New
New
Year 2

The 's' spellings, including 'ss' and 'c'

I can spell words containing two representations of the ‘s’ phoneme: 'ss' and 'c'.

New
New
Year 2

The 's' spellings, including 'ss' and 'c'

I can spell words containing two representations of the ‘s’ phoneme: 'ss' and 'c'.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. 's' is the most common representation of the 's' phoneme at the start of a word.
  2. 'c' is sometimes used to represent the 's' phoneme before 'i','e' or 'y'.
  3. ss' is often used at the end of a word after a short vowel.
  4. How to spell the common exception words: path and bath.

Common misconception

Children may think 'ce' represents the 's' sound in 'ice' and 'face'.

Use sound buttoning as a strategy when you know it will reinforce the spelling pattern (it doesn't always work).

Keywords

  • Short vowel - a vowel sound that sounds short when spoken like "a" in "cat" or "o" sound in "hot"

  • Soft c - the soft 'c' sounds like 's' in words like "city."

The words 'path' and 'bath' may not be exception words depending on regional accents. If pronounced 'a' rather than 'ar' then it is a regular spelling and doesn't need to be taught as a common exception word.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: Please __________ a question.
arsck
axs
aks
Correct answer: ask
arsk
Q2.
Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: She __________ that it is time for bed.
sez
seys
sezz
Correct answer: says
Q3.
Which of these words contain the 's' sound?
Correct answer: sock
Correct answer: hiss
car
shop
Q4.
Choose the representation of the 's' sound that matches the words.
Correct Answer:sad,s

s

Correct Answer:kiss,ss

ss

Correct Answer:race,ce

ce

Q5.
What kind of sound is the 's' sound?
Correct answer: consonant
vowel
short vowel
long vowel
Q6.
What is a homophone?
Correct answer: A word that sounds the same as another but has a different spelling and meaning.
The smallest unit of sound in a word.
A letter, or group of letters, that represent a phoneme.

6 Questions

Q1.
Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: He walked along the...
parth
Correct answer: path
paff
parf
Q2.
Which words contain the 'ss' spelling of the 's' sound?
mist
Correct answer: kiss
Correct answer: loss
face
Q3.
Which words contain the 'c' spelling of the 's' sound?
Correct answer: ice
Correct answer: fancy
bus
Correct answer: city
class
Q4.
Choose the representation of the 'c' sound that matches the words.
Correct Answer:face,c

c

Correct Answer:hissed,ss

ss

Correct Answer:sun,s

s

Q5.
Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: I have two eyes on my...
fays
fase
Correct answer: face
Q6.
Correct the spelling of the word spelt incorrectly in the following sentence: I don't want to mis my bus today.
Correct Answer: miss, miss., Miss, Miss.

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