Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 3 English Guides

Year 3 - English

Spelling the 'ay' sound with 'a', 'eigh' or 'ey'

Prefixes, homonyms and homophones

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils learn spelling and grammar conventions associated with prefixes meaning 'not', like dis-, non-, mis- and un-, as well as the spelling of homophones, homonyms and some compound words.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to spell words with the 'ay' sound using 'a', 'eigh' or 'ey'.

Key Notes

  • Common spellings for the 'ay' phoneme are 'ay', 'a-e' and 'ai'.
  • Alternative and rare spellings for the 'ay' phoneme are 'a', 'eigh' and 'ey'.
  • Suffixes that have been added may change the spelling of a word, so finding the root word can be a useful strategy.
  • Finding rhyming words helps to find the correct spelling, such as 'weigh' and 'sleigh' and 'able' and 'stable'.
  • Words in word families often have similar spellings.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • phoneme: the smallest unit of sound
  • grapheme: the letter or group of letters that represent a sound
  • rare: rare spellings are spellings which appear less frequently
  • word family: a group of words common in feature, pattern or meaning
  • root word: the base word from which other words are formed often by adding prefixes or suffixes

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils may start using these spellings in place of the most common spellings.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Common spellings for the 'ay' phoneme are 'ay', 'a-e' and 'ai'. Alternative and rare spellings for the 'ay' phoneme are 'a', 'eigh' and 'ey'.

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

the smallest unit of sound.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils may start using these spellings in place of the most common spellings. Correction: Emphasise that 'ay', 'ai' and 'a-e' are the most common spellings and tell pupils to try those out first.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 3 English guide library.