1st Grade Spelling Words

Example 1st-grade words

These are short, high-frequency words that turn up in almost every sentence a child reads. Every district publishes its own list, so treat these as a sample of the kind of word rather than the list your school uses.

One card from the deck. Every word on your child's list gets one.

All eight, as a list

after preposition

Something in place or position.“"B" comes after "A" in the alphabet.”

again adverb

Once more.“They didn't understand the answer, so they asked again.”

every determiner

All the people, things, times, etc.“I work every day from 6:00 to 9:30.”

under preposition

In the same place as another thing, but lower.“They ate under the trees.”

give verb

If you give something to someone else, you had the thing and you let the other person have it. Maybe you use your hands to put the thing in the other person's hands. Usually after that, the thing is the other person's thing.“Give me that book, please; I want to read it.”

open verb

To move something to the side to allow entrance.“I will open the door for our guests.”

round preposition

If <math>x</math> is round <math>y</math>, <math>y</math> is in the middle and <math>x</math> is on all sides.“Everyone stood round the fire to keep warm.”

think verb

If you think that something is or may be true, you feel that it is or may be true.“You know you can't do that. What were you thinking?”

Definitions from Simple English Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Print your child's own list

Type or paste this week's words — one per line, or however the school sheet had them, numbering and all. Each word comes back with a definition written for a child and a sentence showing it in use, on a page you can print and leave on the table.

Try it with your list

The first few words are free, no account. Printing the whole list is part of the Spell & Sum subscription — $19.99 a year for the household.

Other grades

Maths too

Spell & Sum also makes printable maths practice — you set the numbers to match what your child is working on, and the answer key comes with it. See the worksheet pages.