Words TowerTap a word to hear it. The voices are AI-generated recordings that ship with the game — nothing is sent anywhere when you play them.
Week 1Short a
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 2Short e
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 3Short i
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 4Short o and short u
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 5sh, ch and th
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 6Blends at the start
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
1st grade spelling words — six weeks of ten. Printed from https://vocabularygames.org/spelling-practice/1st-grade-spelling-words/
About these lists
In first grade a child learns that each letter stands for a sound and that the sounds blend into a word. These lists follow that order: one short vowel at a time, then two letters that make one sound, then two consonants that blend at the start of a word.
Each week has ten words that share the pattern, so the rule does the work and not the memory. A child who can spell “cat” and “map” is ready for “hat” and “bag” without learning them as new words.
What trips children up in grade 1
- Short e and short i sound alike to many six-year-olds: “pen” and “pin”, “bed” and “bid”. Say the word slowly and stretch the vowel.
- “sh”, “ch” and “th” are two letters for one sound, so a child who writes one letter per sound will write “fis” for “fish”.
- In a blend both letters are heard: “stop”, not “sop”. Clap the first two sounds before writing.
- Reversals such as b and d are normal at this age and usually fade by the end of the year.
A week with one list
Read the week’s list aloud together, then let your child tap each word and repeat it.
Ask for the words in a new order and have them written on a whiteboard or paper — three a day is plenty.
On Friday give the home test from the printed worksheets and keep the words that went wrong for next week.
Worksheets and the game
Under week 1, “Make worksheets from this list” opens the worksheet generator with cat, hat, map and the other 7 words of “short a” filled in, ready to print for grade 1: each word read, traced and written four times, then a home test, with a QR code in the corner that opens the same list in Words Tower. “Play in the game” starts a tower from the same week at once, the grade 1 words said aloud at the doors; nothing to install, no ads, and progress stays on your device. For the short a and short e words there is also a ready Grade 1 short vowel pack as a PDF.
Questions
What spelling words should a first grader know?
Mostly short, regular words with one short vowel, words with sh, ch and th, and words that start with a blend such as st, bl or fr. Common sight words such as “the” and “said” are learned alongside; they are on our Dolch and Fry pages.
How many words a week?
Ten is a usual weekly list in first grade. Some children manage five better; the lists split easily in half.
Where is the Grade 1 short vowel pack?
On its own page, with a five-page PDF for the short a and short e words: the Grade 1 short vowel pack.
Is it free?
Yes. The lists, the recordings, the worksheets and the game are free, with no ads and no sign-up; progress stays in the browser on your own device.
Our school sends its own list. Can we use that instead?
Yes. Type it into the worksheet generator to print it, or paste it into the game under Test prep and set the test date. These lists are for the weeks when nothing comes home, or for extra practice.
Other grades
Next: 2nd grade spelling words. How the week before a spelling test works with the game: spelling test prep.