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KS2 English textbook

Chapter 3: The Year 5-6 word list, silent letters and the thesaurus

  • Strand Spelling
  • Level Year 5
  • Practice 81 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 English, Year 5. Content: Spell the first half of the Year 5-6 word list, in list order (WL-Y5a), Spell the second half of the Year 5-6 word list, in list order (WL-Y5b), Know that some letters are silent, such as the b in doubt and the k in knight (SP-Y5g), Use the first two or three letters to find a word in a dictionary (WT5), Use a dictionary and thesaurus to check the spelling and meaning of words (WT-Y5).

Open Year 5 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

  • Spell the words in the first half of the Year 5-6 list
  • Spell the words in the second half of the Year 5-6 list
  • Spot silent letters and remember them in words
  • Put words in alphabetical order and use guide words
  • Use a dictionary to check spelling and meaning
  • Use a thesaurus to find words that mean the same, and check the choice

You should already know

  • Alphabetical order and dictionaries (Year 4, Chapter 2)
  • Prefixes and suffixes, and checking spelling (Chapters 1 and 2 of this book)

Where this leads

  • Reading fiction: summarising and comparing (Chapter 8 of this book)

Lessons in this chapter

  1. 3.1 The Year 5-6 word list, first half
  2. 3.2 The Year 5-6 word list, second half
  3. 3.3 Silent letters
  4. 3.4 Using a dictionary: the first letters and guide words
  5. 3.5 Checking spelling and meaning in a dictionary and a thesaurus
  6. Summary and key words
  7. Check-up and practice test questions

Read the whole chapter on one page (good for printing).

Practise with real exam questions

The DfE publishes every past KS2 test, with mark schemes, for free.

KS2 English past papers