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Lesson 2 of 12
  • Year 5

Spelling words using soft c

I can spell words using soft c.

Lesson 2 of 12
New
New
  • Year 5

Spelling words using soft c

I can spell words using soft c.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Soft c and hard c refer to two different sounds that the letter c can represent in English spelling.
  2. If the vowel letters ‘a’, ‘o’ or ‘u’ or a consonant letter follows the letter c it is pronounced as a hard c.
  3. If the vowel letters ‘e’, ‘i’ or ‘y’ follow the letter c it is pronounced as a soft c.
  4. How to spell the curriculum words: decide, notice and centre.

Keywords

  • Soft c - sounds like 's' in words like 'city', 'cereal' or 'mercy'

  • Hard c - sounds like 'k' in words like 'cat', 'cup', 'coat or 'climb'

  • Vowel letters - the letters ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’, ‘u’ (and sometimes ‘y’) that represent vowel sounds

  • Consonant letters - all the letters in the alphabet that represent consonant sounds

Common misconception

Children may think that a word can only contain a hard c or a soft c.

Look at some words that contain a soft c and a hard c, such as bicycle or access. Use sound buttoning to help identify the phoneme grapheme correspondences.


To help you plan your year 5 English lesson on: Spelling words using soft c, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Adapt the soft c words focused on within the practice section of the lesson to those that you may apply in current writing lessons or across the curriculum.
Teacher tip

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

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these words contain the 's' sound?

can't
Correct answer: sorry
fish
Correct answer: miss
chat

Q2.
Which of these words contain the 'k' sound?

racing
Correct answer: clamp
Correct answer: kite
Correct answer: brick
receipt

Q3.
Which words contain a hard c?

Correct answer: acorn
racing
rich
Correct answer: class
ceiling

Q4.
Match the word to the sound the letter c is making.

Correct Answer:crumbling,'k' sound - a hard c

'k' sound - a hard c

Correct Answer:ceiling,'s' sound - soft c

's' sound - soft c

Correct Answer:cello,'ch' sound

'ch' sound

Q5.
Select the correct spelling of the word.

Correct answer: recognise
recugnise
recognize

Q6.
Select the correct spelling of the word.

ockir
ocur
Correct answer: occur
occer

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Which words contain a soft c?

charming
Correct answer: decision
Correct answer: received
acorn

Q2.
Match the word to the spelling which represents the 's' sound.

Correct Answer:sultana,s

s

Correct Answer:missed,ss

ss

Correct Answer:celebrate,soft c

soft c

Q3.
Select the correct spelling of the word.

decimle
Correct answer: decimal
desimal

Q4.
Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the sentence. I like to ride my bysiclel.

Correct Answer: bicycle

Q5.
Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the sentence. There are 100 years in a sentree.

Correct Answer: century

Q6.
Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the sentence. Place the ball in the sentir of the hoop.

Correct Answer: centre