Spelling Rules for Cards - Maren Schmidt

Spelling Rule 1
Q is always written with two letters, qu,
when we say “kw”.
The u is not considered a vowel here.
Spelling Rule 2
When c by itself has a sound and is not part of a
a two-letter phonogram, it always says “s” if
followed by e, i or y (cent, city or cyclone).
If not followed by one of these letters, its sound
is “k” (cat, claw and cyclone).
This is true in spelling and reading.

Spelling Rule 3
Spelling Rule 4
The vowels a, e, o and u usually say their names
“a”, “e”, ”o” or “u” at the end of a syllable.
Examples: na-vy, me, o-pen and mu-sic
This is one of but three ways a vowel may
say “a”, “e”, “i”, “o” or “u”.

Spelling Rule 5
The letters i and y can say long “i” at the
end of a syllable, but usually they say
short “i”.
This is shown at the end of the second
syllable of both Indian and baby.
Spelling Rule 6
Y, not i, is used at the end of an English word.
Exceptions: Taxi is short for taxicab and
macaroni is an Italian word.

Spelling Rule 7
There are five reasons for a silent final e.
1. note: the e lets the vowel before it say its name;
2. page/chance: the e lets the g say “j” and c say “s”;
3. clue/give: English words don’t end in u or v;
4. han-dle: every syllable needs a vowel;
5. goose: the e keeps singular words from ending in s.
And some few times there is no reason for a
silent final e (are and come).
Spelling Rule 8
There are five phonograms that can say “er”.
They are: ar, er, ir, or, and ur.
Examples include early, her, third, work,
and curl.

Spelling Rule 9
Spelling Rule 10
Sh may be used at the beginning of a word
(as in shed) and at the end of a syllable (finish).
But sh will not be used to begin a syllable after
the first syllable, except for words ending
in -ship (friendship or worship).
Examples: vacation, official or discussion.

Spelling Rule 11
Spelling Rule 12

Spelling Rule 13
Si – but not ti or ci – can also say “zh” as in
vision.
Spelling Rule 14

Spelling Rule 15
Spelling Rule 16

Spelling Rule 17
We often double l, f and s after a single vowel
at the end of a one syllable word (hill, off,
glass and roll).
You will also see words like recess, distaff,
egg and add.
Spelling Rule 18
Base words do not end with the letter a saying
long “a”.
Ay is used most often.
The exception would be the article a.

Spelling Rule 19
Vowels i and o may say long “i” and long
“o” if followed by two consonants (find
or old).
Spelling Rule 20

Spelling Rule 21
All, written alone, has double l, but when
written with another syllable only one l is
written (al-der, al-so, al-most).
Spelling Rule 22
Till and full added to another syllable are
written with one l (until, careful, joyful,
beautiful).

Spelling Rule 23
Spelling Rule 24
When adding an ending to a word that ends with
a consonant and y, change the y to i, unless the
ending is -ing (baby, babies or try, tried, trying).
In English, we almost never have an i follow
another i.
In the words played or boys, we do not change
the y because the y is preceded by a vowel.

Spelling Rule 25
Spelling Rule 26
The first letter of words which are the name
or title of people, places, books, days and
months are capitalized.

Spelling Rule 27
Z (never s) is used to say “z” at the beginning
of a base word, as in zoo.
Spelling Rule 28

Morrison-McCall Spelling List Evaluation
Spelling Rule 29
Double consonants within words of more than
one syllable should both be sounded out for
spelling.
In writing little, we should say “lit” and write
lit and then say “tle” and write tle.
Other examples: little, account, effect, arrive
and officer.
These spelling rule cards have been adapted from The Writing
Road To Reading by Romalda Bishop Spalding, and reformatted
for convenient use with and by your students. Cut the sheets in
half, laminate them and use them with the Morrison-McCall
Spelling Lists to improve student spelling skills.
The rule cards and the Morrison-McCall
Spelling Lists are provided courtesy of
MarenSchmidt.com.
Unscramble Spelling Workshop
MarenSchmidt.com