Choose exam board for KS4 Computer Science (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 English
Choose exam board for KS4 French
Choose exam board for KS4 Geography
Choose exam board for KS4 German
Choose exam board for KS4 History
Choose tier for KS4 Maths
Choose exam board for KS4 Music
Choose exam board for KS4 Physical education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Religious education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Spanish

      Applying the new 'or' spellings, including 'ore', 'ough' and 'a'

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can apply three new spellings for the 'or' phoneme: 'ore', 'ough' and 'a'.

      Key learning points

      1. ‘ore’ is a representation of the 'or' phoneme that usually comes at the end of a word.
      2. 'ough' and 'a' are alternative spellings of the 'or' phoneme.
      3. Most words using the 'ough' spelling are past tense verbs.
      4. The 'or' sound is usually spelt as 'a' before 'l' or 'll'.
      5. How to spell the common exception words: war, warm and towards.

      Keywords

      • Digraph - two letters that represent one sound

      • Trigraph - three letters that represent one sound

      • Verb - a doing or being word

      • Past tense - shows the action happened before now

      Common misconception

      Children can get confused by sounds that use the same spellings, such as 'ar' and 'or'.

      Remind children that the same sound can be represented in a number of ways and the same spelling can represent a number of sounds.

      Teacher tip

      There are a lot of hard spellings covered with these patterns, so only focus on the most useful ones for your class or pupils.

      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

      Loading...

      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Pick the spelling that matches the sentence: After school, I like to __________ with my friends.

      tork
      Correct answer: talk
      talck
      toorc

      Q2.
      Choose the 'or' spellings that match to the words.

      Correct Answer:a,ball
      Correct Answer:ough,thought
      Correct Answer:ore,snore

      Q3.
      The 'ough' spelling of the 'or' sound is used in verbs in which tense? For example, 'fought', 'bought', 'thought'.

      Correct answer: past tense
      present tense
      future tense

      Q4.
      Which sentences are in the past tense?

      I bring my bag to school.
      Correct answer: I brought by bag to school.
      I think it is my friend's birthday.
      Correct answer: I thought it was my friend's birthday.

      Q5.
      Choose the correct spelling for the word in bold in the following sentence: I need a borl to play with.

      bal
      Correct answer: ball
      boughl

      Q6.
      Write the correct spelling for the word in bold in the following sentence: I brort my coat into the classroom.

      Correct Answer: brought

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Pick the spelling that matches the sentence: The sun is shining and it is __________ today.

      werm
      walm
      Correct answer: warm

      Q2.
      Pick the spelling that matches the sentence: She walked __________ the park.

      toowords
      towords
      Correct answer: towards
      towads

      Q3.
      Choose the 'or' spelling that matches the words.

      Correct Answer:bought,ough
      Correct Answer:shore,ore
      Correct Answer:small,a

      Q4.
      Choose the correct spelling for the word in bold in the following sentence: I would like a smorl snack to eat.

      smawl
      smal
      Correct answer: small

      Q5.
      Write the correct spelling for the word in bold in the following sentence: He thort he would go home.

      Correct Answer: thought

      Q6.
      Write the correct spelling for the word in bold in the following sentence: I orlwaze drink water before going to bed.

      Correct Answer: always

      To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: Applying the new 'or' spellings, including 'ore', 'ough' and 'a', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...