The FLOSS Rule & Practice Activities

You know just how tricky spelling can be! There are many rules (and exceptions to the rules) that it’s tough for students to keep track of. That’s where spelling aids come in handy, like the FLOSS rule. It’s not too challenging to teach, and there are a lot of fun activities you can use to reinforce the rule and provide ample practice.

What is the FLOSS Rule?

The FLOSS rule is pretty straightforward, but your students will need an understanding of a few other literacy concepts first. Students will need to know what a syllable is and what a short vowel is. Once they’ve mastered those concepts, they can learn the FLOSS rule:

When a one-syllable word with a short vowel ends in f, l, s, or z, double the final f, l, s, or z. For example, buff, bill, or mass.

As you might be able to tell, it’s called the FLOSS rule because the word floss actually uses the rule itself - and it can help students remember most of the letters that FLOSS applies to (f, l, and s).

The science of reading supports the FLOSS rule, too. The SOR research available says that helping students find patterns in words is an effective tool and that explicit teaching of rules like FLOSS helps with mastery. Win-win!

What are the FLOSS words?

It might be tempting to pass out a word list for students to memorize, but don’t forget what the science of reading tells us - explicit instruction and patterns are important! Start by covering the FLOSS rules with students, and then you can introduce the FLOSS words. You can use this word list to show examples and help students practice.

Words Ending in -FF: buff, cuff, fluff, huff, puff, sniff, off, cliff, scuff

Words Ending in -LL: ball, smell, bill, doll, fill, hill, mall, roll, tell, will

Words Ending in -SS: boss, class, dress, fuss, kiss, miss, mess, chess, pass

Words Ending in -ZZ: buzz, fizz, jazz

This word list isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a good starting place.

Activities for the FLOSS Rule

Now that your students know the FLOSS rule, it’s time to practice! Here are a few activities you can use to reinforce this rule and practice applying it.

#1 FLOSS Craftivity

Plan a hands-on center with this craftivity. Students will cut out paper shaped like teeth. On one side, they’ll see an image. On the other side, they’ll write the corresponding FLOSS word. For example, there is an image of a little girl kissing a pet cat. On the backside, students would write “kiss”. 

Next, students will attach a string to their paper floss container and glue on the FLOSS words. You can hang these around your classroom, or add a pouch to the back of the floss container so students can easily store it in their folder. Grab this free FLOSS creativity here!

#2 Dental Health Month

February is Dental Health Month! If you have any themed activities taking place, consider adding in a FLOSS rule activity. For instance, you could write FLOSS and non-FLOSS words on tooth-shaped pieces of paper. Then, have students color the non-FLOSS words yellow because they don’t floss!

Another activity idea is putting random letters on tooth-shaped pieces of paper. Have students create a “smile” by writing FLOSS words.

#3 Whiteboard Warm-Ups

These fun, interactive videos make it easy to practice the FLOSS rule, even if you only have ten minutes. (And there is no prep involved, so you can easily slip it into your schedule.) In the video, the dentist will meet with several patients, like Kiss, Chess, and Moss. Students will hear the word and write it down on their whiteboard.

The video gives them time to write then it reveals the patient's name and students can self-check their work. Then, they erase and try the next word. These Whiteboard Warm-Up Videos can be found inside my membership!

#4 Spelling Challenge

Host a fun, competitive spelling challenge. Read both FLOSS and non-FLOSS words out loud to students. Have them write the word on a whiteboard and hold it up. This will challenge them to think about when they need to apply the FLOSS rule. It also gives you a quick assessment of how the class is doing at picking up this new spelling rule.

#5 FLOSS Freeze Dance

If your students have ever been obsessed with the “Floss” dance, they’ll love this activity. In this interactive video, students will Floss and Freeze - then practice their FLOSS words. During the freeze, the video will display five words (one at a time) for students to read out loud. After a moment, an image is revealed and the word is read so students can listen.

This activity is perfect for brain breaks when students need to get out their wiggles, but you want to keep the learning going. The FLOSS Freeze Dance is found inside my membership, Whiteboard Warm-Ups!

#6 Roll and Write

For this activity, you’ll need two things: a list of FLOSS words (or a deck of FLOSS words) and dice. Students will move through the list (or deck) to practice spelling. Before they write, students will roll the dice to determine the added challenge.

Here are some fun challenge ideas:

• Roll a 1: Write the word in rainbow colors.

• Roll a 2: Draw a picture with the word.

• Roll a 3: Write with your opposite hand.

• Roll a 4: Spell the word out loud.

• Roll a 5: Write the word in all capital letters.

• Roll a 6: Write the word in lowercase letters.

Spelling can be tricky, but the FLOSS rule helps simplify things! Try out some of these activities to practice FLOSS words, and your students will feel comfortable spelling in no time.