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      The 'oo' spellings, including 'oo', 'ew' and 'u-e'

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can read and spell words containing the three most common representations of the ‘oo’ phoneme: ‘oo’, ‘ew’ and ‘u-e’.

      Key learning points

      1. ‘ew’ is a representation of the 'oo' phoneme that often comes at the end of a word.
      2. The ‘oo’ phoneme can be pronounced in two different ways: 'oo' and 'yoo'.
      3. How to spell the high frequency word: now.
      4. 'New' and 'knew' are homophones.

      Keywords

      • Split diagraph - has a letter that comes between the two letters in a digraph like in "make" where the "k" separates the digraph "ae"

      • Digraph - two letters that represent one sound

      • Homophones - words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings

      • Silent letter - a letter in a word that is not pronounced when the word is spoken

      Common misconception

      Confusion of 'now'/'know' and 'new'/'knew'. 'Ow' can be pronounced in different ways.

      Teach examples of silent letters explicitly and get children to keep an eye out for them in their wider reading.

      Teacher tip

      Similar graphemes can make an 'oo' or a 'yoo' sound. Use reading aloud to practise pronouncing different words throughout the lesson.

      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.
      Which two of these are proper nouns?

      movie
      Correct answer: Mars
      Correct answer: Wales
      pencil

      Q2.
      Match each word to the number of phonemes it contains.

      Correct Answer:food,3
      Correct Answer:chew,2
      Correct Answer:flute,4

      Q3.
      Choose two more spellings that can also represent the sound 'oo', like in shoot.

      Correct answer: ew
      Correct answer: u-e
      ea
      igh

      Q4.
      Choose the word that rhymes with mood.

      chew
      rule
      Correct answer: food

      Q5.
      Choose the word that rhymes with 'shoot'.

      blew
      Correct answer: flute
      rude

      Q6.
      Which two of these words have one syllable?

      Correct answer: drew
      matter
      Correct answer: moon
      chewing

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Pick the spelling that matches the sentence: What are you doing right __________ ?

      know
      Correct answer: now
      nou

      Q2.
      Match the 'oo' spellings to the words.

      Correct Answer:oo,shoot
      Correct Answer:ew,chew
      Correct Answer:u-e,chute

      Q3.
      Match each word to the correct sound ('oo' or 'yoo').

      Correct Answer:few,yoo
      Correct Answer:drew,oo
      Correct Answer:flute,oo
      Correct Answer:huge,yoo

      Q4.
      Match the grapheme to where they commonly appear in a word.

      Correct Answer:oo,in the middle
      Correct Answer:ew,at the end
      Correct Answer:u-e,last but one

      Q5.
      Correct the spelling in bold in the following sentence: His birthday is in jewn.

      Correct Answer: June, june

      Q6.
      Correct the spelling in bold in the following sentence: She droo a beautiful picture.

      Correct Answer: drew

      To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: The 'oo' spellings, including 'oo', 'ew' and 'u-e', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...