Levels 5-4 and 5-5 focus on the long a sound written as either ai or ay. The general rule of thumb for deciding whether to use ai or ay in a word to make the long a sound is straightforward: in the middle of a syllable, use ai; to close a syllable or end a word, use ay.

Over the past few days, we've broken down all 1,200 Rocket Spelling words by grade level. Here are of those words, by level, in one convenient place.

Which is more exciting -- taking a paper/pencil spelling test each Friday and getting it back on Monday, or getting to crush spelling words at your own pace with instant feedback such as this?

Here are the Rocket Spelling word lists and level numbers that we think align well with fourth grade standards. For more background on this, check out this post.

Level 10.1 Compound words #1: something, sometimes, anything, everything, yourself, everyone, himself, herself, someone, anyone

Level 10.2 Compound words #2: keyboard, notebook, homework, wheelchair, baseball, afternoon, birthday, newspaper, grasshopper, skateboard

From Kalamazoo, Michigan... this is yet another reason why spelling matters.

Here are the Rocket Spelling word lists and level numbers that we think align well with third grade standards. For more background on this, check out this post.

Level 7.1 Colors: orange, green, blue, violet, yellow, purple, black, brown, white, pink

Level 7.2 Parts of the body: hand, elbow, finger, arm, ear, foot, head, back, stomach, toe

Our back-to-school giveaway continues: we are giving away free Rocket Spelling accounts for the entire 2017-2018 school year with coupon code 'rocketlaunch'.If you've already seen the benefits of Rocket Spelling in your classroom, please take a moment to share Rocket Spelling with your colleagues! We want to give away as many free accounts as possible before this coupon code expires.

Here's to a vision of replacing weekly tests with spelling practice that is differentiated, offers instant feedback for students and teachers alike, and which is truly fun and challenging for all students!

Here are the Rocket Spelling word lists and level numbers that we think align well with second grade standards. For more background on this, check out this post.

Level 5.1 -ar, -or sounds: for, part, form, large, car, far, farm, stars, born, chart

Level 5.2 -er, -ir, -ur sounds: other, her, first, water, over, turn, bird, girl, third, burn

We can't be the only ones who feel this way...

Here are the Rocket Spelling word lists and level numbers that we think align well with first grade standards. For more background on this, check out this post.

Level 2.1 Initial ch, sh, or th: that, then, them, shut, chin, this, they, than, chat, shop

Level 2.2 Initial __ + L blends: plan, clap, flip, slam, slip, glad, flag, sled, plus, slap