Tell students that many people, not only students, have difficulty spelling. That's one reason spelling rules were created. Remind students of the spelling rule: i before e except after c. Call on them to think of words that illustrate this rule and write them on the chalkboard. For example: fief, piece, sieve, received, receipt, ceiled.

Point out that, while this rule is true in general, there are some exceptions. Write the following words on the chalkboard:

being

beige

counterfeit

deity

either

feisty

geiger

geisha

height

leisure

murein

neither

protein

reveille

seismic

seize

their

weird

Have students look at the list and find words that contain similarities. Students should note the following:

• Words that end in -ein
• Some foreign words, such as reveille and geisha do not follow the rule.

Remind students that when they write and come across a word that appears to have the i before e rule, to stop and think if it follows the rule or if it is an exception. Create a bulletin board display entitled Exceptions to the Rule. Have students list one or two rules and some examples of each. Beneath each rule have students also list words that are exceptions to the rule. Encourage students to add words to bulletin board as they come across them in their reading. Remind students to remember these rules and their exceptions when the play the SCRABBLE^® game.