The 's' spellings, including 'ss' and 'c'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can spell words containing two representations of the ‘s’ phoneme: 'ss' and 'c'.
Key learning points
- 's' is the most common representation of the 's' phoneme at the start of a word.
- 'c' is sometimes used to represent the 's' phoneme before 'i','e' or 'y'.
- ss' is often used at the end of a word after a short vowel.
- How to spell the common exception words: path and bath.
Keywords
Short vowel - a vowel sound that sounds short when spoken like "a" in "cat" or "o" sound in "hot"
Soft c - the soft 'c' sounds like 's' in words like "city."
Common misconception
Children may think 'ce' represents the 's' sound in 'ice' and 'face'.
Use sound buttoning as a strategy when you know it will reinforce the spelling pattern (it doesn't always work).
Teacher tip
The words 'path' and 'bath' may not be exception words depending on regional accents. If pronounced 'a' rather than 'ar' then it is a regular spelling and doesn't need to be taught as a common exception word.
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: Please __________ a question.
Q2.Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: She __________ that it is time for bed.
Q3.Which of these words contain the 's' sound?
Q4.Choose the representation of the 's' sound that matches the words.
s
ss
ce
Q5.What kind of sound is the 's' sound?
Q6.What is a homophone?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: He walked along the...
Q2.Which words contain the 'ss' spelling of the 's' sound?
Q3.Which words contain the 'c' spelling of the 's' sound?
Q4.Choose the representation of the 'c' sound that matches the words.
c
ss
s
Q5.Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: I have two eyes on my...
Q6.Correct the spelling of the word spelt incorrectly in the following sentence: I don't want to mis my bus today.
To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: The 's' spellings, including 'ss' and 'c', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: The 's' spellings, including 'ss' and 'c', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 English lessons from the Alternative GPCS for consonants and homophones unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.