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Year 2 - English

New 'er' spellings, including 'or' and 'ear'

Alternative GPCs for long vowels

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils learn new GPCs (grapheme phoneme correspondences) for long vowel sounds.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use two new spellings for the 'er' phoneme: 'or' and 'ear'.

Key Notes

  • 'ear' is a representation of the 'er' phoneme that can ben found at the beginning or middle of a word.
  • The 'or' representation of the 'er' phoneme is found after a 'w', such as 'word' and 'worm'.
  • How to spell the common exception words: said and were.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • digraph: two letters that represent one sound
  • trigraph: three letters that represent one sound

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • The digraph 'or' and trigraph 'ear' also make different long vowel sounds.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

'ear' is a representation of the 'er' phoneme that can ben found at the beginning or middle of a word. The 'or' representation of the 'er' phoneme is found after a 'w', such as 'word' and 'worm'.

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: The digraph 'or' and trigraph 'ear' also make different long vowel sounds. Correction: Remind children that the same grapheme (digraph and trigraph) can represent different sounds. Say the words out loud to check.

More Lessons In This Unit

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