Unit 1 — ar and or
The vowel disappears into the r. Nothing to sound out — just to know.
Third grade
Third grade spelling words
Eighty words in eight units. The year r-controlled vowels arrive, prefixes start doing real work, and homophones become a problem the test itself has to solve.
Third grade 80 words 8 units
Take a unit
Unit 2 — er, ir and ur
Three spellings, one sound, no rule at all. Pure memory.
Unit 3 — Soft c and soft g
Before e, i or y the letter goes soft: city, giant, orange.
Unit 4 — Prefixes un- and re-
The base word does not change. That is the whole lesson.
Unit 5 — Suffixes -ful, -less and -ly
One l in -ful, always, however it sounds.
Unit 6 — Homophones
The unit that makes the sentence compulsory. Ten words, five sounds.
Unit 7 — Irregular plurals
No s in sight. Some change the vowel, some change the f.
Unit 8 — Compound words
Two whole words joined, with nothing dropped from either.
The words
WordSentence read after it
farm
We visited a farm last spring.
start
Start at the top of the page.
sharp
Be careful, the knife is sharp.
garden
Beans are growing in the garden.
storm
The storm knocked down a fence.
north
Geese fly north in the spring.
short
A short walk brings you to the beach.
corner
Fold the corner of the page down.
morning
We do reading every morning.
forget
Do not forget to sign the form.
Unit 2
her
Her drawing won the prize.
term
The summer term ends in July.
bird
A small bird built a nest here.
first
She was first in the line.
third
She finished third in the race.
turn
It is your turn to read.
burn
Sunlight can burn your skin quickly.
hurt
I hurt my knee at practice.
nurse
The school nurse cleaned the cut.
purple
She painted the door purple.
Unit 3
city
The city has three bridges.
circle
Sit in a circle on the carpet.
pencil
Use a pencil so you can erase.
dance
We learned a folk dance today.
place
Save my place in the line.
giant
A giant oak shades the playground.
gentle
Be gentle with the guinea pig.
page
Turn to page fifty.
change
Do not change your answer.
orange
Peel the orange over the sink.
Unit 4
unhappy
He looked unhappy about the score.
unkind
That was an unkind thing to say.
unlock
Use this key to unlock the cupboard.
unable
She was unable to come to practice.
retell
Retell the story in your own words.
return
Return the library book by Friday.
reread
Reread the question before answering.
replay
The referee asked for a replay.
refill
Refill your water bottle at the fountain.
rewrite
Rewrite the sentence with capital letters.
Unit 5
helpful
Your notes were very helpful.
careful
Be careful on the wet steps.
useful
A dictionary is a useful book.
hopeless
I am hopeless at drawing hands.
careless
A careless mistake cost him the point.
endless
The wait felt endless.
quickly
Pack up quickly, the bell has gone.
slowly
Read the instructions slowly.
safely
We arrived safely after the long drive.
gladly
I would gladly help you carry that.
Unit 6
their
The children hung up their coats.
there
Your bag is over there by the door.
they're
They're waiting by the gate.
to
We walked to the shop together.
too
The soup is too salty.
two
I have two brothers.
hear
I cannot hear the recording.
here
Put your bag down here.
right
Raise your right hand.
write
Write your name at the top.
Unit 7
children
The children lined up quietly.
feet
My feet are cold.
teeth
Brush your teeth for two minutes.
mice
Three mice lived under the barn floor.
geese
The geese flew over in a V.
men
Two men carried the piano.
women
Two women were repairing the road.
leaves
Rake the leaves into a pile.
knives
The knives go in the top drawer.
wolves
Wolves hunt together in packs.
Unit 8
birthday
My birthday is in April.
sunshine
We ate lunch in the sunshine.
outside
Leave your muddy boots outside.
playground
The playground floods when it rains.
everyone
Everyone finished the test on time.
something
I forgot something at home.
anywhere
I cannot find my ruler anywhere.
football
He left his football on the field.
notebook
Copy the notes into your notebook.
afternoon
We have art on Tuesday afternoon.
Sheets you can print
Tick what you need. The packet prints in this order, one sheet per page, with nothing else on the paper.
When r swallows the vowel
In farm, her, bird, turn and storm the vowel does not say anything you could sound out — the r has taken it over. That is why they arrive together in two units here: there is nothing phonetic left to build on, so the words have to be grouped by spelling and learned as families.
er, ir and ur are the hard part, because all three make the same sound and nothing in the word says which one it needs. er is the commonest by a wide margin, so it is the right guess when a child has to guess. The other two are memory, and there is no honest way to dress that up.
Soft c and soft g, and the letter that decides
Before e, i or y, c says /s/ and g says /j/: city, circle, giant, gentle. Everywhere else they stay hard. This is one of very few English spelling rules with almost no exceptions worth mentioning at this age, and it explains a surprising amount — including why dance needs the e that appears to be doing nothing.
The rule also reads backwards, which is where most of its value sits. A child wanting to write an /s/ sound at the start of a word can rule c in or out by looking at the next letter, instead of choosing between c and s by feel.
Prefixes and suffixes leave the base word alone
un + happy is unhappy. re + read is reread, with both e’s. help + ful is helpful, with one l. The lesson in these two units is not the meanings, which children pick up easily, but the mechanics: bolt the piece on and change nothing. Most errors here are children helpfully tidying away a double letter that belongs.
-ful is the one to state out loud. The suffix has one l, always, even though full has two and even though it sounds exactly like full. Careful, helpful, useful — never carefull.
Homophones need a sentence, not a rule
Unit six is ten words and five sounds: their, there and they’re; to, too and two; hear and here; right and write. No spelling rule can help, because the words are identical in the air. What distinguishes them is what they mean in one particular sentence, and a test that dictates them bare is asking an unanswerable question.
This is the unit that changes how the test has to work. Read there on its own and any of three spellings is defensible. Read "Your bag is over there by the door" and exactly one is. Keep the sentences switched on for this unit whatever you do with the rest of the year.
Common questions
What is the difference between their, there and they’re?
`Their` shows possession — their coats. `There` is a place, or the word that opens a sentence like "there is". `They’re` is they are with the a removed. The test on this page dictates each inside a sentence, because out of context the question has no correct answer.
Why does careful have one l when full has two?
Because `-ful` as a suffix is a shortened form and has always been written with one l, while `full` standing alone keeps both. It is an inconsistency rather than a rule, and the only remedy is to say it aloud once and then test it.
My third grader spells well in tests but badly in stories. Why?
A test asks for one word with full attention; a story asks for four hundred with almost none. The gap is normal and closes as handwriting and sentence construction become automatic. Judge spelling from the test and content from the story, rather than each from the other.
Should third graders still be sounding words out?
For unfamiliar words, always — it is the strategy that generalises. But by third grade the common words should be automatic, and a child still sounding out `because` letter by letter needs those specific words drilled rather than more phonics.