4th grade · Spelling
What a 4th grade student learns in Spelling
Grade 4 spelling centers on mastering multisyllabic and morphologically complex words by applying prefixes, suffixes, Greek/Latin roots, and advanced orthographic patterns so students can accurately spell grade-appropriate academic and high-frequency words in writing.
The skills for the year
- 1Spelling multisyllabic words by recognizing and applying the six syllable types
- 2Adding common prefixes (un-, re-, dis-, pre-, mis-, non-, over-, under-) to base words
- 3Adding common suffixes (-ly, -ful, -less, -ness, -ment, -able/-ible, -ous) with correct spelling changes
- 4Applying the doubling, silent-e drop, and y-to-i rules when adding inflectional and derivational endings
- 5Spelling words containing frequent Greek and Latin roots (aud, vis/vid, port, struct, graph, tele, bio, geo, phon)
- 6Spelling the /shən/ sound with -tion, -sion, and -cian
- 7Spelling words with silent consonants (kn-, wr-, gn-, -mb, -mn, -lk)
- 8Spelling r-controlled vowels (ar, er/ir/ur, or) inside multisyllabic words
- 9Spelling variant vowel patterns and diphthongs (au/aw, ou/ow, oi/oy, oo, ew) in longer words
- 10Correctly spelling frequently confused homophones (accept/except, affect/effect, principal/principle, weather/whether, thrown/throne)
- 11Distinguishing and spelling common contractions vs. possessives (its/it’s, your/you’re, whose/who’s)
- 12Forming plurals of words ending in -f/-fe, -o, and irregular plurals
- 13Spelling singular and plural possessive nouns
- 14Using soft-c and soft-g patterns in multisyllabic words
- 15Spelling grade-level academic and content-area vocabulary correctly
- 16Consulting dictionaries and other references to verify and correct spellings
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