B. Foundations of Language · Handwriting, Spelling and Sentences

Spelling the /er/ and /ul/ Sounds

B2.1About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can choose between er, ir, ur, ear and or to spell the /er/ sound.
I can choose -er, -or or -ar at the end of a word that names a person or thing.
I can choose -le, -el or -al to spell the /ul/ sound at the end of a word.
I can use position clues and word parts to make a smart spelling choice.

Words to know

r-controlled vowel
A vowel followed by r, where the r changes the vowel's sound, like er, ir, ur.

position-based tendency
A spelling that usually shows up in a certain place in a word: the beginning, middle or end.

suffix
A word part added to the end of a base, like -er, -or or -al.

schwa
A lazy, quiet vowel sound, like the a in animal or the e in camel. It can be spelled with almost any vowel.

Remember from Grade 3

You learned that where a sound is in a word helps you choose its spelling. ay likes the end (play), ai likes the middle (rain). You learned -le endings like apple and maple.

In Grade 4 you will use position clues for two sounds that have many spellings: the /er/ sound in her, bird and turn, and the /ul/ sound at the end of table, camel and animal.

Five ways to spell /er/

Say these words: her, bird, turn, learn, word. They all have the same /er/ sound, but look at the spellings! When a vowel is followed by r, the r changes the vowel's sound. These are called r-controlled vowels.

Spelling	Examples	Where it usually lives
er	her, fern, winter, sister, number, butter	Anywhere, and most often at the end of a longer word
ir	bird, girl, first, shirt, thirsty, birthday	Usually the middle of a short word
ur	turn, hurt, purple, Thursday, fur	Usually the middle; sometimes the end
ear	learn, early, earth, heard, search, pearl	Usually followed by a consonant; sometimes at the start (early, earth)
or	word, work, world, worm, worth	Right after a w

The /er/ sound and its common spellings

Clues for choosing an /er/ spelling

At the end of a word with two or more syllables? Try er first: winter, ladder, river.
Right after w? Try or: work, world.
In the middle of a short word? It could be er, ir or ur. Write it two or three ways and ask: Which looks right? (berd, bird, burd: bird looks right.)
Still not sure? Check a dictionary or a word list.

Ask the questions from top to bottom. The first yes tells you which /er/ spelling to try first.

Naming a person or thing: -er, -or or -ar?

The suffix that means a person or thing that does something is spelled three ways. Here's how to choose:

-er is the most common. Try it first: farmer, skier, baker, teacher, writer, mixer.
-or usually follows a base ending in -ct or -ate: act → actor, inspect → inspector, direct → director, create → creator, educate → educator. It's also in some words you just need to learn: visitor, sailor, doctor, author, governor.
-ar is rare for a person who does something: liar, beggar. Other everyday words end in -ar too, and you just learn them: dollar, collar, cellar, sugar, grammar.

More = -er

The -er that means more (colder, faster, taller) is always spelled -er. Only person-or-thing words can end in -or or -ar.

Worked example

Let's spell "inspector"

Spell the word for a person who inspects things.

Find the base: inspect. It ends in -ct.
A person who does it: add a person suffix. After -ct, the suffix is usually -or.
inspect + or = inspector. The base keeps its spelling.

inspector (like actor, director, collector).

Three ways to spell /ul/ at the end

Say table, camel and animal. They all end with /ul/. The vowel is a lazy sound called a schwa, so you can't hear which letter it is. Use these clues:

Ending	Examples	Clue
-le	table, apple, little, candle, puzzle, maple, bicycle	The most common. Try it first.
-el	camel, tunnel, barrel, travel, towel, parcel, angel	Use after m, n, r, v, w, and after a soft c or g (which say /s/ and /j/).
-al	musical, natural, national, seasonal; animal, metal, pedal	Often a suffix that means related to: music + al = musical.

The /ul/ ending

A handy position clue

English words almost never have m, n, r, v or w right before -le. So if you hear /ul/ right after one of those letters, choose -el or -al: camel, tunnel, squirrel, shovel, towel; animal, final.

Choosing an /ul/ ending. Most /ul/ words end in -le, but not after m, n, r, v or w.

Worked example

Let's spell /TUN-ul/

Spell the word for a passage that goes under the ground, /TUN-ul/.

Clap it: tun · nul. The first syllable has a short u, so it's closed: tun.
The /ul/ comes right after an n. English words almost never have n before -le, so cross out -le.
Is it a word that means related to something? No, it's a thing. So try -el: tunnel. Does it look right? Yes!

tunnel (t-u-n-n-e-l).

Worked example

Let's spell /SEE-zun-ul/

Spell the word that means related to a season, as in a ______ job at the ski hill.

Find the base: season.
Related to is the suffix -al.
season + al = seasonal. The base keeps its spelling.

seasonal

Just for fun

The word turtle is a show-off. It has an /er/ (ur) AND an /ul/ (le), both from this lesson. Purple does it too! Can you find another word that does both?

Hands-on activity

/er/ and /ul/ word hunt

You need: paper, a pencil, and a book, magazine or cereal box.

Fold your paper into 5 columns. Label them er, ir, ur, ear, or.
Hunt through your book for words with the /er/ sound. Write each one in the right column. Try to find at least 10 words.
Look at your er column. How many of those words have er at the end? Circle them. (You'll probably find a lot!)
On the back, make 3 columns: -le, -el, -al. Hunt for /ul/ words and sort them.
For each -el word you found, look at the letter just before the -el. Is it m, n, r, v, w, c or g? Most will be! (A few words, like label and nickel, are exceptions you just learn.)
Read your lists aloud to a grown-up.

Your turn

Spell the word: In ______, we skate on the pond. (the cold season)

Spell the word: My aunt drives to ______ at the hospital every morning. (/werk/, her job)

What do you call a person who invents things?

What do you call a person who farms?

Spell /TRAV-ul/, as in We ______ to Quebec in the summer.

Spell the word that means related to music.

Which is correct: candle or candel? Why?

More practice: warm-up

Spell the word: Can you help ______ find her mitten?

Spell the word: The ______ sang in the maple tree. (an animal with feathers)

Spell the word: It's your ______ to roll the dice.

Spell the word: I want to ______ to skate backwards.

Spell the word: a ______ puppy (small)

More practice: on your own

Which is correct: actor or acter? Explain.

What do you call a person who educates (teaches) others? Spell it.

Spell the desert animal with humps: /KAM-ul/.

Spell the word that means related to a nation.

Which is correct: worth or werth? Explain.

Challenge

A friend wrote tunnle and towle. Explain both mistakes using a position clue.

Sort these words by their /ul/ ending and give a reason for each: puddle, shovel, natural, squirrel, angel.

What do you call a person who collects things? A person who operates a machine? Spell both and explain.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which spelling of /er/ usually comes right after w?

Which word is spelled correctly?

What is a person who directs a play?

Which word is spelled correctly?

Which suffix means related to, as in seasonal?

Which word is spelled correctly?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: The Grade 4 Ontario Language curriculum (B2.1) asks children to use knowledge of the meanings of words and morphemes (bases, prefixes and suffixes) to read and spell words. This lesson uses word parts (-or after -ct and -ate, and -al meaning related to) and builds on the position-based spelling tendencies from Grade 3 for two sounds with many spellings: /er/ (er, ir, ur, ear, or) and the /ul/ ending (-le, -el, -al).

How to help at home:

When your child is unsure, ask: "Where is the sound? What letter comes right before it? Is there a base word?"
Encourage writing a word two or three ways and choosing the one that looks right, then checking a dictionary.
Make it a game: spot /er/ words on signs, menus and cereal boxes and sort them.

Common difficulties:

Using ur or ir at the end of long words (wintur). Remind them that er is usual at the end.
Overusing -le (tunnle, camle). Teach the m-n-r-v-w clue.
Mixing -er and -or. Point out the -ct and -ate clue, and accept that some (visitor, doctor) simply have to be learned.
These are tendencies, not laws. Words like label and nickel break the pattern. Praise reasoning even when the guess is wrong.