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Recognising the different sounds made by the letter strings "ou", "ear" and "ice"
I can recognise when words might be spelt with the letter strings 'ou', 'ear' and 'ice'.
Lesson 2 of 16
New
New
- Year 6
Recognising the different sounds made by the letter strings "ou", "ear" and "ice"
I can recognise when words might be spelt with the letter strings 'ou', 'ear' and 'ice'.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The 'ou' spelling can make the sounds 'or', 'u', 'ow' and 'oo'.
- The 'ear' spelling can make the sounds 'ear', 'air', 'ar' and 'er'.
- The 'ice' spelling can make the sounds 'ice' and 'iss'.
- When you hear one of these sounds, the word might contain the 'ou', 'ear' or 'ice' spelling.
- How to spell the curriculum words: forty, rhythm and criticise.
Keywords
Letter string - a group of letters that are written together in a word
Phoneme - the smallest unit of sound that can change a word's meaning
Digraph - two letters that represent one sound
Common misconception
Spellings such as 'practice', 'advice' and 'device' can be more difficult for children.
Explore words ending in -ice and words ending in -ise. Listen to the difference in pronunciation of these words and discuss the difference in word class too e.g. practice, advice, device = nouns, practise, advise, devise = verbs.
Think carefully about the accent of your pupils as you may have to amend the slides. For example, for some accents, the 'ou' in 'could' and 'trouble' make the same sound.
Teacher tip
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Identify the spellings that contain the 'ou' sound.
Identify the spellings that contain the 'ou' sound.
show
bowl
Q2.Match the 'ear' spellings to the correct words.
Match the 'ear' spellings to the correct words.
Q3.Select the words that contain the /iss/ sound.
Select the words that contain the /iss/ sound.
fish
mission
Q4.Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'The paper had a tair in it because it was ripped.'
Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'The paper had a tair in it because it was ripped.'
tare
tere
teer
Q5.Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'Somewhere in the darkness, I heard the soft hoot of a barn aul.'
Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'Somewhere in the darkness, I heard the soft hoot of a barn aul.'
oul
houl
owel
Q6.Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'The captain allowed me to stear the ship.'
Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'The captain allowed me to stear the ship.'
steir
stere
steere
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Identify the words containing the 'ear' letter string.
Identify the words containing the 'ear' letter string.
pierce
real
clean
Q2.Match the words to the sound that the ‘ou’ letter string is making.
Match the words to the sound that the ‘ou’ letter string is making.
Q3.Match the words to the sound that the ‘ice’ letter string is making.
Match the words to the sound that the ‘ice’ letter string is making.
Q4.Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'The weather outside is dreerey.'
Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'The weather outside is dreerey.'
drerey
driery
dreery
Q5.Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'This Sunday, I will go to a survis in my local church.'
Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'This Sunday, I will go to a survis in my local church.'
serviss
survice
servees
Q6.Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'This Sunday, I will hike up the mountin.'
Choose the correct spelling of the word in bold in the following sentence: 'This Sunday, I will hike up the mountin.'
mownten
mountan
moughntain
