Year 3 spelling words

Year 3 is where spelling starts to be about word endings and the less common letter teams. Most Year 3 lists in Australian schools still group words by sound, so a child who knows one word in the list can usually spell the rest.

Below are ten Year 3 lists, ten words each, in a sensible order. 6 of the lists are built into Phonogram Fun; the rest were written for this page. Use them as they are, print them for the fridge, or keep them for weeks when no list comes home. If your school sends its own list, use that: it's the one your child will be tested on.

The Year 3 list, week by week

Year 3 spelling words, weeks 1 to 10 · free to print from phonogramfun.com/learn

What each week teaches

Week 1, TION words: tion says "shun" at the end of a word: nation, station, action. It's the most common way to write that sound.

Week 2, CI words: ci before a vowel says "sh": special, racial, facial. All ten end in -cial.

Week 3, SION words: sion says "zhun" in these words: vision, division, revision. Compare it with the "shun" of tion.

Week 4, IE words: ie saying /ee/: piece, field, shield. The rhyme "i before e" works for every word in this week.

Week 5, EIGH words: eigh and ei saying /ay/: eight, weight, freight. Neighbour is the Australian spelling (American: neighbor).

Week 6, EY words: ey at the end of a word, saying /ay/ (they, grey, obey) or /ee/ (monkey, valley, money).

Week 7, OU words: ou saying /ow/, its first sound. In mountain the ai is unstressed, so it's said quickly.

Week 8, Soft C words: c says /s/ before e, i or y. Centre is the Australian and British spelling (American: center).

Week 9, Soft G words: g often says /j/ before e, i or y. Not always, though: get and give keep the hard g.

Week 10, -LE words: Words ending in a consonant plus le. In castle the t is silent.

How to practise in ten minutes

1. Three or four words a night, not all ten.
2. Find the tricky part of each word together and say why it's tricky.
3. Cover, write, check, one part of the word at a time.
4. One dictation sentence using two of the week's words.
5. Mix in old words on Fridays: the words that keep coming back are the ones that stick.

Year 3 is also the first NAPLAN year. Spelling is part of the Language Conventions test, where children spell words in sentences and spot mistakes, so practising words in a sentence helps.

The years either side: Year 2 spelling words and Year 4 spelling words. For a spelling bee, see Year 3 spelling bee words.

Questions parents ask