special assignments to your students, we

have included the page references.

11. Can I use the words in

Sequential Spelling for composition?

Yes, of course. Having your students

create sentences out of the words is good

exercise for their minds and will allow you to

determine if they truly understand what the

words really mean. You may also have them

write the entire sentence that you dictate. That

will help you help them handle the problems

created by speech patterns, such as the

―wanna‘s‖ ―whutcha gonna‘s‖ etc.

12. Is there anything I can use to

help my students’ reading that will

also reinforce the spelling?

AVKO‘s New Word Families in Sentence

Context may be used in conjunction with

Sequential Spelling. The page number given for

The Patterns of English Spelling (TPES) also

works for the Word Families in Sentence

Context. This book may also be obtained from

the AVKO Educational Research Foundation.

14


1st day 2nd day 3rd day 4th day

1. child token tokens oxen

2. children children’s clothes omen omens

3. Linden seaman Chinaman ! biscuits

4. ward seamen Chinamen ! circuits

5. warden wardens stamen stamens

6. hyphen hyphens hyphenate hyphenation

7. alien aliens alienate * alienation

8. kitchen kitchens Dresden * alien nation

9. chicken chickens siren sirens

10. kitten kittens mitten mittens

11. haven havens raven ravens

12. heaven heavens dozen dozens

13. seven sevens seventeen seventy

14. oven ovens vixen vixens

15. citizen citizens citizenship ! circuitry

16. deaden deadens deadened deadening

17. gladden gladdens gladdened gladdening

18. madden maddens maddened maddening

19. garden gardens gardened gardening

20. gardener gardeners sharpener sharpeners

21. sharpen sharpens sharpened sharpening

22. thicken thickens thickened thickening

23. thickener thickeners freshener fresheners

24. freshen freshens freshened freshening

25. happen happens happened happening * Homophones: alienation/alien nation What do you call the estrangement of a foreign country? The alienation of an alien nation. ! Insane words: biscuit (―BISS kit‖) circuit (―SIR kit‖) circuitry (―SIR kit tree‖)

15


5th day 6th day 7th day 8th day

1. sicken sickens sickened sickening

2. open opens opened opening

3. opener openers strengthener strengtheners

4. strengthen strengthens strengthened strengthening

5. harden hardens hardened hardening

6. awaken awakens awakened awakening

7. loosen loosens loosened loosening

8. threaten threatens threatened threatening

9. sweeten sweetens sweetened sweetening

10. frighten frightens frightened frightening

11. tighten tightens tightened tightening

12. fasten fastens fastened fastening

13. fastener fasteners listener listeners

14. listen listens listened listening

15. * sign signs signed signing

16. design designs designed designation

17. resign resigns resigned resignation

18. * align aligns aligned alignment

19. malign maligns maligned malignant

20. signal signals signature signatures

21. falcon falcons beacon beacons

22. deacon deacons bacon jargon

23. dragon dragons wagon wagons

24. siphon siphons siphoned siphoning

25. * lion lions dandelion dandelions

* Homophones: lion/lyin‘ What do you call a large dishonest feline? A lyin‘ lion. align/a line What do you do when you straighten a mark? Align a line. sign/sine What is a mark of a math teacher? A sine sign.

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