Other sounds represented by the letter string ‘ei’
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can spell a range of words using the letter string ‘ei’.
Key learning points
- There are many ways to spell the ‘ee’ sound, including ‘ee’, ‘ea’, ‘e-e’, ‘e’, ‘y’, ‘ey’, ‘ie’ and ‘ei’.
- The rule ‘i before e except after c’ can help choose between ‘ie’ and ‘ei’ when spelling ‘ee’.
- The letter string ‘ei’ can represent a range of different sounds, including ‘ay’.
- How to spell the curriculum words: height, eighth and foreign.
Keywords
Phoneme - the smallest unit of sound that can change a word's meaning
Grapheme - the letter or group of letters that represent a sound (the spelling)
Exception - a case or situation that does not follow the usual or expected rule or pattern
Letter string - a group of letters that are written together in a word
Common misconception
Pupils may think that the 'ei' spelling only represents the 'ee' phoneme.
Show a range of words with 'ei' representing different sounds. You can stretch and sound button to show the direct phoneme - grapheme correspondence.
Teacher tip
It will help to quickly gloss all unfamiliar vocabulary explored in the lesson, as many words with the 'ei' spelling may be less familiar to pupils, such a 'rein', 'beige' or 'forfeit'.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the words linked to the rule 'i before e, except after c'.
'i before e' words
'except after c' words
exception to the rule words
Q2.Match each word to the number of phonemes it contains.
4
2
6
Q3.Match the word to the representation of the 'ee' sound it contains.
ee
ea
e-e
e
ei
ie
Q4.Select the words which contain the long vowel ee sound.
Q5.Select the words which contain the long vowel ay sound.
Q6.Select the homophones.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the words linked to the rule 'i before e, except after c'.
'i before e' words
'except after c' words
exception to the rule words
Q2.Select the correct spelling of the word.
Q3.Select the correct spelling of the word.
Q4.Select the correct spelling of the word.
Q5.Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the sentence. Can you see the vayn in my arm?
Q6.Correct the spelling of the word in bold in the sentence. A ‘dayitty’ is a god or goddess.
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Other sounds represented by the letter string ‘ei’, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Other sounds represented by the letter string ‘ei’, 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 2 English lessons from the Noun suffixes, letter strings and homophones unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.