36 words · ages 6–7
1st Grade spelling words with definitions
What should a 1st grade child be able to spell?
By the end of 1st grade (ages 6–7), most children can spell words like cake, rain and bright — that is, words built on a_e, i_e, o_e, u_e and related patterns. Spelling develops at very different speeds, and a child a year either side of this is ordinary rather than behind.
- a_e
- i_e
- o_e
- u_e
- e_e
- ai
- oa
- ea
- ee
- ie
- ow
- igh
Long Flight
The silent e that makes a vowel say its own name.
- cake
- A sweet food you eat at a birthday.a_e
- bike
- Something with two wheels you ride.i_e
- home
- The place where you live.o_e
- cute
- Sweet and lovely to look at.u_e
- these
- The ones right here.e_e
- smile
- To turn your mouth up when you are happy.i_e
- plane
- A machine that flies through the sky.a_e
- stone
- A hard piece of rock.o_e
- brave
- Willing to do something even when it is scary.a_e
- shine
- To give off bright light.i_e
- grade
- A year of school, or a mark on your work.a_e
- close
- To shut something.o_e
- wave
- Water rolling in, or a hand saying hello.a_e
- ride
- To sit on something while it moves.i_e
- rope
- A thick strong string for pulling and tying.o_e
- flute
- A long thin instrument you blow into.u_e
- space
- The huge dark place where the stars are.a_e
- prize
- What you win for doing something well.i_e
Two Vowels Walking
When two vowels go out, the first one does the talking.
- rain
- Water that falls from the clouds.ai
- boat
- Something that carries you across water.oa
- team
- A group who play or work together.ea
- seed
- A tiny thing a plant grows from.ee
- pie
- A pastry with filling inside.ie
- grow
- To get bigger.ow
- clean
- Not dirty at all.ea
- sail
- To travel across water using the wind.ai
- green
- The colour of grass.ee
- float
- To rest on top of water without sinking.oa
- night
- The dark part of the day.igh
- light
- Brightness that lets you see.igh
- beach
- The sandy place beside the sea.ea
- coat
- What you wear outside to keep warm.oa
- tree
- A tall plant with a trunk and branches.ee
- snail
- A slow little animal that carries its shell.ai
- snow
- Soft white flakes that fall when it is cold.ow
- bright
- Full of light, or full of clever ideas.igh
Practising 1st grade spelling words at home
Read the word aloud and have your child write it from sound rather than copy it. The Friday test asks for the harder of those two, and only one of them is practice for it.
When a word goes wrong, say what the pattern is rather than just the letters — “that’s a a_e word” gives them something to reuse. Then come back to it tomorrow rather than immediately.
Count a word as learned when it has been spelled correctly on three separate days. That is the rule SpellChirp uses, and it is roughly where a word stops needing to be looked up.
Turn this list into ten minutes a night
SpellChirp reads every word aloud, checks the spelling, and writes these 1st grade words into an adventure story your child chooses — dragons, detectives, deep sea or a dozen more. Free, with no advertising and no account required to start.