Recognise alternative grapheme-phoneme correspondences for known phonemes (e.g., /dʒ/ as ge/dge/g, /s/ as c, /n/ as kn/gn, /r/ as wr, /ʒ/ as s), reading words with less common spellings for familiar sounds
You already know lots of letter sounds. But some sounds like to hide. The /j/ sound you hear in 'jump' can also be spelled g or dge, like in 'giraffe' and 'bridge'.
Ben reads the word 'knock'. He sees k-n at the start, but he only hears /n/. The k stays silent. He blends the rest of the word and reads knock.
When a word looks strange, try the sound you already know. Watch for kn, gn, wr, dge, ge, c, and s. They can be clues for a familiar sound in a new spelling.
The same sound can wear different spellings, so try what you know and check if the word makes sense.
Did you know one sound can have more than one spelling? You already met one case: the quiet e trick, where cake, bike, and home use a vowel plus a quiet e to spell a long vowel sound. The same idea shows up all over reading. One phoneme, several graphemes.
Take the /dʒ/ sound. It can be spelled g as in giraffe, ge as in cage, or dge as in edge. Same sound, three spellings. The /s/ sound can be spelled c, as in city. The /n/ sound can be spelled kn as in knock or gn as in gnaw. The /r/ sound can be spelled wr as in write. And the /zh/ sound can be spelled s, as in treasure.
Try reading these out loud: badge, giraffe, city, knock, gnaw, write, treasure. For each one, spot the tricky spelling, say its sound, then blend the whole word. When you meet an unfamiliar word, try the sounds you already know for each spelling, then check which one makes sense in the sentence. That is how strong readers crack new spellings for familiar sounds.
You know letter teams. Two letters team up, like ai in rain. Three letters team up, like igh in light. A team can even split, like a-e in cape. Today one sound gets three different teams. Zara is reading a book about a giraffe, and the first word is jump.
Say jump. Which letter makes the /j/ sound at the start?
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.