Spelling words for 1st grade: 16 weekly lists
Free 1st grade spelling lists, one spelling pattern a week with the rule in plain words. Open any week in the spelling maker for a practice sheet, a test and games, or print all 16 lists.
Week 1Short a
When a short word has one vowel between consonants, the vowel is short.
- cat
- map
- bag
- hat
- sad
- jam
- van
- nap
- can
- ran
Heart words (learn by heart): the, a
Open in the spelling maker →Week 2Short i
When a short word has one vowel between consonants, the vowel is short.
- sit
- pig
- win
- lip
- big
- dig
- fin
- hit
- kid
- six
Heart words (learn by heart): is, to
Open in the spelling maker →Week 3Short o
When a short word has one vowel between consonants, the vowel is short.
- hot
- dog
- top
- mop
- log
- box
- fox
- pot
- job
- not
Heart words (learn by heart): you, of
Open in the spelling maker →Week 4Short u
When a short word has one vowel between consonants, the vowel is short.
- bug
- cup
- sun
- mud
- run
- tub
- hut
- nut
- bus
- gum
Heart words (learn by heart): was
Open in the spelling maker →Week 5Short e
When a short word has one vowel between consonants, the vowel is short.
- bed
- pet
- ten
- web
- leg
- hen
- net
- red
- wet
- pen
Heart words (learn by heart): said, are
Open in the spelling maker →Week 6Ch, sh and th
Two letters can team up to make one new sound, like sh in ship.
- ship
- shop
- fish
- wish
- chin
- chip
- much
- this
- that
- with
Heart words (learn by heart): they
Open in the spelling maker →Week 7Ck at the end
After a short vowel, the k sound at the end is spelled ck.
- duck
- back
- sock
- kick
- neck
- pick
- rock
- lock
- sick
- luck
Week 8Blends at the start
In a blend, you hear both consonant sounds, like f and l in flag.
- flag
- clap
- stop
- frog
- trip
- drum
- grab
- plan
- slip
- swim
Heart words (learn by heart): what
Open in the spelling maker →Week 9Blends at the end
Some words end with two consonants, and you hear them both.
- hand
- sand
- nest
- best
- jump
- lamp
- tent
- gift
- belt
- milk
Week 10Ng and nk
The letters ng and nk come at the end, as in ring and pink.
- ring
- sing
- king
- long
- song
- bank
- pink
- sink
- wing
- junk
Week 11Magic e with a
When a word ends in silent e, the vowel says its name.
- cake
- game
- name
- lake
- made
- gate
- cave
- tape
- wave
- same
Heart words (learn by heart): have
Open in the spelling maker →Week 12Magic e with i
When a word ends in silent e, the vowel says its name.
- bike
- kite
- time
- line
- ride
- hide
- pine
- five
- nine
- wide
Heart words (learn by heart): give
Open in the spelling maker →Week 13Magic e with o
When a word ends in silent e, the vowel says its name.
- home
- bone
- hope
- rope
- nose
- rode
- note
- hole
- joke
- stone
Heart words (learn by heart): come, some
Open in the spelling maker →Week 14Magic e with u
When a word ends in silent e, the vowel says its name.
- cute
- mule
- tube
- cube
- flute
- rule
- tune
- huge
- dune
- use
Week 15Long e with ee
Two e's together say the long e sound, as in tree.
- see
- tree
- feet
- seed
- bee
- keep
- green
- sleep
- need
- week
Heart words (learn by heart): been
Open in the spelling maker →Week 16Adding s
Add s to name more than one.
- cats
- dogs
- pigs
- hats
- cups
- beds
- maps
- bugs
- pens
- fans
Heart words (learn by heart): does
Open in the spelling maker →How the lists are built
- Each week teaches one pattern, in the order the phonics steps and the grade's spelling usually come: short vowels and blends in 1st grade, vowel teams and endings in 2nd, prefixes and suffixes in 3rd, Latin and Greek roots in 5th and 6th.
- Every word on a pattern list has that pattern; a check runs on each one before the page is published. Heart words are the few common words that do not follow it.
- The spelling maker opens with the week's words typed in, and makes a look-say-cover-write-check sheet, a test with a teacher's copy, a scramble, and bingo, word search and flashcards from the same list. The list rides in the address after the #, so it never reaches our server.