Key learning points

1. The 'ee' sound spelt 'ei' generally comes after the letter 'c' (deceive) or at the beginning of a word (either)
2. Exceptions include: protein, caffeine, seize, weird, foreign as well as either and neither if pronounced as such.
3. The 'ei' spelling can also make a long 'ay' sound and break other learnt rules.
4. How to spell the curriculum words: neighbour and soldier.

Keywords

• 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 misconception