4th Grade spelling
4th Grade Words Ending in Sion
Words ending in sion: decision, television, vision, session and mansion-type sounds. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: The ending sion says /zhun/ (vision) or /shun/ (mansion).
Sion is the less common spelling of the ending /shun/ and the usual spelling of its voiced partner, /zhun/. In vision, decision and television the s sounds like the s in measure. In session, permission and expression it sounds like sh. Both come from the same Latin family of endings, and both usually attach to a verb whose last letters change a little: decide becomes decision, expand becomes expansion, permit becomes permission.
The thirty words here include decision, version, discussion, expression, extension, conclusion, explosion and dimension. Many are tied to everyday school language, which is why they appear in fourth grade: discussion, conclusion and expression turn up in reading responses and science write-ups. The list sits next to the tion list on purpose, so students can compare the two endings.
30 entries. Our solver needed 0.8 wrong guesses on average: 23 easy, 7 medium and 0 hard. The toughest is division (2 misses), the quickest television (0).
- decision Easy · 1
- version Easy · 1
- commission Easy · 1
- division Medium · 2
- television Easy · 0
- session Easy · 0
- discussion Medium · 2
- vision Medium · 2
- expression Easy · 0
- expansion Easy · 0
- permission Easy · 0
- extension Easy · 0
- passion Medium · 2
- conclusion Easy · 1
- occasion Easy · 1
- possession Easy · 1
- impression Easy · 0
- transmission Easy · 0
- conversion Easy · 0
- suspension Easy · 0
- invasion Easy · 1
- explosion Easy · 0
- pension Easy · 1
- tension Easy · 0
- confusion Medium · 2
- admission Easy · 1
- provision Medium · 2
- profession Easy · 1
- submission Medium · 2
- dimension Easy · 0
Words worth a closer look
- decisionFrom decide: the d drops and an s appears. Students often write decition because the t feels natural before the ion.
- televisionFour syllables with a /zh/ in the middle. The tele- start means far, so it is a good bridge to the Greek roots in fifth grade.
- sessionDoubled s here makes the /sh/ sound. Compare it with vision, where a single s makes /zh/.
- passionThe ss spells /sh/, just like session. A short word that looks simple but is often written with tion.
- dimensionContains the word mension inside it, which has no meaning on its own. Students do better when they chunk it as di-men-sion.
Teaching it
Teach the contrast with a pair of lists: tion follows a t sound (action, station) while sion often follows an n, an r or a vowel (tension, version, invasion). That is a tendency rather than a rule, but it covers a surprising number of words on this list. Mistakes usually run in one direction: students write tion where sion belongs, for example decition for decision.
In hangman, ask players to guess the s and n early, since s appears in every word and n is in the ending. Then have the group say whether the s in each solved word buzzes (vision) or hushes (session). Print the worksheet and ask students to sort ten words by that sound.
Print a 4th Grade Words Ending in Sion worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 4th Grade Words Ending in TionSpell the /shun/ ending with tion: information, education, position and more. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words With the Prefix PreWords with the prefix pre: preview, prehistoric, prefix, precaution and more. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words With the Prefix MisWords with the prefix mis: mistake, misplaced, misuse, mistrust, misread. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in MentWords ending in ment: government, development, agreement, equipment and more. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in Able and IbleWords ending in able and ible: comfortable, reliable, possible, visible. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.
- 4th Grade Words Ending in OusWords ending in ous: dangerous, famous, nervous, delicious, generous. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet with answers.