Year 1 English: oo, ar and or: the two sounds of oo
Part of the Year 1 English two letters, one sound (digraphs) chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
oo, ar and or: the two sounds of oo
The letters oo make two sounds. In moon and boot the oo sound is long. In book and foot the oo sound is short. You will need to remember which is which.
The letters ar make the sound in car. The letters or make the sound in fork.
| Letters | Example words |
|---|---|
| oo (long, as in moon) | moon, boot, spoon, food |
| oo (short, as in book) | book, foot, good, wood |
| ar | car, star, park, shark |
| or | fork, horn, corn, short |
Key ideas
- oo can be long, as in moon, or short, as in book.
- ar is the sound in car.
- or is the sound in fork.
- Put each digraph in one sound box.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.b - oo - k
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: oo.b | oo | k
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. b, oo, k
Check. Push the boxes together again: b + oo + k makes book. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of oo in one box. Do not split oo into separate letters.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a car.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.c | ar
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.car
Check. Read the sounds back in order: c - ar makes car. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of ar together, in one box.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.f
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.f - or - k
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.fork
- Write the answer. fork
Check. Split the word back into sounds: f, or, k. ✓
Watch out. Say or as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Watch out
Watch out: or and ar look alike. fork has or, and park has ar. Also, oo can be long or short. Say the word in your head, then choose.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Put moon and book side by side. Say both words out loud and see which oo sound each one has. Then sort more words into two groups: long oo and short oo.
Exercise 2D Reading and splitting oo, ar and or words
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a moon.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.m | oo | n
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.moon
Check. Read the sounds back in order: m - oo - n makes moon. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of oo together, in one box.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a car.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.c | ar
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.car
Check. Read the sounds back in order: c - ar makes car. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of ar together, in one box.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a fork.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.f | or | k
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.fork
Check. Read the sounds back in order: f - or - k makes fork. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of or together, in one box.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a shark.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.sh | ar | k
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.shark
Check. Read the sounds back in order: sh - ar - k makes shark. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of sh together, in one box.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.s - p - oo - n
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: oo.s | p | oo | n
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.4 sounds
- Write the answer. s, p, oo, n
Check. Push the boxes together again: s + p + oo + n makes spoon. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of oo in one box. Do not split oo into separate letters.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.b - oo - k
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: oo.b | oo | k
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. b, oo, k
Check. Push the boxes together again: b + oo + k makes book. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of oo in one box. Do not split oo into separate letters.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.h - or - n
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: or.h | or | n
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. h, or, n
Check. Push the boxes together again: h + or + n makes horn. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of or in one box. Do not split or into separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.b
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.b - oo - k
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.book
- Write the answer. book
Check. Split the word back into sounds: b, oo, k. ✓
Watch out. Say oo as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.f
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.f - or - k
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.fork
- Write the answer. fork
Check. Split the word back into sounds: f, or, k. ✓
Watch out. Say or as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.p
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.p - ar - k
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.park
- Write the answer. park
Check. Split the word back into sounds: p, ar, k. ✓
Watch out. Say ar as one sound, not as two separate letters.
st?
Method. Look at the picture, then find the letters for the missing sound.
- Look at the picture. The picture shows the whole word.The picture shows a star.
- Find the missing sound. The gap is one sound, so it can need two or three letters.Missing sound: ar
- Write the letters in the gap. Fill the gap, then read the whole word again.ar
Check. Put ar in the gap and read the word: star. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of the digraph in the gap, not just one.
Method. Think of the long oo sound in the example word moon. Check each word in the list.
- Check each word with oo. book, boot, foot, spoon and good all have the letters oo.book, boot, foot, spoon, good
- Say each one with the long sound, as in moon. boot and spoon sound like moon. book, foot and good are short.long: boot, spoon
- Write the long ones. boot, spoon
Check. boot and spoon have the long oo sound, as in moon. ✓
Watch out. Both words have the same letters, oo, but the sound is different. Think of the example words.
Method. Look at the letters in each word, and find the one that is not ar.
- Look at car, farm and park. Each of these has the letters ar.car, farm, park: ar
- Look at fork. fork has the letters or, not ar.fork: or
- Write the odd one out. fork
Check. car, farm and park have ar. fork has or. ✓
Watch out. Look at the letters in the middle of each word.
Method. Look at the letters in fork and in park.
- Look at fork. The vowel letters are o and r. They make or.f - or - k
- Look at park. The vowel letters are a and r. They make ar.p - ar - k
- Compare them. They are different letters, so they make different sounds.No. Fork has or. Park has ar.
Check. Read the boxes: f | or | k and p | ar | k. The boxes are different. ✓
Watch out. The word fork and the word park look alike, but the middle letters are different.
Method. Write one word with or and one word with ar. Explain the difference.
- Think of a word with or. Look for the letters o and r together.fork
- Think of a word with ar. Look for the letters a and r together.park
- Explain the difference. or and ar make different sounds, so the spelling is different.fork: or; park: ar
Check. fork: f | or | k. park: p | ar | k. ✓
Watch out. The letters or and ar make different sounds. Think about the example words.