02 February 2024
This week, the spellings are all tricky words.
- oh
- Mr
- Mrs
- looked
- people
- called
Please refer to our school website for some ideas on how to help your child learn to spell the words.
https://www.stjameswetherby.leeds.sch.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2018/01/Spelling-Guide.pdf
26 January 2024
This week, the children need to rehearse words that have been taught in phonics sessions. These all contain the ‘le’ digraph at the end of the word.
- apple
- sparkle
- gentle
- beetle
- puddle
- bubble
- (tricky word) school
We have read and written sentences. Can you spot any tricky words? Can you see this week’s focus phonemes? Can you read these sentences fluently?
I can see a giant, white beetle swimming in the puddle.
They can all jump in the muddy puddle.
The mice are eating nice apples.
Can you see all of the bubbles?
Help at home
Put the words into sentences and draw a picture for each one.
19 January 2024
This week, the children need to learn five tricky words and the remaining days of the week. Every day, we rehearse the spellings for the week and put them into full sentences. Try this at home.
- could
- would
- should
- who
- where
- Saturday
- Sunday
Phase 5 tricky words: Year 1
Information for parents and carers
‘Tricky words’ are words that cannot easily be decoded (‘sounded out’ and read). This is because some of the sounds in the words are spelled in an unusual way. It is important for children to be able to read these words as they are among the most common words in English.
Below, is a table that shows the tricky words that your child have been learning in Phase 5 in Year 1 and explains why each word is tricky.
Children will practise the tricky words in school until they can read them automatically. They will also practise reading the tricky words in the decodable books that they bring home.
Taught in Year 1
Tricky word Tricky part Why is it tricky?
their eir The ‘eir’ makes the sound air.
people eo The ‘eo’ makes the sound ee.
oh oh The ‘oh’ makes the sound oa.
your our The our makes the sound or.
could
would
should oul Your child has not yet learned the trigraph ‘oul’, which makes the sound oo (as in ‘book’).
our our The trigraph ‘our’ makes the sound ow followed by the schwa sound.
house
mouse se Your child has not yet learned the digraph ‘se’. Here, it makes the sound s.
water a The ‘a’ makes the sound or. Learning so far: For ‘a’, your child has learned the sound a as in ‘cat’.
want a The ‘a’ makes the sound o. Learning so far: For ‘a’, your child has learned the sound a as in ‘cat’.
12 January 2024
This week, the children need to learn to spell the following words.
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- want
- water
The test will be on Friday 19th January.
Help at home
The children need to learn to spell all of the days of the week. Question your child about what day it is today, what it will be tomorrow and what it was yesterday. Can they write them in order using different colours?
15 December 2023
For the last week of the term, the children need to revise some of the tricky words taught previously. The spelling test will be on Thursday 21st December 2023.
- have
- some
- come
- said
- like
- there
08 December 2023
This week the children need to revise some of the words used in their phonic learning.
- pie
- most
- bird
- nine
- spider
- shake
Test will be on Friday 15th December 2023.
01 December 2023
This week the spellings are words that link to our phonic learning.
- ay – day
- ou – cloud
- ie – pie
- ea – sea
- oy – boy
- ir – girl
- ue – clue
The children need to say the sound and word and then spell the word correctly. Our test will be on Friday 8th December 2023.
Take a look at the school website for some ideas of how to support your child with their spelling. https://www.stjameswetherby.leeds.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Spelling-Guide.pdf
24.11.23
The first four words are tricky words. The others contain the split digraph a_e.
What is a split digraph
A split digraph also contains two letters (a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e and u-e) but they are split between a consonant. The split digraph works by using an ‘e’ after the initial vowel to change the sound of the vowel. With a split digraph, mad becomes made. Note the change in the sound of the first vowel from a hard sound to a longer softer sound, this is because of the ‘e’.
- called
- looked
- asked
- could
- made
- came
Below is an extra activity to try at home in homework books. Children write the word correctly and then put it into a sentence.
snake The snake is green.
17.11.23
This week, please revise these tricky words ready for a test on Thursday 23rd November 2023 (a day early due to trip).
For those children learning 2 or 3 words, please practise the red words.
- your
- people
- oh
- their
- Mr
- what
Help at home
Try a little practice every day: 10 minutes at a time should be enough. You might want to focus on one word at a time.
It’s a good idea to play games to make the learning of phonics more fun for your child: how about bingo or matching up games? You could also use the words as part of a treasure hunt: hide five tricky words around the house and ask your child to find them from a list, ticking them off as they search.
Display the tricky words at home, such as on the wall or on the fridge. This can help your child to understand that the words are important.
10.11.23
This week, please revise these tricky words.
For those children learning 2 or 3 words, please practise the red words.
- me
- be
- was
- my
- you
- her
Learning to spell words can be fun! Check out our useful guide on the school website. https://www.stjameswetherby.leeds.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Spelling-Guide.pdf