Dear 3EE parents,
It was lovely to see so many of you yesterday for parents evening. On the back of our discussions I will be adjusting the spelling tests a little so that they have two short tests of 10 words each. The second test will be 10 randomly selected spellings from the list they stick in each week. These lists follow particular spelling rules. However as many children need to secure the foundations of their spellings this year the first short test of 10 words will be common exception words (those words which crop up regularly in reading and writing and often do not follow easy phonic patterns).
Please find attached a full list of the common exception words children are expected to know by the end of year 4, and the shorter list which is the common exception words children are expected to know by the end of year 2. However I have picked out from this list 50 of the most commonly used and commonly misspelled words (in my experience) in year 3. There are 50 of them and I propose to test them on the following schedule. These are the dates for the tests so if children would like to prepare for them it should be done in the week leading up to this date. I realise the first one is in only 4 days time but I wanted to get round all 5 lists 5 times so this is why it is a short span to the first test. I
List A common words
TESTS FOR LIST A
- 25 November 2019
- 13 January 2020
- 24 February 2020
- 30 March 2020
- 01 June 2020
actually
all
although
again
favourite
are
our
your
my
after
List B common words
TESTS FOR LIST B
- 02 December 2019
- 20 January 2020
- 02 March 2020
- 20 April 2020
- 08 June 2020
busy
business
centre
certain
children
come
some
love
move
straight
List C common words
TESTS FOR LIST C
- 09 December 2019
- 27 January 2020
- 09 March 2020
- 27 April 2020
- 15 June 2020
who
what
when
went
where
were
there
they
why
father
List D common words
TESTS FOR LIST D
- 16 December 19
- 03 February 2020
- 16 March 2020
- 04 May 2020
- 22 June 2020
would
should
could
special
every
everyone
thought
through
though
many
List E common words
TESTS FOR LIST E
- 06 Jaunary 2020
- 10 February 2020
- 23 March 2020
- 11 May 2020
- 29 June 2020
believe
friend
because
people
said
says
was
whole
quarter
women
Summary test of all 50 words from lists A, B, C, D, E to inform the end of year report will be on 18 May 2020.
If your child finds spelling a challenge at the moment I would recommend you only focus on the common exception words set out above in the 5 lists A-E and do not worry about the spelling rule lists which are stuck in and sent home as these spelling rules will be revised again through the course of year 4 - use year 3 to consolidate and secure the common exception words. Children will get two spelling scores in their book each week - out of 10 for the common exception words and out of 10 for the words following the rules. Just encourage them in their endeavours and praise any improvements on the common exception words.
I have updated Times Tables Rockstars so that all pupils are given more tables to practise rather than working on automatic mode only. Please let me know if this is a useful tool for your child - it will not suit all of them but you can adjust the settings so that it does not show the clock if this in particular makes your child anxious. You can of course practise times tables and related division facts orally or with question/answer cards too. Their username is the first letter of their first name and the first three letters of their surname followed by the number 30. E.g. if called Jo Smith then the username would be jsmi30 and the password for all the class is rockstar3.
Many thanks for all your support for the children and Sofia and I - we look forward to seeing you at the Christmas concert on the 11th December and the children will have chance to share their work books with you in the classroom at the after concert Christmas Party.
Warm regards,
Ruthy Trevitt
