This week we are looking at polysyllabic words

This week, we are looking at polysyllabic words with unstressed vowels. Polysyllabic words have more than one syllable. Unstressed vowels are vowel letters that are not easy to hear within a word. When a polysyllabic word has unstressed vowels within it, it can often be difficult to spell as you can’t rely on ‘sounding out’ the spelling. For example: In the word ‘library’, the ‘a’ is unstressed and we usually pronounce the word ‘li-bry’.

Look at this week’s spellings to identify their unstressed vowels: definite desperate secretary dictionary animal literate stationary familiar Wednesday original

Let’s choose a word together and play spin the word! Work in pairs on your whiteboards. If the spinner lands on a… 2 Write a definition for the word. 3 Sky-write the word in the air with your finger. 4 Speed-write the word as many times as you can in a minute. 5 Write a mnemonic for the word. 6 Use the word in a sensible sentence. 1 2 6 Find any smaller words within the word. 3 1 4 Spin Wheel 5

Here are this week’s spellings to practise. definite dictionary desperate Wednesday literate familiar secretary original stationary animal