practice
Practice ends with ice even though its final sound is the s sound: p-r-a-c-t-i-c-e. Keep the complete ending i-c-e after pract.
3rd Grade · High-Frequency Words
3rd Grade High-Frequency Words — Set 3
3rd Grade High-Frequency Words — Set 3 compares the ear spelling in early and heard, uses familiar bases in become and later, and organizes less transparent spellings such as practice, built, difficult, and especially.
Word list
All 12 words in this list
3rd Grade · High-Frequency Words
- practice
- early
- against
- built
- even
- able
- heard
- difficult
- ever
- become
- especially
- later
12 words
What to notice when spelling these words
Compare stable vowel spellings
The words early and heard both use ear for the vowel sound heard before r. Their endings distinguish them: -ly in early and d in heard. By contrast, even and ever begin with the same three letters, eve, but their first vowels do not sound alike. Keeping the shared written opening while listening for the whole word helps separate the pair.
Use bases, endings, and syllable anchors
Several words can be organized with familiar structure. Become keeps the complete word come after be. Later keeps late and replaces its final e when -er is added. The word able ends with the stable spelling -able, while ever can be held in the two syllables ev-er.
Other words need more precise anchors. The notes isolate the unexpected vowel teams in against and built, the final ice in practice, double f in difficult, and the four-syllable structure of especially.
Notes for particular words
against
Against begins with a, then keeps gain before the final st: a-g-a-i-n-s-t. In this word, the ai does not have its usual long a sound.
built
The short i sound in built is written with the vowel team ui. Keep ui between b and the final lt: b-u-i-l-t.
difficult
Divide difficult into the written syllables dif-fi-cult. The first two syllables meet at double f, and the word ends with the stable spelling cult.
especially
Hold especially in four written syllables: es-pe-cial-ly. Keep ci before al, then finish with double l and y.