Spelling words
Spelling Words
This page is the starting point for all of the spelling lists on Hangman Lab, from kindergarten through eighth grade. Every list is built around one spelling pattern, such as short a words, the sh digraph, the prefix un, the suffix tion or the Latin root port. Each list can be played as a hangman game, read in full with a difficulty score beside every word, or printed as a worksheet with an answer key.
The lists are generated by a program rather than copied from a published list. It starts with a large dictionary, keeps words that a spell checker treats as common, filters them by how often they appear in written English, and checks pronunciation against a pronunciation dictionary so that a word like said is not counted as a long a word. Length and syllable limits rise with each grade. That is why every word fits its pattern and why the lists are not tied to any single curriculum.
Choose a grade
- Kindergarten Spelling WordsKindergarten spelling lists built on CVC words and word families, with a hangman game and printable sheet for each. Short a, e, i, o and u.
- 1st Grade Spelling WordsFirst grade spelling lists for short vowels, digraphs, blends and silent e, each with a hangman game, scored word list and printable worksheet.
- 2nd Grade Spelling Words2nd grade spelling lists by pattern: vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, diphthongs and compounds. Play hangman or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 3rd Grade Spelling Words3rd grade spelling lists: prefixes, suffixes, silent letters, homophones, contractions and irregular plurals. Play hangman or print a worksheet.
- 4th Grade Spelling WordsFourth grade spelling lists by pattern: tion, sion, prefixes, able and ible, ough, plurals. Play hangman online or print worksheets with answer keys.
- 5th Grade Spelling WordsFifth grade spelling lists: Latin and Greek roots, ance and ence, ity, ive, ture. Play hangman online or print worksheets with answer keys.
- 6th Grade Spelling WordsSixth grade spelling lists: inter, trans, sub, super, anti, ology and ism. Play hangman online or print worksheets with answer keys.
- 7th Grade Spelling WordsSeventh grade spelling lists: ship, hood, ex, ify, ize, ist, cian, cial and tial. Play hangman online or print worksheets with answer keys.
- 8th Grade Spelling WordsEighth grade spelling lists: ible, cious and tious, ient, ph, ceed and cede, silent letters, double letters. Play hangman online or print worksheets.
How the lists are built
Spelling instruction moves through the grades in a recognizable order. Kindergarten and first grade start with sounds: CVC words, blends and digraphs. Second grade covers vowel teams such as ai, ee and oa and compound words. Third grade introduces prefixes, suffixes, homophones, contractions and irregular plurals. Fourth grade adds endings that carry meaning and the hard cases such as ough. Fifth grade is the introduction of Latin and Greek roots, and sixth and seventh grade focus on prefixes and suffixes. Eighth grade covers the hardest patterns, including silent letters and doubled letters.
To choose a list, start with the grade, then look at the pattern. If a student is struggling with words from their grade, drop back a level; if they find the list easy, move up. Each grade has its own page, from kindergarten through 8th grade, and each links to every list for that year.
A weekly routine that works
Pick one pattern for the week and use it in four ways. Read the list aloud and have students say what the pattern is. Play hangman as a group, then in pairs. Print the worksheet for independent work. Finish with a short dictation of five words from the list. Repeat the pattern two or three weeks later to check it has stuck.
Pay attention to the difficulty score. A word's score is the number of wrong guesses our solver makes before finishing it, with 0 to 1 easy, 2 to 4 medium, and 5 or more hard. Short words tend to be harder than long ones, because a short pattern fits many words. Mix a few easy words with the hard ones so that no one gets stuck at the start.