Here are the Rocket Spelling word lists and level numbers that we think align well with fourth grade standards. For more background on this, check out this post.

Level 10.1 Compound words #1: something, sometimes, anything, everything, yourself, everyone, himself, herself, someone, anyone

Level 10.2 Compound words #2: keyboard, notebook, homework, wheelchair, baseball, afternoon, birthday, newspaper, grasshopper, skateboard

From Kalamazoo, Michigan... this is yet another reason why spelling matters.

Here are the Rocket Spelling word lists and level numbers that we think align well with third grade standards. For more background on this, check out this post.

Level 7.1 Colors: orange, green, blue, violet, yellow, purple, black, brown, white, pink

Level 7.2 Parts of the body: hand, elbow, finger, arm, ear, foot, head, back, stomach, toe

Our back-to-school giveaway continues: we are giving away free Rocket Spelling accounts for the entire 2017-2018 school year with coupon code 'rocketlaunch'.If you've already seen the benefits of Rocket Spelling in your classroom, please take a moment to share Rocket Spelling with your colleagues! We want to give away as many free accounts as possible before this coupon code expires.

Here's to a vision of replacing weekly tests with spelling practice that is differentiated, offers instant feedback for students and teachers alike, and which is truly fun and challenging for all students!

Here are the Rocket Spelling word lists and level numbers that we think align well with second grade standards. For more background on this, check out this post.

Level 5.1 -ar, -or sounds: for, part, form, large, car, far, farm, stars, born, chart

Level 5.2 -er, -ir, -ur sounds: other, her, first, water, over, turn, bird, girl, third, burn

We can't be the only ones who feel this way...

Here are the Rocket Spelling word lists and level numbers that we think align well with first grade standards. For more background on this, check out this post.

Level 2.1 Initial ch, sh, or th: that, then, them, shut, chin, this, they, than, chat, shop

Level 2.2 Initial __ + L blends: plan, clap, flip, slam, slip, glad, flag, sled, plus, slap

Here are the Rocket Spelling word lists and level numbers that we think align well with kindergarten standards. For more background on this, check out yesterday's post.

Level 1.1 Short 'a' words: had, can, has, am, man, map, ran, sat, cat, dad

Level 1.2 Short 'e' words: net, get, beg, pen, let, red, yes, yet, bed, leg

When creating Rocket Spelling, we purposely decided not to break the site up into separate grade levels. Our hope was that students would be able to work on differentiated spelling practice at their own pace without worrying about whether they were "ahead" or "behind" of words that we had designated were at a specific grade level.

Level 5-3 focuses on the /oi/ sound written as either oi or oy. The general rule of thumb for deciding whether to use oi or oy in a word to make the /oi/ sound is straightforward: in the middle of a syllable, use oi; to close a syllable or end a word, use oy. Simply telling students that oy is used only at the end of a word is not enough, because a suffix can then be added to a root word ending in oy, so words like toys, joyful, and annoying still use oy rather than oi.