Lesson video

Hi there, I'm Mr. Moss.

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

With you, for today's spelling lesson, you're going to 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.

Let's get into today's spelling lesson then.

In this spelling lesson, we're going to be spelling more homophones.

The outcome will be, I can identify the correct spelling of a homophone based on its context.

Here are the key words for today's learning.

My turn, your turn.

Homophone.

Word class.

Context.

Brilliant.

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

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.

Word class refers to different types of words that are used to form sentences.

Adjectives, nouns, verbs and adverbs are examples of word class.

And the context is the surrounding words or sentences that help determine the meaning of a word or phrase.

To that context, we'll decide which homophone it is that we'll use.

And again, dependent on that context, on the homophone, homophones can have different word class.

Here's the outline for today's learning.

Just two learning cycles.

Looking at homophones and some examples and spotting them, and then practise and apply our spellings.

Let's get on with looking at some homophones then.

Homophones sound the same but have different meanings.

The word homophone itself can be broken down into the first part, homo, which we get from the Greek homos, meaning one and same, and phone, meaning sound.

So it means same sound.

Let's look at some examples.

Walk to the end of the road and turn right after the traffic lights.

When we move house, you could write to your friends regularly.

In this first sentence, this is about being correct, being right, R I G H T.

In the second sentence, it's about writing, a silent W, the act of writing with a pen or pencil.

They sound exactly alike, but they're spelled differently and have different meanings.

If we were to switch them around the sentences then wouldn't make sense because those homophones wouldn't make sense in the other context.

Although these words sound the same when spoken, they have different spellings and different meanings, and we call these homophones.

True or false, homophones are words that have the same spelling but different meanings.

Could you also justify your answer? Pause the video, off you go.

Brilliant.

Homophones are words that have the same spelling but different meanings, this is false.

They're not homonyms. Homonyms will be words that would have the same spelling and might be pronounced the same or might be pronounced differently and would have the same meanings.

Homophones sound the same, remember, but have different spellings and different meanings.

So we're gonna read some homophones now.

My turn, your turn.

Practise.

Licence.

Prophecy.

A prophecy is a prediction that is made.

Sell.

Scent.

A scent is a smell.

Tail, like the tail of animal.

Cereal, like the cereal you might eat.

Now these words are all homophones.

I'm wondering if you recognise these words' definition compared to their homophones, and if you know the homophones already that are spelled differently.

They sound the same as other words, and you may know some of these already, but they have different spellings and meanings.

So here are some examples of the homophones.

So we have two forms of practise.

We're gonna be looking really closely at the difference between this practise with a C E and this practise with an S E today, along with the difference between these two forms of a licence, alongside prophecy as well.

One of those is a noun, one of those is the verb.

We also have cell, one beginning with an S and one beginning with that soft C.

If I sell you something that's S E L L, cell with a C might be the cells of an organism.

Then we have three types of scent.

Scent with a S C is a smell, sent with just an S is I sent you away, and cent with a C is a monetary unit.

I brought it for 10 cents.

Tail, it could be the tail of an animal, T A I L or tale, T A L E, I told you a tale.

And cereal, this one at the bottom, we have a C and an S.

Cereal with a C is (Mr. Moss mimicking munching) that cereal you might eat, and serial with an S could mean a couple of things, one of them being something that's part of a series.

So there's a link there in the spelling and the meaning.

The way a word is spelt and its place within a sentence will tell us its meaning.

We can call this its context.

Remember that was one of our key words.

Can you spot the homophones in these sentences? Read both of these sentences now, see if you can spot the homophones.

Off you go.

Brilliant.

They sell fresh vegetables in the market.

The prisoner's cell was grim and bare.

Our homophone here is cell.

We have one spelled S E L L, the action of selling something and the other one, C E L L, here is that noun, that small space in which a prisoner might live, their prison cell.

Homophones can belong to different word classes.

Knowing their meaning helps us to understand and spell them.

If we think about the cell that we just looked at, both of them, S E L L is that verb.

It's a doing word.

You're selling something.

But cell, C E L L was that prison cell.

It was a noun.

The word sell here, S E L L refers to exchanging something for money.

They sell fresh vegetables in the market.

The word cell, C E L L, means a very small room.

The prisoner cell was grim and bare.

It also has other meanings.

This C E L L can be a homonym, a word that's spelt the same but can have different meanings as well.

As in, all living things are made up of cells.

We also have cells in spreadsheets that we use in computing.

Can we use the context here of the sentence to figure out the meaning? All living things are made of cells.

What do you think this type of cell might be? Pause the video and have a think.

Brilliant.

Well, let's read that sentence again.

All living things are made of cells.

Well, it's the things that make up living things.

Those cells, they're part of that living organism.

It is a noun.

So with that in mind, and with those homophones that we just looked at, could you select the correct spelling in each sentence? The context will help you.

Pause the video, read the sentences, and select the correct spelling of the homophone.

Off you go.

Brilliant job, team.

The scientist observed the cell under a microscope.

Now would our S E L L make sense here? That action of selling something? No, it's gonna be our noun, our C E L L, the things that make up living organisms. A monk meditated in a cell in the mountains.

Again, would our verb there, selling something, S E L L, work? No.

It's going to be that small room, a cell, a noun.

And I'm going to sell cakes at the school fair.

Would our C E L L work here? That noun? A thing? No, it's our verb.

It's the doing word.

S E L L, sell.

Brilliant.

Remember, looking at the context of words around it, its place in the sentence will help us choose the correct homophone.

Unlike many of the other rules that you would've looked at in spellings, particularly adding prefixes and suffixes, there really are no patterns for homophones.

We just need to learn them.

The meaning and word class of homophones can be determined by their context and their position within a sentence.

Homophones can belong to a range of word classes.

They can be adjectives, they can be verbs, they can be nouns.

So listen to these two sentences.

Can you spot the homophones? The dental practise is always busy.

You must practise your spellings before the test next week.

Read those sentences.

Listen out for the homophones and find them.

Off you go.

Brilliant.

So our homophones here are practise and practise.

They sound exactly same, don't they? But you'll notice there's a slight difference in their spelling.

One is C E and one is S E.

And we're gonna be spending some time now considering the difference between our C E and our S E in many homophones.

We can use the context of the sentence here to work out the meaning of the word as well as it's word class.

So the dental practise is a noun.

It's a place.

It's a building.

It's where you go to have your teeth checked.

You must practise your spellings.

In this instance, it's a verb.

It is that action of practising them.

So our S E here is a verb and our C E is a noun.

(Mr. Moss humming) I wonder if there's going to be a pattern there that we can use to help us remember some different homophones.

Read these two sentences now and see if you can spot the homophones.

Off you go.

Excellent.

You need to be 17 before you get a driving licence.

They will need to licence the shop before it can sell anything.

So our homophones here are licence and licence.

Again, we have the difference being C E and SE at the end of the word, but they sound the same.

Just like practise and practise with C E and S E, you can see that the noun ends in C E and the verb ends in S E.

So that driving licence is that thing that you need to have to drive.

They will need to licence, it's a doing word.

It's a verb.

It's the act of getting that licence to be able to do the things like selling things in a shop.

So with that in mind, with that rule, C E being a noun and S E being verbs, think about the context of these sentence and the word classes that are needed to complete them.

Read the sentences now and choose the correct spelling of the homophones.

Off you go.

Brilliant job, team.

I'm really impressed.

And some really great thinking going on here.

Homophones are really difficult, so you're working really hard.

Keep it up.

Visit the practise for your flu vaccination.

Well, you're going to a place there, aren't you? So it's going to be a noun, a PPT, person, place or thing.

Our C E is that noun spelling, isn't it? It's not going to be a verb with our S E.

Practise your lines for the school play tonight.

That's something you need to do.

It's a doing word.

It's a verb.

So it's our S E spelling.

The librarian must licence the new books when they arrive.

That's something the librarian must do.

So it's a verb, a doing word.

It's not going to be a noun, it's going to be that S E spelling.

You need a fishing licence to fish in this river.

That's a thing that you must have.

It's a noun.

So it's our C E spelling.

Knowing the word class of word in a sentence can sometimes help us to spell it correctly then.

If we know whether it's a noun or a verb, that might help us with certain homophones.

The ancient book foretold of a (Mr. Moss humming) about a hero that would save the kingdom from darkness.

The wise old woman respected, sorry, was respected because she could (Mr. Moss humming) about future events.

The homophone that we want to put into these sentences is prophecy.

Read the sentences, consider which sentence requires a noun and which sentence requires a verb.

Remember we've said our spelling with an S will be a verb and our spelling of a C will be a noun.

Can you sort this homophone prophecy into the correct sentences? Off you go.

Brilliant.

So the ancient book foretold of a prophecy about a hero that would save the kingdom from darkness.

In this instance, it is prophecy as a noun.

So it's our spelling with a C.

It's a prophecy as in the prediction of what will happen.

The noun.

The wise old woman was respected because she could prophesy about the future events.

This is her making the prediction.

It's the act of making the prediction.

It's a verb, it's a doing word.

So it's our S Y spelling here.

With this in mind and with what we've been looking at with that C E or the S E, or the C Y or the S Y, can you use the spelling of each of these words to help identify the word class.

Which will go in our noun column, which will go in our verb column? Think about what we've been learning about.

Pause the video and sort these words now.

Off you go.

Fantastic job, team.

Really careful consideration of the spellings there of these homophones.

So practise with a C E and licence with a CE are examples of nouns, whereas practise with an S E and prophesy with an S Y are examples of verbs.

They're actions, they're things that you can do.

So for our practise task now, what you are going to do for me is listen to me read out some sentences and I want you to listen very carefully and choose the correct homophone to fill in the gap.

Remember to consider word class, the context of the sentence to help you.

Before driving a car, you need a licence, a thing, a noun, to show you are capable.

Number two, the prisoner shared his cell with another, or with one other person, sorry.

Number three, my Nan always says, "Practise makes perfect." As a hobby, I like to buy and sell stamps.

And number five, they lived in fear that the prophecy would come true.

So I'll say these again.

Number one, licence.

Think about the context.

Number two, sell.

Number three, practise.

Number four, sell.

And number five, prophecy.

Pause the video now.

Put the correct spellings of the homophones into these sentences.

Off you go.

Excellent job, team.

Great work.

So let's see how you've done.

Before driving a car, you need a licence.

It's our C E spelling because it's a noun, to show you are capable.

The prisoner shared his cell with one other person.

Again, our C spelling.

It's a noun, isn't it? Cell here is that room, that small room.

My Nan always says, "Practise makes perfect." That's our S E spelling, because that's something you are doing, something you have to do.

It's a verb.

As a hobby, I like to buy and sell stamps.

It's our S spelling.

It's a verb.

It's something you do.

And they lived in fear that the prophecy would come true.

This is our C Y spelling because it's our noun here.

Great job.

Pause the video now, share your learning and make any corrections.

Onto our final learning cycle then, which is to practise and apply spellings.

So let's read some curriculum words.

My turn, your turn.

Temperature.

The temperature outside is very warm.

Aggressive.

She played the game aggressively.

So what do you notice about these spellings? Is there anything unique or interesting about them? Say the words again.

Is there anything maybe tricky about them? Pause the video and have a think.

Brilliant.

So I've noticed a couple of things.

Temperature is a really interesting word 'cause it only has three syllables, temperature, but it has then a really unstressed vowel sound in the middle.

I don't say temperature, so be careful.

Watch out for that E, it could be very easy to misspell.

Also, that temperature that T U R E making that ch at the end there, watch out for that.

In aggressive, we have a double G and a double S that can sometimes be mistaken for single letters.

It also has effectively a silent E at the end that we don't clearly hear.

Aggressive.

Quick fire round.

Which of the words that we've just read, those curriculum words, are spelled correctly? Point to the correct spelling of temperature.

Go.

Great job.

Remember it has that unstressed E in the middle, doesn't it? Temperature.

Great.

And aggressive.

Point to it now.

Brilliant.

Remember we have that double G and that double S and that naughty E at the end.

Aggressive.

So we can come up with our own ideas to help us to remember spelling, the spelling of homophones.

Each morning, I have a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

This is the cereal you eat.

C E R E A L.

What is your favourite television serial to watch? S E R I A and L, meaning series.

Look at the letters that are different in each one.

We have a C E R E A L and then S E R I A L.

You could think of the C in cereal as looking like a bowl on its side.

The E instead of I can be remembered as something that we eat early in the morning.

How are you going to have a try and remember these spellings? Pause the video now and have a think.

Try and be creative.

Off you go.

Excellent.

Some really creative ideas there.

Whatever works for you.

Whatever helps you to remember the spelling of these tricky homophones.

So I'm going to look at some homophones.

I'm going to look at tail and tale.

Tail, T A I L, as in the tail of an animal, and tale, T A L E as in a traditional folk tale.

I will come up with a way to remember how to spell them.

A tail is the last part of the animal, and the word tail ends in the letter L.

L for last.

A tale often finishes with, "The end." So tale ends with an E.

E for end.

That's how I'm going to remember the difference between tail and tale.

You will look at these homophones, sent, scent, and cent.

Can you think of a way that might help you remember how to spell these? Pause the video and have a think now.

Brilliant.

Remember sent, S E N T, as I sent something by post.

Scent, S C, is a smell.

And cent with a C is an amount of money.

Spelling rules can help us to know how to spell words, but we also need to practise.

When we practise, we remember the words more easily.

We get better at noticing how they're spelled and what might be tricky about them, and we feel far more confident when using them.

There are loads of spelling strategies that we can use, but when spelling homophones, it's particularly useful to use the naughty letters strategy.

My turn, your turn.

Naughty letters.

Great.

The naughty letters strategy helps us in several ways.

The first is that we have to look, as always with spelling practise, we're very carefully paying close attention to the spelling and any tricky parts.

And this is great with homophones 'cause we can look at the parts that are different in those words that sound similar.

Then we copy the word out correctly but we write out that tricky part larger than any other part.

We pay close attention to the letters of the spelling that we might forget.

We can even draw a naughty face on it as well to help us remember.

Here are some examples of see and sea, those homophones.

See as in E E with our eyes, and I've drawn some eyes on it, and then sea as in the waves of the salty sea, I've drawn waves underneath.

We can be really creative with the way that we draw these naughty letters.

So what order do these go in for this strategy? Pause the video now and put 'em in the correct order.

Go.

Excellent.

Always, always, always look carefully and then copy with a naughty letter, larger, potentially with a naughty face.

It's really important in whatever strategy we're using we look carefully at the spellings before we practise them.

So what I want you to do is to choose three spellings to practise using naughty letters.

Choose the spellings that you found most difficult in this lesson.

I'm going to choose cereal that you eat, C E R E A L, and scent like a smell 'cause of that S C at the beginning, and temperature because of that E in the middle, which isn't clearly heard, that unstressed vowel sound in that polysyllabic word.

Pause the video now, choose three words and have a go at looking at them carefully, considering what the naughty letter is, writing them out with that letter larger and maybe even adding a naughty face.

Off you go, team.

Brilliant.

Lovely, lovely, lovely work.

I love seeing you there, really carefully looking at the words and considering what were the tricky parts about those homophones.

I've chosen cereal, as I said, and that C at the beginning for me was probably the naughtiest letter.

So I've written that out large, much larger than the rest.

And then our naughty C in scent that we don't clearly hear.

And that unstressed vowel, E in temperature.

Did you enjoy writing this way? Share with me now your naughty letters.

Make any corrections if you need to.

Remember to always check back against the original spelling to make sure you've spelt them correctly.

Share and check now.

Off you go.

Great job in spelling today, team.

We've been looking at homophones.

Homophones are words that sound the same, but they have different spellings and meanings.

The meaning and word class of homophones can be determined by their context, their position within a sentence and the words around them.

There are no spelling rules for homophones, so we must learn them by sight and use some practise strategies to help us remember them.

Remember looking for those naughty letters is a really useful spelling strategy when remembering how to spell tricky words.

Keep up the great spelling and keep an ear out for those homophones in your reading.

I'll see you again soon.