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Year 2 - English

Applying the new 'or' spellings, including 'ore', 'ough' and 'a'

Alternative GPCS for consonants and homophones

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils learn to spell homophones, near-homophones and new consonant spellings.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to apply three new spellings for the 'or' phoneme: 'ore', 'ough' and 'a'.

Key Notes

  • 'ore' is a representation of the 'or' phoneme that usually comes at the end of a word.
  • 'ough' and 'a' are alternative spellings of the 'or' phoneme.
  • Most words using the 'ough' spelling are past tense verbs.
  • The 'or' sound is usually spelt as 'a' before 'l' or 'll'.
  • How to spell the common exception words: war, warm and towards.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • digraph: two letters that represent one sound
  • trigraph: three letters that represent one sound
  • verb: a doing or being word
  • past tense: shows the action happened before now

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Children can get confused by sounds that use the same spellings, such as 'ar' and 'or'.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

'ore' is a representation of the 'or' phoneme that usually comes at the end of a word. 'ough' and 'a' are alternative spellings of the 'or' phoneme.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'digraph'

two letters that represent one sound.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Children can get confused by sounds that use the same spellings, such as 'ar' and 'or'. Correction: Remind children that the same sound can be represented in a number of ways and the same spelling can represent a number of sounds.

More Lessons In This Unit

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