Year 6 - English
Spelling words with the 'ee' sound spelt 'ei'
Letter strings, etymology and curriculum words
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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 review and learn a wide range of Year 6 spellings, including letter strings, words with the suffixes -ant, -ance, -ent, -ence, -able and -ible, silent letters, French and Greek origin words, curriculum words and words that use the hyphen in two ways.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to spell words with the 'ee' sound spelt 'ei'.
Key Notes
- The 'ee' sound spelt 'ei' generally comes after the letter 'c' (deceive) or at the beginning of a word (either)
- Exceptions include: protein, caffeine, seize, weird, foreign as well as either and neither if pronounced as such.
- The 'ei' spelling can also make a long 'ay' sound and break other learnt rules.
- How to spell the curriculum words: neighbour and soldier.
Vocabulary To Learn
- 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)
- letter string: a group of letters that are written together in a word
- exception: a case or situation that does not follow the usual or expected rule or pattern
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils may think that the 'ei' spelling only represents the 'ee' phoneme.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
The 'ee' sound spelt 'ei' generally comes after the letter 'c' (deceive) or at the beginning of a word (either). Exceptions include: protein, caffeine, seize, weird, foreign as well as either and neither if pronounced as such.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'phoneme'
the smallest unit of sound that can change a word's meaning.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils may think that the 'ei' spelling only represents the 'ee' phoneme. Correction: Show a range of words with 'ei' representing different sounds. You can stretch and sound button to show the direct phoneme - grapheme correspondence.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Recognising the different sounds made by the letter strings 'ough' and 'au' Study Guide
- Recognising the different sounds made by the letter strings "ou", "ear" and "ice" Study Guide
- Spelling key curriculum words Study Guide
- Spelling words from the Y5/6 curriculum list Study Guide
- Spelling words with French etymology Study Guide
- Spelling words with Greek and Latin etymology Study Guide
- Spelling words with the -able suffix Study Guide
- Spelling words with the -ible suffix Study Guide
- Spelling words with the 'ee' sound spelt 'ie' Study Guide
- Spelling words with the silent letters 'b', 'k', 'g', 'w' and 't' Study Guide
- Spelling words with the silent letters 'h', 'p', 'n', 'l' and 's' Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffixes -ant and -ance Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffixes -ent and -ence Study Guide
- Using hyphens to create adjectives Study Guide
- Using hyphens to join prefixes to root words Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 6 English guide library.