The alternative /j spelling

The children have been exploring the alternative /j phoneme in words. They have looked at the spelling rules of:

/g makes a /j sound when  followed by an e, i or y - giant, energy, gel, gem.

/ge make a /j sound following a long vowel sound - age, cage, page, rage.

/dge makes a /j sound following a short vowel sound - ledge, bridge, badge, edge.

Adding the suffix -ing to words

This week the children have been learning the spelling rule of adding the suffix -ing to words that have a short vowel sound as the penultimate sound.

The spelling rule is: double the last consonant and add -ing.

For example:

spin --------> spinning

begin --------> beginning

nod --------> nodding

chat --------> chatting

stop -------> stopping

The other rule the children learnt to do with adding the suffix -ing was that if a verb ends in the spelling /ie you change the ie to a y and add ing.

For example:

lie ------> lying

tie ------> tying

die ------> dying

Next week the children will learn how to add -ing to words ending in 'e', so watch this space! 

The /igh sound spelt y at the end of a word

This week the children have been learning the /igh sound at the end of words. They children are starting to distinguish between if it is a /y spelling or and /ie spelling.

For example:

try, by, cry, fly, sly, why, and dry.

Silent letters - kn and gn

This week the children have been learning words that are spelt with the silent k and g.

For example:

knight, knee, know, knew, gnaw, gnat and gnome.

We started to look at homophones this week, so children could see the difference between knight and night in context.

Suffixes - Adding -ly

This week the children have been learning how to change adjectives into adverbs by adding the -ly suffix.

For example:

slowly, quickly, nearly, sadly, badly, beautifully.

Adding the suffix y to a word.

There are two spelling rules the children need to remember.

1) If the word has a short vowel, double the last consonant and add y.

For example:

runny, funny, boggy, foggy, muddy, nutty, smoggy, and sunny.

2) If the word ends in the letter e, drop the e and add the y.

For example:

shiny, juicy, noisy, spicy, icy, greasy, bony and lazy.

Soft c

The s sound is spelt with a c if it is before e i and y.

For example

city, cycle, exercise, fancy, race, ice, cell.

The or sound spelt al or all

Common words spelt using this rule are:

all, ball, call, fall, walk, talk, stalk, always.