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Skill Explainer

3.1 Prepare for Irregularly Spelled High-Frequency Words Instruction

Irregularly Spelled High-Frequency Words Skill Explainer

Ten irregularly spelled words: the, a, I, to, is, and, was, for, you, of

Teacher Tip

Since these words are introduced very early in the year and kindergartners are still developing phonemic awareness and sound-letter knowledge, you may want to start by introducing only one irregular word per week. As students build their phonics skills, you can gradually increase the number of words introduced each week.

Common Irregular Spelling Patterns High-Frequency Words
1. 's' at the end of the word spells /z/ has, is, as, his
2. 's' spells /z/ in words with magic 'e' these, those
3. 'v' is followed by 'e' because no word in English ends with a 'v' have, give, live
4. 'o-e' spells the short 'u' some, come, done
5. 'e' follows an r-controlled vowel at the end of a word were, are
6. Short Vowel Rule exceptions - the vowel makes its long sound old, cold, told, hold, both, find, kind, *mind
7. rhyming words - spelled with the same last four letters where, there
8. rhyming words - the letter 'a' says short 'i' or short 'e' depending on dialect any, many
9. 'oor' spells /or/ door, floor
10. 'u' spells /oo/ as in book put, full, pull, *push
11. 'o' spells /oo/, as in boot to, do, into
12. 'oul' spells /oo/ as in book could, would, *should
13. 'ea' spells the short 'e' sound head, bread
14. words similar in meaning and spelling once, one
15. 'a' after 'w' sometimes spells the short 'o' sound want, wash, *watch, *water
29 irregularly spelled words: again, don't, only, two, what, because, four, please, use, who, been, from, said, very, work, buy, goes, their, walk, you, carry, laugh, today, warm, your, does, of, together, was

List of Irregular Words by Grade, K-3

These word lists offer examples of irregular high-frequency words you can teach in each grade, kindergarten through third.

Dolch Word List with Irregular and Decodable High-Frequency Words

This is a list of 256 decodable and irregular words from the Dolch Word List. The words are organized by always irregular, common irregular patterns and decodable phonics patterns.

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