Reception English and phonics: Reading short phrases
Part of the Reception English and phonics blending words chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Reading short phrases
Read the phrase a red hen. Read each word in order: a, red, hen.
Now read a big dog. The main word is dog. The picture shows the dog.
hen
dog
Key ideas
- Read a phrase from left to right, one word at a time.
- Blend each word, then put the words together.
- The main word is the thing in the picture.
hen
pen
pig
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | red | hen
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a red hen
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.hen
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows hen. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
dog
cat
pig
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | big | dog
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a big dog
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.dog
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows dog. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
pig
hen
pen
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | pig | in | a | pen
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a pig in a pen
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.pig
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows pig. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
Watch out
Watch out: the small word a is still a word. Read it as /a/, then go on to the next word.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Point to each word as the child reads it. Ask: “Which word is the thing in the picture?”
Exercise 6E Reading phrases
hen
pen
pig
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | red | hen
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a red hen
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.hen
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows hen. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
cat
pig
dog
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | big | dog
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a big dog
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.dog
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows dog. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
rug
cat
dog
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | wet | cat
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a wet cat
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.cat
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows cat. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
sun
boat
moon
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | hot | sun
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a hot sun
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.sun
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows sun. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
hen
pen
pig
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | pig | in | a | pen
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a pig in a pen
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.pig
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows pig. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
pig
dad
mum
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | sad | dad
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a sad dad
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.dad
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows dad. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | cat | on | a | mat
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a cat on a mat
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.cat
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows cat. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
bus
bed
bell
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | big | bus
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a big bus
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.bus
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows bus. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
duck
dog
cup
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | red | duck
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a red duck
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.duck
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows duck. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
Method. Find the small word a, then look at the next word.
- Read a red hen. Read the words in order.a - red - hen
- Find a. a is the first word.a
- Find the next word. The word after a is red.red
Check. The phrase is a red hen. ✓
Watch out. Count the words in the phrase from the start.
hen
pig
pen
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | wet | hen
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a wet hen
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.hen
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows hen. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
sun
moon
boat
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | sad | sun
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a sad sun
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.sun
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows sun. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
Method. Read the words in order.
- Read A cat sat. Read each word, one at a time.a - cat - sat
- Find the animal. cat is an animal.cat
- Write the answer. cat
Check. The animal in the sentence is a cat. ✓
Watch out. Start the sentence with a capital A.
Method. Read each word in order. Blend the sounds of each word, then find the picture of the main word.
- Read the words one at a time. Blend each word with its sounds.a | hot | dog
- Put the words together. Read the phrase from left to right.a hot dog
- Find the picture of the main word. The main word is the thing in the picture.dog
Check. Read the phrase again. The picture shows dog. ✓
Watch out. Read from left to right. Do not skip the small words, like a.
pig
pen
Method. Look at the words in the phrase.
- Read the phrase. Find the picture words in it.pig, pen
- Choose the main word. The main word is the thing that the phrase is about.pig
- Give your answer. Say whether Ravi is right.Accept any answer that says no: the phrase has two pictures, pig and pen, and the main word is pig.
Check. The main word is pig. ✓
Watch out. Find the main word and check each picture word.