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New
Year 3

Spelling the 'ay' sound with 'ei' or 'ea'

I can spell words with the ‘ay’ sound using ‘ei' or 'ea'.

New
New
Year 3

Spelling the 'ay' sound with 'ei' or 'ea'

I can spell words with the ‘ay’ sound using ‘ei' or 'ea'.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Common spellings for the 'ay' phoneme are 'ay', 'a-e' and 'ai'.
  2. Alternative and rarer spellings for the 'ay' phoneme are 'ei', 'eigh', 'ea', 'a' and 'ey'.
  3. When exploring words including the same phoneme, you often find homophones.
  4. Using the strategy 'big letters' is a useful practice strategy.
  5. Words in word families often have similar spellings.

Keywords

  • Phoneme - the smallest unit of sound

  • Grapheme - the letter or group of letters that represent a sound

  • Rare - rare spellings are spellings which appear less frequently

  • Homophone - words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings

Common misconception

Children may forget the most common spellings and use the most recently learnt spellings.

Always emphasise prior learning. Show examples of words including incorrect and correct spellings to discuss (e.g. train and trean).

Some children may not know the meaning of the some of the words required to spell. Supplement with images and sentences to provide meaning.
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).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the common 'ay' spelling to the word.
Correct Answer:ay,clay

clay

Correct Answer:a-e,plate

plate

Correct Answer:ai,fail

fail

Q2.
Match the rare 'ay' spelling to the word.
Correct Answer:a,apron

apron

Correct Answer:eigh,sleigh

sleigh

Correct Answer:ey,they

they

Q3.
Correct the spelling in bold in this sentence. I was layt to school.
Correct answer: late
lait
lat
leyt
Q4.
Correct the spelling in bold in this sentence. I way the ingredients for my recipe.
wai
wey
Correct answer: weigh
Q5.
What is the correct spelling for the word in bold in this sentence? The bird swooped to catch its pray.
prai
preigh
Correct answer: prey
Q6.
Correct the spelling in this sentence. I wore an aypron to protect my clothes.
Correct Answer: apron

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the rare spellings of the 'ay' phoneme to the word.
Correct Answer:ei,vein

vein

Correct Answer:ea,break

break

Correct Answer:a,apricot

apricot

Q2.
Which word is a homophone for the word 'grate'?
greet
Correct answer: great
green
Q3.
Which word is a homophone for the word 'break'?
Correct answer: brake
beak
bake
Q4.
Correct the spelling in bold in this sentence. Queen Elizabeth's rain lasted a long time.
rein
Correct answer: reign
rane
Q5.
Which of these spellings for the 'ay' phoneme like to be in the middle of words?
ay
Correct answer: ei
ey
Correct answer: eigh
Correct answer: ai
Q6.
Correct the spelling in bold in this sentence. My vain in my arm pumps the blood around my body.
Correct Answer: vein, veins

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