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

      New 'or' spellings, including 'ore', 'ough' and 'a'

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can use 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, such as more.
      2. 'ough' and 'a' are alternative spellings of the 'or' phoneme.
      3. The 'or' phoneme is usually spelt as 'a' before 'l' or 'll'.
      4. Most words using the 'ough' spelling are past tense verbs.
      5. How to spell the common exception words: water, always, walk and talk.

      Keywords

      • Digraph - two letters that represent one sound

      • Trigraph - three letters that represent one sound

      • Verb - a doing or being word

      • Past tense - show the action happened before now

      Common misconception

      Children can mix up the meaning of 'bought' and 'brought'.

      Say the words in sentences several times to establish the meaning, and link to the present tense 'buy' and bring'.

      Teacher tip

      Some phonics schemes teach 'al' as an 'or' spelling, so you can adapt the lesson in line with what has previously been taught.

      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: He likes to have __________ with his tea.

      shooga
      shuga
      shuger
      Correct answer: sugar
      suger

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

      Correct Answer:door,oor
      Correct Answer:morning,or
      Correct Answer:jigsaw,aw
      Correct Answer:fault,au

      Q3.
      Which sentence is in the past tense?

      I will walk to the park tomorrow.
      Correct answer: I walked to school yesterday.
      I like walking in the sunshine.

      Q4.
      How many phonemes are there in each word?

      Correct Answer:walking,5
      Correct Answer:more,2
      Correct Answer:bought,3

      Q5.
      Choose the correct spelling for the world in bold in the following sentence: She will oordir the book online.

      auder
      Correct answer: order
      ordir

      Q6.
      Choose the correct spelling for the word in bold in the following sentence: I like to jror in my sketchbook.

      dror
      Correct answer: draw
      jraw
      droor

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Pick the spelling that matches the sentence: She felt thirsty so she drank some __________ .

      wautuh
      worter
      Correct answer: water
      watter

      Q2.
      Pick the spelling that matches the sentence: After school, I like to go for a __________ .

      Correct answer: walk
      work
      wawk
      walck

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

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

      Q4.
      Choose the correct spelling for the word in bold in the following sentence: The brothers foort over who could go first on the slide.

      fort
      Correct answer: fought
      fawt
      fuougt

      Q5.
      Choose the correct spelling for the word in bold in the following sentence: Please don't ignaw me!

      icnaw
      Correct answer: ignore
      ignoor
      ignor

      Q6.
      Write the correct spelling for the word in bold in the following sentence: She loves reading and she orlso loves painting.

      Correct Answer: also

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