I before E, except after C. Everyone knows that, right? Sorry, it's barely worth a passing grade.
For top marks, you must know the rest of the rhyme: Or when sounded like A, as in neighbor and weigh.
All right, overachievers. For an A+ you must be able to recite the exceptions: either, neither, foreign, height, leisure, seize, and weird.
Happy spelling!
Carlene Havel
http://goo.gl/ugcII