Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's spelling lesson.

I'm Mr. Moss.

I love spelling and I'm really looking forward to teaching you.

With you for today's lesson, 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 you would also be excellent.

Right, let's get right into today's spelling lesson then.

In today's spelling lesson, we're going to be applying spelling rules with the letter string "fer".

The outcome will be I can apply spelling patterns using the letter string "fer".

Here are the key words for today's learning.

My turn, your turn.

Make sure I can hear you saying these back to me.

Root word.

Suffix.

Letter string.

Stressed syllable.

Let's have a think about what these words mean then.

A root word is the base word from which other words are formed, often by adding prefixes or suffixes, and today, we are adding suffixes.

A suffix is a letter or group of letters that can be added to the end of a word to change its meaning.

A letter string is a sequence of letters that appears in several words, and the letter string that we're concentrating on today is "fer", and finally, a stressed sound is an emphasised sound that can clearly be heard.

So we today are going to be looking at root words that contain that letter string "fer", and we're going to be adding suffixes to them, and when that "fer" is stressed, this will have a certain impact on what happens when we add the suffix, and when it is unstressed, this will also have an impact upon when we add the suffix.

So here is the outline for today's lesson.

We're gonna begin by looking at some spelling rules with the letter string "fer".

Then we're going to look at some strategies to practise.

We're going to finish with spelling some curriculum words.

Let's get on with looking at this letter string though then.

Read these words for me.

Transfer.

Transferring.

Transferred.

Transference.

Defer.

Deferral.

Deferred.

Buffering.

What do you notice about all of these words? Do they contain something? See if you can spot it.

Pause the video and have a think.

Brilliant.

Yes, well, I can see that they all contain our letter string "fer".

You may also notice that transfer, transferring, transferred and transference all have that root word transfer, and defer and deferral have that root word defer, as does deferred.

A letter string is a sequence of letters that appears in several words, and we can see it here in all of these words.

Now interestingly, in some instances, we can hear that it is stressed.

We very clearly hear it, defer, but in other instances, we don't hear it so clearly, buffering, for instance.

This letter string is sometimes part of a stressed syllable, as in defer.

Very stressed there.

We clearly hear it.

But sometimes it's unstressed, buffering.

You don't hear it so clearly.

This affects the spelling of the word and whether the letter "r" is doubled.

So if we look here, transferring, we double the "r" because it's very clearly stressed, but transference, it's less stressed.

Deferral, we can very clearly hear it, but buffering, you don't hear that syllable so clearly.

It is unstressed.

There are many root words with the letter string "fer".

Sometimes "fer" is stressed and sometimes it is unstressed.

Let's look at some examples of stressed and unstressed.

My turn, your turn.

Defer.

I took the opportunity to defer to someone else because I didn't know what I was talking about.

Defer.

Here we have a clearly stressed "fer", don't we? We can really hear it.

Let's look at another word.

Suffer.

Suffer.

Here it is unstressed.

We clearly hear the first syllable first, "suf", but the "fer" we don't hear so clearly.

I don't say suffer.

I say suffer.

Sounds like an "ah", doesn't it? So it's an unstressed sound.

This can be really tricky.

So make sure you listen out carefully and really say the words today.

Buffer.

I waited for the video to buffer.

Again, an unstressed "fer" here.

We don't hear it so clearly.

I very much hear that first syllable first, buffer.

Identifying if the "fer", that letter string, is stressed will help us to spell related words that also contain that letter string or have that root word.

You need to say the word out loud to see if it is stressed or not.

So make sure you do lots of speaking out loud in today's lesson.

Say those words and listen out for that careful nuance of the stressed and unstressed syllables.

So with that in mind, a chance to test you here.

Which words have the "fer" letter string in a stressed syllable? Read these words and see if you can figure it out.

Off you go.

Great.

Let's have a go at saying in them then.

Offer.

I made you an offer.

I don't clearly hear that there.

I don't say offer, do I? It is unstressed, but the word confer, and if you confer to someone, you have discussions or exchange opinions, I conferred with my class, confer, I clearly hear that letter string, don't I? It's a stressed syllable there.

Differ.

Things that differ are different.

There, it is not stressed.

So in offer, the first syllable is very stressed.

In confer, the second syllable is stressed there, and in differ, it's the first part that's stressed there.

We have an unstressed sound at the end there.

It can be quite hard to tell the difference.

So as I've said, make sure you have a go at saying the words out loud, and listen out very carefully for the stressed and unstressed sounds that our letter string are making.

Here we have some words where we've added our vowel suffixes, "al", "ing", and "ed".

Have a go at saying these words.

In which words is the "fer" a stressed syllable where we can clearly hear it? Pause the video.

Read the words.

See if you can figure it out.

Off you go.

Brilliant job, team.

I loved hearing you say those words there, and I was listening carefully as well to see if I could hear stressed or unstressed sounds.

Referral.

My doctor wrote me a referral to a specialist.

Whoa, do we really clearly hear that there? Yes, I think we can, can't we? Refer.

Referral.

Differing.

I don't clearly hear the "fer" there, do I? And inferred, if you infer something, it's a really useful skill in reading.

It's where we read between the lines and we come to a conclusion based around what we've read but when we've not been explicitly told a piece of information.

I inferred from what he said what he meant.

So we have referral.

Yes, I can clearly hear that letter string there, can't I? Differing, I don't hear it very clearly there, but inferred, yes, I can hear it there.

You'll notice here that where we do clearly hear it, our "r" has been doubled before we've added our vowel suffix.

This affects the spelling of the word.

We've doubled the "r" before adding our suffixes.

So we're gonna look at that in a bit more detail now.

When adding a vowel suffix, and this is a suffix that begins with a vowel, for instance, "ing" or "ed", to a word ending in "fer", that final "r" is doubled if the "fer", that "fer" is still stressed when the ending is added.

So we have here transfer.

It becomes transferred.

I clearly hear that "fer", don't I? So I double the "r" and add my "ed" suffix.

Here we have refer as our root word with that "fer" letter string.

Referral.

Yep, I can clearly hear it there.

Referral.

"Fer" stressed.

Referral.

I can clearly hear it.

So I double the "r" and add my "al" suffix.

The final "r" is not doubled if the "fer", that letter string, is not stressed.

Let's look at some examples of that.

Here we have the root word offer with that "fer" letter string.

Offer.

It's not even stressed in that word, is it? Offering.

Yep, I don't have to double my "r".

I just add my "ing" suffix.

Here we have refer.

Well, it is stressed there, isn't it? But when I add my "ence" suffix, it becomes reference.

I don't say reference.

Reference.

There, it is an unstressed sound, so I just have to add "ence".

Remember, this is a really tricky skill, so you have to listen out really carefully for those stressed and unstressed sounds.

With that in mind, I want you to have a go at adding these vowel suffixes to these root words that contain our "fer" letter string.

How will these "fer" words change when we add the suffix? Do they have stressed or unstressed sounds? Remember to listen out for the stressed "fer" or unstressed "fer".

If it's stressed, you're going to double that "r" before adding your vowel suffix.

If it's not, you leave it and just add your suffix.

Have a go now at adding the suffixes to these words.

Off you go.

Brilliant job, team.

I loved hearing you say these words out loud, and I was listening carefully to see if I could hear that letter string being stressed or unstressed.

Let's have a go.

Defer.

Deferred.

You might defer a place at university and leave it for a year before going.

Defer means to put off to a later time or postpone.

I deferred my place at university, so defer.

Deferred.

Yep, we can clearly hear it here, can't we? Deferred.

So we hear that stressed sound with that "fer" letter string, so we double the "r" before adding our "ed".

Referred.

Yep, again, refer.

Referred, I have a stressed sound there, so I double my "r" and add my "ed".

Reference.

Well, my root word here, refer, has that stressed "fer", but the word reference doesn't, so I just add my "ence" suffix, and buffer becomes buffering.

Again, unstressed, so we just add our "ing" suffix.

Remember, the spelling of the root word, and in particular here, the way that root word sounds when we add that suffix, helps us to spell the new word.

So I'd like you to have a go now completing this table for me to show the spelling of the new word.

So you look at the root word and the suffix and then say them together to say the new word, and listen out for that stressed or unstressed sound.

Offer becomes offered.

Hmm, is that stressed or unstressed? That will have an impact upon the spelling of that root word when I add my vowel suffix.

Pause the video and have a go at spelling those new words now.

Make sure you say them out loud.

Off you go.

Brilliant job, team.

I'm so impressed.

So I'm hoping that you've got something that looked like this.

Make any checks now.

See how you did.

Offer becomes offered.

It's unstressed, so I just add my "ed".

Differ becomes differing.

Again, unstressed, so I can just add my "ing".

Defer becomes deferred.

Remember, that means to postpone or put off.

Deferred, very clearly stressed there, so I double my "r".

Infer becomes inferring.

Remember, that's that reading skill that we often use to come to the conclusion with reasoning rather than being told the answer.

Reference, unstressed, and transferring.

Yep, I really clearly hear that letter string there, so I double my "r" and add my "ing".

I'm hoping you managed to do well there.

Remember, saying the words is really important in this lesson.

So we are now gonna have a go at spelling some words that contain that letter string with some vowel suffixes.

Remember to sound it out.

Identify the stressed syllables for that "fer" letter string.

Think of the spelling rules we've looked at.

If it is stressed, double the "r" before adding your suffix, and if it's not, you can just add your suffix, and don't forget to read the words and check.

The first word is preferred.

Preferred.

He preferred that meal over the other.

The next word is referral.

Number two is referral.

I received a referral from my doctor.

Number three, buffering.

They watched the video buffering.

Number four, inferred.

I inferred what she meant, and number five, difference.

Can you work out the difference between these two numbers for me? Difference.

So our words are preferred, referral, buffering, inferred, difference.

Pause the video and have a go at spelling those words.

Off you go.

Incredible job, team.

This is such a tricky skill, isn't it? You have to listen so carefully.

Let's see how you've done.

Preferred.

Prefer is my root word here.

Preferred.

Oh, I can clearly hear that stressed syllable there.

I double the "r" and add "ed".

Referral.

Referral.

It's my "al" suffix here, and I can really clearly hear that letter string, that stressed syllable, referral, so I double the "r" and add "al".

My next one was buffering.

Buffer.

Well, it's unstressed in that root word as well, isn't it? Buffer.

So I can just add my "ing", buffering.

Watch out for the double F there.

Inferred.

Inferred.

Oh, I can clearly hear that, can't I? I clearly hear that stressed "fer".

Double the "r" and add "ed", and difference.

Be careful with this one.

Differ is our root word, "ffer", but in difference, I don't say difference.

I say difference.

It's unstressed.

So I just add my "ence" vowel suffix.

Great job.

How did you do? Share your learning and make any corrections now.

On to our next learning cycle then, which is strategies to practise.

We are going to practise words with "fer", with that letter string that we've been looking at, both stressed and unstressed.

When practising spellings, it is helpful to focus on words that you find difficult.

This will be unique to you.

The types of words that you might consider choosing could be related with a difficult root, like the words transferred, transferring or transference, words that have the double "r" in them, preferred, referral, deferring, inferring.

It could be words that you found hard from our practise task A, words that you may have got wrong.

Perhaps you got difference or buffering wrong because they don't have that stressed sound.

I want you now to pick five words that are unique to you that you found difficult so far this lesson.

You can pick from the ones that are on the screen right now.

Choose those words now.

Off you go.

Brilliant.

So you've chosen your words.

Then we need to decide the strategy that we're going to use to practise, and this will be unique to the words that you're using.

This could be the look, cover, write, check strategy.

This could be colour blocking and tracing.

I love this strategy.

I'm gonna show you about this in a minute.

It could be the big letter strategy where you write out the word smaller then getting bigger and getting bigger to really concentrate on each letter.

You could find a word in a word and break the words down.

You might even choose naughty letters if the word has particularly difficult letters in it that are tricky.

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

Next, you're obviously going to practise your spellings.

Finally, don't forget to check the spellings against the correctly written words to see if you've written them correctly.

I'm going to give you some example strategies that you might want to use with those five words that you've chosen now.

I'm going to try using our colour blocking to practise the word difference.

Remember to block the words into sections and then colour each block before looking at it closely and writing it out again.

Here we have difference I've written out.

I'm going to block it into "diff" with that double F, "er" because it's not very clear, is it, in difference, and "ence", my suffix.

I'm then going to colour them these three colours.

I then have a look at it carefully, look really closely, and then I have a go at covering it up and writing out again, remembering I had D-I-F-F, E-R, E-N-C-E in those three blocks, "diff", "er", "ence".

Try using this strategy now to practise one of your chosen words.

Off you go.

Brilliant.

I loved seeing how colourful some of those were, and I also loved seeing how you really meticulously broke down those words into the different blocks.

This helps us to visualise, it's a really good visual strategy, each section of the word in turn.

Good job, team.

Another strategy you might choose is the big letter strategy.

I'm going to use this to practise the word referral, which has that double "r" because of that stressed sound.

Remember to look carefully, and then write the word out several times, getting larger each time.

Using your cursive script can really help here as well.

So I have referral, referral even bigger, and finally referral, and I've got that in my mind now, R-E-F, "ref", E-R-R-A-L, referral.

Try using this big letter strategy to practise one of the words you've chosen now.

Off you go.

Great job, team.

I loved seeing you use that strategy to practise.

Remember that using cursive script or cursive handwriting as you practise is really helpful 'cause it makes great links between your hand and your brain.

So I've just exemplified two strategies for you.

I want you to take your five words that you're going to practise now.

Remember, these are unique to you, and I want you to practise your spellings using the strategy you find most helpful.

It could be colour blocking and tracing.

It could be big letters.

It could be look, cover, write, check.

Choose your five words you found most difficult.

You should have these already, and pick your strategies and practise writing them out now.

Off you go.

Brilliant job, team.

Let's have a look at some examples that I've seen children use.

I've seen children practising the word buffering using the look cover, write, check strategy.

So they've looked at it carefully, covered it up, written it out, and managed to spell it correctly.

I've also seen children do colour blocking with the word difference and break it down and spell it correctly, and I've also seen children using our big letter strategy to practise referral, and they've managed to spell that correctly.

Great.

Did you manage to spell your words correctly? What strategy did you use? Share with me or the people around you now the favourite strategy you used and also make any corrections.

Off you go.

Remember to use these strategies as they're really helpful when you're practising your spellings independently as well.

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

Let's read some curriculum words, these words which are going to appear very often in our reading and writing, so it's important we know how to confidently spell them.

Purpose.

I'm not sure what its purpose is.

Suppose.

I suppose you are right.

What do you notice about these spellings? Pause the video.

Read them again.

Compare how they're spelled to how they sound.

Is there anything tricky about them? Off you go.

Brilliant.

Well, I've noticed a couple of things.

They have this "ose" spelling at the end, don't they? In purpose, the letters "ose" sound like the suffix -ous, O-U-S, but it isn't an adjective like most words ending in the -ous suffix.

In suppose, the letters are making a different sound.

In purpose, it's making an "ous".

In suppose, it's making an "ose", and it sounds like O-Z-E, but it's clearly not, is it? It's O-S-E making that O-Z-E sound.

There's also a double "p" in the middle of the word, so be careful.

So quick fire round.

Which of these words that we've just read are spelled correctly? Point to the correct spelling of purpose.

Off you go.

Brilliant.

Purpose.

It's a "ous", but it's not O-U-S.

It's O-S-E.

Purpose.

Point to the correct spelling of suppose.

Brilliant, double P, remember, and it's O-S-E making that O-Z-E sound.

Suppose.

Great.

So we're gonna use a strategy that you may have used earlier now to practise these words.

It's the look, cover, write, check strategy.

This is where you look carefully at the spelling and consider what's difficult about it.

Well, we've got here our O-S-E spelling.

I cover it up, memorise it, write it, and then I check and see if I got it right.

I got it right, but I don't just do it once, even if I get it right first time.

I keep practising that strategy until it's really embedded into my long-term memory.

I want you to have a go at using the look, cover, write, check strategy now to practise the words purpose and suppose.

Off you go.

Great job, team.

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

Did you manage to spell them correctly? Share your learning.

Make any corrections now.

Off you go.

Great job in spelling today.

We've been looking at something quite tricky, where we have to listen out really carefully.

When adding vowel suffixes to words ending in that letter string "fer", the "r" is doubled if that letter string "fer" is still stressed when the ending is added.

The "r" is not doubled if the "fer" letter string is no longer stressed, and remember, we can use a range of strategies to practise spellings and help embed them into our memory.

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