ie/ei
The first time we met ie they made an 'eye' sound together.
Now we will see that they also make an 'ee' sound. To make it more confusing they can even turn round and become 'ei' saying 'ee' or 'ay'!
The rule 'i before e except after 'c' is helpful as long as you learn the words that break the rule!
These words should be studied especially diligently.
Can your pupil remind you of any powerful i-e words? What about words in the 'ee' family? Or the 'ea' family. This is where memory does come in as children must learn which letters to use in which word. You may wish to play a revision ee/ea game while studying this group of words.
Help the pupil to chunk words where necessary. Say the word and listen for the natural breaks. They often come after the vowel sound. Remember - each chunk of a word must contain a vowel - or a vowel sound (in the case for example of words with 'y' making a vowel sound.)
Study these words:
Now we will see that they also make an 'ee' sound. To make it more confusing they can even turn round and become 'ei' saying 'ee' or 'ay'!
The rule 'i before e except after 'c' is helpful as long as you learn the words that break the rule!
These words should be studied especially diligently.
Can your pupil remind you of any powerful i-e words? What about words in the 'ee' family? Or the 'ea' family. This is where memory does come in as children must learn which letters to use in which word. You may wish to play a revision ee/ea game while studying this group of words.
Help the pupil to chunk words where necessary. Say the word and listen for the natural breaks. They often come after the vowel sound. Remember - each chunk of a word must contain a vowel - or a vowel sound (in the case for example of words with 'y' making a vowel sound.)
Study these words:
Level 3
ie ee:
field shield chief thief piece
ei ee
ceiling receive deceive (note that 'ie' changes to 'ei' after the 'c'. Note also the soft 'c' next to the 'e'.)
Sheila Keith
Odd words: for spelling
their (spelling regular, sound irregular)
patient patiently (listen to the 'sh' sound made by the 'ti' in these words)
ie ee:
field shield chief thief piece
ei ee
ceiling receive deceive (note that 'ie' changes to 'ei' after the 'c'. Note also the soft 'c' next to the 'e'.)
Sheila Keith
Odd words: for spelling
their (spelling regular, sound irregular)
patient patiently (listen to the 'sh' sound made by the 'ti' in these words)
Dictation:
Spring had now come and today Tom had built a new fence around the field. The lambs were due very soon and he did not want any to escape. He had worked very hard.
That very night, the first lamb was born. Tom had sat in the barn all night. He was numb with cold. He knew it could be a long wait. He listened to the owls hooting. He whistled a happy tune. June gave him a piece of cake and a hot coffee. Around two o' clock in the morning the lamb arrived.
Next morning, Pam and Sam rushed to see the new lamb. Pam took a photo of the new-born lamb with its mother. She knelt very quietly in the pen. She called the lamb Sheila.
Teaching tips:
escape (powerful a-e)
quietly (powerful i-e)
Spring had now come and today Tom had built a new fence around the field. The lambs were due very soon and he did not want any to escape. He had worked very hard.
That very night, the first lamb was born. Tom had sat in the barn all night. He was numb with cold. He knew it could be a long wait. He listened to the owls hooting. He whistled a happy tune. June gave him a piece of cake and a hot coffee. Around two o' clock in the morning the lamb arrived.
Next morning, Pam and Sam rushed to see the new lamb. Pam took a photo of the new-born lamb with its mother. She knelt very quietly in the pen. She called the lamb Sheila.
Teaching tips:
- Check that your pupil is happy writing the words below before doing the dictation. They all have sound already taught:
escape (powerful a-e)
quietly (powerful i-e)
- Teach use of the word 'its'. Many write 'it's' as all other times when we talk of something belonging to someone we use an apostrophe. But this means 'it is'. Teach the pupil to think whether s/he wants to write 'it is' or just 'its', belonging to.
- In this dictation we have introduced paragraphs. Read the dictation to your pupil first. Then read it again and stop after the first paragraph. Explain that this part is all about what Tom had done today. What had he done? Made a fence. Now read the second paragraph. What does it tell us? It tells us what happened that night. The first lamb was born.Now read the last paragraph. It talks of the next morning. Three different times: the day, the night, the next morning. Explain to your pupil how we have divided these different times into different sections. We call them paragraphs. Support your pupil as s/he writes to organise his/her writing into paragraphs. Your pupil will need a lot of support to do this in the weeks ahead.