5th Grade Spelling Words

Example 5th-grade words

These are academic words that show up across subjects — the ones worth knowing before middle school. 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

achieve verb

If you achieve success or a goal, you have completed what you planned to do or have a good result.“She achieved a grade of 98% in her English class.”

column noun

A column is a support that is standing up and is built to support something, usually on a building.“The White House was built with several columns on the front side of the building to help support the building and prevent it from falling down.”

estimate noun

An estimate is a judgement of a size, value, amount, cost, etc., which is based on incomplete information.“British Telecom will give you an estimate of the cost before doing any work.”

observe verb

If you observe something, you see or notice it.“No problem behavior was observed among these students.”

persuade verb

If you persuade somebody to do something, you make them do it, usually by telling them why it's a good thing to do.“She tried to persuade her mother to leave Greensburg.”

similar adjective

If two things are similar, they are almost the same, or the same in many, but not all, ways.“Canadian English is similar to American English, but there are some small differences in pronunciation, and spelling.”

struggle verb

If you struggle to do something difficult, you work very hard to do it.“They struggled to survive in New York City on $25,000 a year.”

variety noun

A variety of things is a group of things that are not all the same.“Americans can buy a wide variety of cheap products at local supermarkets.”

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.