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You have blended sounds to read words. Leo is learning said. He hears the word and checks its spelling parts.
Which part has the unusual spelling for its vowel sound?
Reading High-Frequency Words by Sight
Learn common words by matching their sounds and spellings, then practise recognising and using them in short sentences
What a learner can do afterwards
- Read and use taught common words such as the, said, was, you and come
- Match familiar and unusual spelling parts to the sounds in taught words
- Read taught common words in short sentences and choose words that fit their meanings
1 · Read
High-frequency words appear often in books. A sight word is any word you recognise without stopping to work out its sounds. Regular words can become sight words too. Learning a word's sounds and spelling, then practising accurate reading, helps it become familiar. Some words have an unusual spelling part to learn.
'The' goes before the name of a particular thing, as in 'the cup'. Its 'th' has the sound at the start of 'this'. Capital 'The' and small 'the' are the same word. To count appearances of a target word, read each word and count every match, including capitals.
Said has four letters but three sounds. The spelling parts are s, ai and d. S and d have their familiar sounds. Here ai has the vowel sound of e in bed, not the long a heard in rain. Learn this unusual part and blend all three sounds.
Was can tell how someone or something used to be: 'The jug was full.' It does not itself mean something changed into something else. In was, w has its familiar sound and s represents a z sound. Hear the spoken word and match its vowel sound to the written a.
For a new word, hear its correct pronunciation. Match its sounds to every letter or letter team. Ask for help with an unfamiliar spelling part, then blend and read the word again. With familiar spellings, use the sounds you know. Practise accurate reading in short sentences. A picture or word outline cannot check all the letters.
You names the person being spoken to. Are can follow we, you, they or a name for more than one thing: 'The books are new.' Come can ask someone to move towards the speaker. To choose a word for a gap, try each choice in the whole sentence. Check both its spelling and meaning.
Come rhymes with some, not home. Its o represents the vowel sound heard in cup. The c and m have their familiar sounds, and the final e has no separate sound. Knowing the unusual vowel part still lets you blend and read the word.
One names 1; won means did best in a game. Two names 2. Too can mean also. To is used in phrases such as 'go to bed'. My shows that something belongs to the speaker. Its y has the sound of the letter name i. Words can sound alike and have different meanings and spellings.
Because introduces a reason: 'I wore a coat because I felt cold.' Its s represents a z sound. Saw means noticed with your eyes. In a gap, read the whole sentence and choose the word that fits the given meaning. Check its letters too, since saw and was contain the same letters in different orders.
Learn a word's sounds and spelling, then practise reading it accurately. Regular and unusual spellings can both become familiar sight words.
2 · Watch
3 · Play
Take it off screen
Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.
Where it sits
Then practise
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.