You guys don't even want to get me started on the whole spelling words thing. DS8 (was in 2nd grade last yr) is more of a phonic reader. Last yr, he'd get words like "beautiful" and "heirloom", etc. one week and the next week he'd get words like "junk" and "jump". What he needed was something in the middle.
B/c I was often testing DS8 on his words, DS6 got a large dose of 2nd grade (and higher) spelling in K. He's much more of a memorization kid. So, DS6 would learn DS8's words within a day or two and DS8 would be taking all week to learn them and then forget them as soon as the test was over. I became fantastic at creating funny ways to remember the words. It didn't help when there were words like heirloom that he'd never heard before and he has no reason to use.
It really drives me crazy. I can't tell what the point of spelling tests have in the early grades. It's as though the teachers give spelling just because they are supposed to, with no rhyme or reason. It was horrible last year because DS8 would have random words and then be told to write a story or create a cartoon using his spelling words.
Ultramarina: In terms of spelling lists, this site seems to have a good list:
http://www.all-about-spelling.com/free-spelling-lists.html