Year 5 - English
Investigating the 'ee' sound spelt 'ie' or 'ei'
Noun suffixes, letter strings and homophones
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils learn spelling and grammar conventions associated with more noun suffixes like -ant, -ance, -ancy, -ent, -ence and -ency, reviewing how the addition of a suffix can affect the grammar of a word, for example its word class. Pupils investigate letter strings and homophones.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to spell words using 'ie' or 'ei' to make the 'ee' sound.
Key Notes
- There are many ways to spell the 'ee' sound. 'ee', 'ea' and 'e-e' are the most common.
- The spellings 'e', 'y', 'ey', 'ie' and 'ei' are other ways to represent the 'ee' phoneme.
- The rule 'i before e except after c' can help us choose between 'ie' and 'ei' when spelling 'ee'.
- There are exceptions, including 'protein', 'caffeine' and 'seize'.
- How to spell the curriculum words: achieve, believe and possess.
Vocabulary To Learn
- exception: a case or situation that does not follow the usual or expected rule or pattern
- phoneme: the smallest unit of sound that can change a word's meaning
- grapheme: the letter or group of letters that represent a sound (the spelling)
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- When sorting 'ee' spellings, children can assume all the identified graphemes are making the 'ee' sound.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
There are many ways to spell the 'ee' sound. 'ee', 'ea' and 'e-e' are the most common. The spellings 'e', 'y', 'ey', 'ie' and 'ei' are other ways to represent the 'ee' phoneme.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'exception'
a case or situation that does not follow the usual or expected rule or pattern.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: When sorting 'ee' spellings, children can assume all the identified graphemes are making the 'ee' sound. Correction: Stretch the 'red herring' words with an identified grapheme that makes a different sound e.g. qu-i-e-t. The same spelling can represent a range of sounds.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Applying spelling rules with the letter string 'fer' Study Guide
- Applying the rule 'i before e except after c' Study Guide
- Investigating the letter string 'fer' Study Guide
- Other sounds represented by the letter string 'ei' Study Guide
- Other sounds represented by the letter string 'ie' Study Guide
- Spelling a selection of homophones Study Guide
- Spelling further homophones and near-homophones Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffix -ant Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffix -ent Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffixes -ance and -ancy Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffixes -ence and -ency Study Guide
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