Teacher notes for this lesson. Two sides of A4, not for pupils.Mild sheetMedium sheetSpicy sheetAnswers
Teacher notes · not for pupils Spelling sequence

Sound It, Write It

Segmenting to spell: one grapheme for each phoneme

Lesson 1 of 17
Year 1 45 min

Objective

Say a word, segment it into its phonemes, and write a grapheme for each; recognise common exception words as words that must be learnt by sight.

Board title: Sounding out words  ·  Say it: “Today we're saying a word slowly, counting its sounds on our fingers, and writing one letter, or one letter pair, for every sound we hear.”

Curriculum

  • Y1: spell words containing each of the 40+ phonemes already taught (GPCs)
  • Y1: spell simple CVC and CVCC words by segmenting into phonemes
  • Y1: spell the common exception words (the "tricky" words)
  • Terminology: letter · sound · word · spell (phoneme/grapheme are for you, not them)

Success criteria

  • say a word slowly and count the sounds in it
  • write one letter or letter pair for each sound
  • check a word by sounding it back to myself
  • name a tricky word and say why it is tricky

Key vocabulary

sound · letter · letter pair · word · sound it out · tricky word

Run of the lesson

4 min
Sound-count drill on fingers: cat, pot, chip, whole class, fingers up for each sound. Then show said and ask if the trick works. It doesn't. Say 'hold that thought' and move on.
8 min
Model the two jobs. Write fish sound by sound: three fingers, four letters, let them notice the gap and say the phrase with you, 'sh is one sound wearing two letters'. Then said: do not let anyone segment it, this is look, cover, write, check. Leave the two-jobs slide on screen.
8 min
Stir the Pot on the whiteboard, Mild: levels 1-5 sound out, level 6 is the tricky words, save it for last. Say the sounds aloud together before you tap. If they played Stir the Pot this week, Chilli Farm or Magnet Mix-Up drills the same skill.
5 min
The four vote pairs: the class counts the sounds on fingers before each reveal, then a child says WHY (answers: a-left, b-right, c-right, d-left). When cip and shp come up, name the missing letter pair out loud.
17 min
Worksheet, independent. Circulate on Task 3: the giveaway is a pencil that moves before the fingers do, so make each child count sounds on fingers first. If you catch anyone sounding out their tricky word, s-e-d style, stop them kindly: that one is look, cover, write, check.
3 min
Plenary: two children read a Task 3 word and the class counts its sounds on fingers. Then the class quiz: Polpetta's menu board says Fresh fis and hot chips, say fish slowly, what is the last sound and how many letters does it wear?
On screenSPAGhetti → Stir the Pot → Mild. One screen only; no pupil devices needed. Levels 1-5 are sounded out, level 6 is the tricky words, do that one last. Same skill, different hands: Chilli Farm and Magnet Mix-Up drill it too, so swap if they played Stir the Pot this week.
SPAGhetti · Spelling sequence · Lesson 1 of 17  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils Sound It, Write It · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game entirely. Task 1 is the same content on paper, read the four pairs aloud and vote with thumbs. The lesson still works.
If they're on devicesLesson code SNDSA (on the worksheet footer) opens the right game, locks the café until 10 items are done, then unlocks it as the reward.

Misconceptions to watch for

One letter for every sound. fis, sip, wih. A digraph is one sound in two letters. Say it as a phrase they can repeat: "sh is one sound wearing two letters."

The quiet sound in a cluster goes missing. mik for milk, had for hand, sap for stamp. They write the loud sounds only. Slow the word right down and count on fingers before the pencil moves.

Sounding out a word that will not sound out. sed for said, wos for was, thay for they. Do not let them segment these. Look, cover, write, check, and say why it is different.

Magic e counted as a sound. cak-e, caek. They hear four sounds in cake or lose the e altogether. The e has a job but no sound of its own; teach it as a pattern, not a phoneme.

The three sheets

Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.

Mild

Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.

Medium

The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; in Task 3 pupils choose from a few close options, then use one in a sentence of their own.

Spicy

Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.

Adaptive teaching

  • Support: sound buttons under each word. Task 1, then Task 3 orally with a scribe.
  • SEN: gentle mode on; read Task 2 aloud twice before they edit.
  • Stretch: Task 3 extension, a word with a letter pair and four sounds.
  • EAL: check the sounds that do not exist in their first language, th and short i are the usual two.

Play it

Lesson code SNDSA at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.

SPAGhetti · Spelling sequence · Lesson 1 of 17  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora