Lesson video

Hello and welcome to the today's spelling lesson.

I'm Mr. Moss, I love spelling and I can't wait to teach you.

With you today, you need to bring your looking eyes, your listening ears and your thinking brains, as well as that something to write with and write on and someone or something to talk to would also be really helpful.

Okay then, let's get straight on with today's spelling lesson.

In today's spelling lesson, we're going to be spelling polysyllabic words with unstressed vowels.

The outcome will be I can spell polysyllabic words with unstressed vowels.

Here are the key words for today's learning.

My turn, your turn.

Polysyllabic.

Vowel letter.

Unstressed.

Brilliant.

So let's have a chat about what these mean then.

Polysyllabic describes a word that has more than one syllable.

So if we think about syllables as the words broken down into the vowels or the beats of the word, polysyllabic means it has more than one of those beats.

A vow letter are the letters A, E, I, O and U, and sometimes Y, that represent our vowel sounds in words.

And an unstressed sound is not emphasised or pronounced with much force.

We don't clearly hear it.

So today we are going to be looking at these unstressed vowel letters or vowel sounds in polysyllabic words.

These are sometimes tricky to spell or hear, so this is why we're looking at them today.

Here's the outline for today's lesson.

Remember, we're spelling polysyllabic words with unstressed vowels.

We're going to begin the lesson by looking at unstressed vowels, then we're going to use some strategies to practise.

We're going to finish it out by spelling some curriculum words.

Let's get on with looking at unstressed vowels then.

Read these words for me.

Abandoned.

The building was abandoned.

No one lived in it.

No one worked in it.

Animal.

Category.

A category is a class of things or people that have shared characteristics.

We quite often categorise things in our science learning.

Conference.

A conference is a meeting of a group of people to have a conversation.

Dictionary, that place we can go to to get definitions.

Flattery.

If you use flattery, you're trying to win someone's favour by flattering them.

Marvellous.

What a marvellous idea.

Reference.

A reference is you make mention of something that someone may have said.

You refer to it.

All of these words are polysyllabic words.

Abandoned, animal, category.

Notice there are Y's making a vowel sound.

Dictionary.

Again, our Y making a vowel sound.

Flattery, marvellous, reference.

This means they're words with more than one syllable.

In polysyllabic words, some vowels can be unstressed.

This means they are hard to hear, and as a result, because we don't hear them, this makes the spelling of these words harder.

Read these words aloud again for me.

Which vowels are harder to hear? I'll give you some time now to read them again carefully.

Perhaps even clap out the syllables.

Listen out, which syllables are harder to hear? Off you go.

Brilliant job, team.

So I've noticed in abandoned, it's not clear that there's an O or an E there.

In animal, it's not clear there's an A there.

I don't necessarily say animal, I say animal.

There's an O sound at the end there.

In category, you don't always hear the E in O very clearly.

Conference, the two E's there.

Conference sounds like an A, doesn't it? Conference and it makes an ugh.

Not necessarily conference or conference.

You don't very clearly hear those E's.

In dictionary, it's that A, isn't it? It just sounds like an R, dictionary, not dictionary or dictionary.

Flattery is the same, flattery.

You don't clearly hear that E.

Marvellous, the E again 'cause sometimes it sounds like an E, marvellous.

So be careful.

And reference.

You have that root word refer, but we don't say reference, we say reference.

Again, it just sounds like an R.

We don't hear the E's there very clearly.

Here are more examples of polysyllabic words with unstressed vowels.

So there's vowels that are harder to hear and therefore it makes the words harder to spell.

Let's read them aloud and identify any unstressed vowels.

Let's read through the words first of all.

Interested.

Hmm.

Primary as in primary colours or primary school.

Disinterest.

So not having any interest in something at all.

Factory.

Miserable, I felt miserable.

Secretary.

A secretary is a person in an organisation who keeps records and also helps with correspondence.

Generous, think of someone who's very giving.

It's an adjective 'cause it has our -ous suffix.

Literature, so any form of writing.

Offering, something you may offer up or give.

Lottery.

You may enter the lottery to try and win money.

Interesting, linked there to our word interested we saw earlier and disinterest.

Desperate.

If you're desperate, you'll do anything.

Library, that place you can go to get books.

And interest again, linked to those words, interested, interesting and disinterest.

So I want you to read these words again and I want you to consider, where are unstressed vowels here? Which are the trickier parts of these words? Remember clapping out the syllables because they're polysyllabic may help you.

Off you go.

Brilliant.

Well, I've noticed a few things about each of these words.

In these words here, in interested, we don't clearly hear the E, in primary, the A, in disinterest, the same as interest.

It's that first E there.

I don't say interest, I don't say disinterested.

In factory, I don't say factory.

Although sometimes saying the words as they're spelt can help us remember how they're spelt.

I'll be looking at that as a strategy in a little bit.

I didn't say miserable, I say miserable.

I didn't say secretary, I say secretary, so I don't clearly hear that A.

And in generous, I don't always clearly hear that E, do I? I don't necessarily emphasise it and stress it.

Generous, I say generous.

In these words here, we have our E and our A's again.

Literature, the E-R there, I didn't say literature, I said literature.

I just hear an R sound.

Offering, offering.

The root word there has a completely unstressed.

I don't say offer, it's offer.

So it's an unstressed vowel in the root word as well.

Lottery is the same.

Interesting, linked with interest, disinterest and interest down the bottom there, that first E is unstressed.

Desperate.

Again, I didn't say desperate, I say desperate.

And library, it's very tricky to hear that A sometimes.

So all of these words have unstressed vowels.

It's really important that we learn the spellings of these words because they appear very often not really in writing, and it's very difficult to hear them.

Sometimes saying the words as they are spelt can help us.

Other times we just need to learn how they're spelled so we don't make any mistakes with these unstressed vowels.

So look at these words again for me.

Can you spot any connections or links between any of the words? Perhaps consider words that are spelt in a similar way.

Perhaps consider words that have similar patterns with unstressed vowels.

Pause the video and have a think.

Great job, team.

Some lovely conversations going on there.

And you are building on your word consciousness, which is something we're going to continue with in the second learning cycle of this lesson.

So there are many words that I've noticed with the E-R in the middle.

If you look at interested, for instance, disinterest, miserable, generous, literature, offering, lottery, desperate and interest, they all have that E-R in them, which is unstressed.

I didn't say interested or literature or lottery, interest, it's not stressed.

There are several words in a word family here and I've alluded to this already.

Interested, disinterest, interesting and interest all come from that root word, interest.

They share meaning and also spelling.

If we know that there's that unstressed E at the first part of interest, then we know it's also going to be in these other words, interesting, interested and disinterest.

I want you to read these words.

Which vowels are unstressed in these words? Perhaps clap the syllables and listen carefully.

Are all of the vowels stressed? Pick out the unstressed ones.

Off you go.

Great job, team.

So library.

Hmm.

Well, my Y there is making a vowel sound at the end, but there's one there that's not very clear, is it? It's my A, library.

It doesn't always sound like library or library.

Library.

You can't always clearly hear that A dependent on pronunciation.

The next one, lottery.

Hmm, lottery.

Ooh, again, I don't clearly hear the E there and that links to that pattern you noticed a moment ago with that E-R, where the E is often in those words unstressed.

And voluntary, something that is voluntary is given or done by one's own free will, such as voluntary donations.

Voluntary.

Well, I don't say voluntary here, do I? I can hear the O and the U, voluntary.

Hmm, but I don't hear that A very clearly, do I? So we had two A's and an E here, which are our unstressed vowel sounds.

The vowels in these -ary and -ery endings are harder to hear.

This is particularly tricky with these suffixes, <v ->ary and -ery,</v> because it makes it really difficult to know which one to use often at the end of a word.

Have a look and a read of these words again, which vowels are unstressed in these words? Remember, clapping out the syllables can help.

Off you go.

Great job, team.

So generous.

Generous, hmm, it's our E again here with our E-R and it's the same of interest.

I didn't say interest.

Interest, so my E here and literacy.

Again, literacy I don't say, it's unstressed, literacy.

It's very difficult to hear that E there.

Great.

I notice these words all contain E-R and it can sound like an R without the E.

Literacy, interest, generous.

For our practise task now, we're going to underline the correct spelling of these polysyllabic words.

Let's read them first of all.

Interested.

Primary.

Factory.

Miserable.

Secretary.

Generous.

Marvellous.

Literature.

Offering.

Lottery.

Desperate.

Library.

Reference.

Conference.

Use the ideas we've covered to help you so far today.

Does the word link to any other words that you know? Is there a related word where you can hear the vowel sound more clearly? And you may need to choose by what looks right.

I find that a really useful strategy.

So underline the correct spelling of these polysyllabic words now.

Remember to keep an ear out for those unstressed vowels and to think carefully.

Off you go, team.

Excellent job, I'm so, so impressed.

This is quite tricky because we're sort of listening out and then applying some spellings that we can't clearly hear.

Let's see how you've done them.

Interested.

Well, our root word here is interest, isn't it? We know it's that E-R-E-S-T and it's that unstressed E in the first part there.

Interest, interested.

Primary was our next one.

It's that A-R-Y, primary.

It's the A-R-Y spelling.

Factory.

Again, we don't really clear it there.

It sounds like factory, doesn't it? But it's O-R-Y.

With the word miserable, there's that same link with that E-R that we've looked at in many words.

It's that miserable, E-R.

I didn't say miserable, but I say miserable.

Secretary.

There, we don't really clearly hear the E or the A at the end.

Generous.

Again, E-R.

It's generous and it's that O-U-S because it's an adjective.

Marvellous was the next one.

Marvellous.

Now our E there can often sound like an eh, marvellous.

Be careful with your pronunciation.

Literature was the next one.

And there's the E there, the E-R.

Really, really, really tricky vowel to hear in many words where they have an E-R.

Offering, exactly the same.

Not a stress vowel, offer.

Lottery, again, our ER.

Desperate, again, our E-R.

Library is our A-R-Y and reference, our E-R too.

Watch out for the C-E at the end there as well.

And conference again, that E-R-E-N and the C-E at the end as well.

It's always useful to, as we look at these words, also consider what else might be tricky about them too.

So you can see here, very commonly, our E-R is often leading to an unstressed vowel.

If we look at the words like offering, literature, interested, miserable, we also have our O-R-Y, our A-R-Y as well being quite tricky to hear at times.

Which spellings did you know and which were more difficult for you? You have an opportunity to practise these in the next learning cycle.

So make any corrections now.

Consider the words that you got wrong.

We are going to be using those in the next learning cycle.

Onto that next learning cycle then, strategies to practise.

We are going to practise spelling these polysyllabic words that we've been looking at.

When practising spellings, it is helpful to focus on the words that you find difficult, and this is unique and different to each of you.

You could choose words that you didn't know from Practise A for instance or words that you generally just find more difficult that are these polysyllabic words with unstressed vowels.

There are some spelling strategies that may be particularly helpful for learning words with unstressed vowels.

What strategies can you think of? What spelling strategies do you use already? Pause the video, share with those around you and share with me.

Great.

First, we need to choose the words to practise.

So I want you to think back to the first task we did, but also those polysyllabic words with unstressed vowels that we've been looking at.

I'd like you to pick about five of those words for me now.

This is unique to you remember.

Pick the words that you may have struggled with or that you find most difficult to remember.

Choose those words now, off you go.

Brilliant.

Then we have to decide the strategy we're going to use to practise.

This could be creating a word map, which we're gonna have a go at in minutes.

Say it how it is spelt.

Naughty letters.

Look, cover, write, check as well.

A really good independent self-checking strategy that works on your memory.

The strategy may depend on the spellings you've chosen and what makes them difficult.

Next we practise our spellings.

And of course, finally we have to check back against the spelling spelled correctly to make sure we've written them correctly.

It's really important.

So identifying prefixes and suffixes can help us to spell a word.

If we can spot a word root, it can help us to spell the new word.

For instance, we've looked at that word interest, haven't we today? If we know how to spell interest with that unstressed vowel E-R in there, we'll know how to spell interesting, interested, disinterested and so on and so forth.

Creating a word map is a way to help us to see how these words are connected.

The words are in a word family connected by both their meaning and their spelling.

The word interest for instance, has that unstressed vowel in it, E-R.

There are many related words that can be formed by adding suffixes or prefixes such as interest, uninterested.

And again, that E remains unstressed followed by that R, doesn't it? Can you think of any other words linked to interested, uninterested, or that have the word interest as their root? Pause the video and have a think.

Brilliant.

Well, here are some that I've thought of.

Remember that naughty letter we're considering here as well is that E, isn't it? That unstressed E.

So there's interested, we have interests, I have many interests, interesting, I found that interesting, disinterest, she showed disinterest with the work, disinterested.

So we've added the prefix dis- and the suffix -ed there.

Uninterested, the prefix un- and the suffix -ed and uninteresting, the prefix un- and my -ing suffix.

So there are loads of linked words here that all have that word, interesting.

And if you know how to spell that word, we'll know how spell these words simply by adding prefixes and suffixes.

By noticing the connection between these words, we help to build what we call our word consciousness.

This is our interest and involvement of words and it helps us to acquire new vocabulary, but also improve our spelling, which is what we want to do in these lessons.

If we can remember that E-R in the middle of interest, it can help us to spell all of these related words too.

So with that in mind, which of these words would you include in a word map linked to the word offer? Pause the video now and to select the words you would choose that were linked.

Great.

So the first word, scoff.

Well, it has O-F-F, but they're not linked to meaning at all, are they? So that wouldn't be a word.

The word offered though would be, I've added my -ed suffix.

Suffer, it might have the F-F-E-R, but again, they're not linked in meaning so it wouldn't be suffer.

But offering, I've added my suffix, -ing.

Remember, we are finding words that have the same root word and are linked by their meaning and spelling.

So we've used the strategy there of creating a word map, really useful.

Now we're going to use the strategy of naughty letters.

I will try using it to remember the E in miserable.

Remember you always to look closely at the word and pay attention to any tricky parts.

Then we copy the word showing the tricky part of the word by writing the letter larger.

And you can also add a naughty face to it as well.

So you can see here I've written my E much larger and I've given it a naughty face as well 'cause it's my naughty letter, miserable.

Miserable.

I'm really concentrating on that E because it's the tricky part of the word.

You try using the naughty letters to practise one of your chosen words now.

Think carefully about the vowel that's unstressed and is a bit naughty.

Off you go.

Excellent job, team.

Some really great naughty letters there.

This helps us to focus on the tricky letters in a particular spelling and then remember them.

We can also say a word how it is spelt.

Let's practise this with desperate where we struggle to hear that E.

Remember to say the word slowly and in sections, pronouncing it how it is spelt.

It may sound a little bit strange, but it's gonna help you remember how to spell the word.

Des-per-ate.

Des-per-ate.

Des-per-ate.

Des-per-ate.

So I know there's a D-E-S, a P-E-R and A-T-E in des-per-ate, desperate.

Why don't you try saying it how it is spelt to practise one of your chosen words now? Off you go, make sure I can hear you.

Brilliant job, team.

I loved hearing those words how they are spelt.

This helps us to remember the spelling when we come to write.

It helps us really to remember those unstressed letters as well.

Because if I say desperate, I don't hear that unstressed E, but if I say des-per-ate, I do hear that unstressed E.

So I want you now to practise your spellings using the strategy you find most helpful.

Choose five words that you find most difficult from the lesson so far, those five words you've selected already.

Pick your strategies and off you go.

Pause the video now.

Excellent job, team.

I'm really, really impressed.

So I'm hoping you've got those words written out a number of times.

Practise using a variety of strategies or strategies that work for you.

I also hope you've been looking very closely and also that you've checked.

So let's look at some examples of what you could have done.

I've used naughty letters for my word miserable and I've managed to spell it correctly.

I've used desperate.

I said it as it's spelled, des-per-ate for desperate, managed to spell it correctly.

I also had marvellous and I used the look, cover, write and check strategy and I managed to spell it correctly.

How did you do? Did you manage to spell your words correctly? What strategy did you use? Share your strategies with us now and make any corrections.

Off you go.

Great job.

Onto our final learning cycle then, which is spelling curriculum words.

Let's read some curriculum words then.

Imagine.

Definite.

That is the definite answer.

What do you notice about these spellings? Is there anything interesting about the way they're spelt compared to how they sound? Pause the video and have a think.

Great, some lovely conversations going on there and really careful consideration of the tricky parts of these words.

So I've noticed in particular, imagine has a naughty E at the end, but we don't pronounce it ine, we pronounce it in.

Saying the word as it is spelt can help us here.

I-mag-ine or i-ma-gine Remember that I-N-E.

Definite is a linked word to finite and finish.

This can help us remember the spelling of the unstressed vowels.

Saying the word again how it is spelt can really help us here.

Def-i-nite.

Well done.

Which of these words that we've just read is spelled correctly then? Point to the correct spelling of imagine now, go.

Great job, team.

Remember imagyne or imajine, it's that naughty E at the end.

Sounds like an in when we say imagine, but it is there.

Point to the correct spelling of definite now.

Great.

Remember saying the word as it is spelled can help us here.

Def-i-nite or def-i-nite.

D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E, great job.

Let's look at some more curriculum words.

My turn, your turn.

Variety, means the diversity or lots of different types of things.

For example, there was a variety of sweets in the packet.

Various.

These words, if you look carefully, are linked in both spelling and meaning.

Various means lots of different things.

Again, there were various people that came to meet me.

I've noticed here that we have our I, don't we? Which isn't particularly clear in each one.

Variety, various, they're making different sounds in both words.

Both words are linked with that root word, vary.

The Y has become an I when the suffixes have been added.

So we've removed the Y and added variety for our -ety suffix and we've removed the Y and added our -ious for our -ious suffix there.

The letter I makes different sounds in both words so we have to be careful.

Saying the word slowly or how they're spelled can help us.

Var-i-ety, variety.

Var-i-ous, various.

So which of these words have been spelled correctly? Variety.

Point to the correct one now.

Great.

Remember saying how it's spelled can help.

Var-i-ety or var-i-ety Brilliant, remember our root word here is vary, we've removed the Y and added -iety for our suffix.

Again, our root word is vary.

This time, point to the correct spelling of various.

Off you go.

Great.

Again, var-i-ous or -ous, O-U-S suffix.

So it's this one, V-A-R-I-O-U-S.

We've removed the Y from vary and added our I before adding our suffix.

Great.

So because these are curriculum words and they're going to appear with great regularity in our reading and writing, it's really important we know to spell them.

So we're gonna use the strategy of look cover, write, check now.

This is where we look carefully at the word.

So if I look at imagine, I look really carefully at it and I consider what's difficult about it.

Well, it's got that naughty E at the end, but it also has that soft G, doesn't it? So imagine, i-ma-gine or i-mag-ine.

Great, I can also say how it's spelt.

I then cover it up and I have a go at writing it.

Oh, I think I spelled it correctly.

I can always check though, really important part of the strategy.

You check back.

I spelled it correctly, but I don't stop there.

I'm gonna write it out a number of times in my neatest handwriting to really make good links between my hand and my brain and embed it into my long-term memory.

So use this look, cover, write, check strategy now to write out imagine, definite, variety and various a number of times.

Off you go, team.

Brilliant job.

So I'm hoping you've managed to get them written out like this a number of times.

Did you manage to spell them correctly? Check now, make any corrections.

Off you go, team.

Great job in spelling today, everyone.

Today we've been looking at polysyllabic words, where some vowels can be unstressed and hard to hear and spell.

Here are some of the helpful approaches to learning these words.

Thinking of a root word, looking for prefixes and suffixes, using word maps to link related words, we looked at that word interest and all of the linked words and saying the word as it is spelt can also really help.

Keep up the great spelling, keep up the great practise and I'll see you again soon.