Year 1 English: Section 2: harder sounds and longer words
Part of the Year 1 English phonics check practice chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
Section 2: harder sounds and longer words
Section 2 has harder sounds. Some sounds are made with two letters, like sh in ship and ch in chin. Some are made with three letters, like igh in light. Some are vowel sounds, like ai in rain and oo in moon.
Section 2 also has longer words. A long word is often two small words put together. Sunshine is sun and shine. Read the small words first, then read the whole word.
| Section 2: harder sounds and longer words | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 ship | 22 thop | 23 fern | 24 shoff |
| 25 bath | 26 chume | 27 ring | 28 phim |
| 29 hair | 30 jipe | 31 boat | 32 vope |
| 33 light | 34 moop | 35 rain | 36 sheek |
| 37 bike | 38 ponkib | 39 sunshine | 40 dreep |
Key ideas
- sh, ch, th, ng, nk, wh and ph are two letters that make one sound.
- igh is three letters that make one sound.
- Vowel sounds such as ai, ee, oa and oo go in one box.
- A longer word can be read as two small words.
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.ch - i - n
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: ch.ch | i | n
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. ch, i, n
Check. Push the boxes together again: ch + i + n makes chin. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of ch together in one box. Do not split them 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 read the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.th
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.th - o - p
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.thop
- Write the answer. thop
Check. Split the word back into sounds: th, o, p. ✓ This is a made-up word, so there is no meaning to think about. Read the sounds.
Watch out. Say th as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Key words. A long word can be two small words put together.
Method. Look for two small words inside the long word.
- Say the long word slowly. Listen for where it breaks into two small words.seaside
- Read each small word on its own. Each small word can be read by itself.sea and side
- Write the two small words. sea, side
Check. Put the two small words together again: sea + side makes seaside. ✓
Watch out. Read the small words first, then read the whole long word again.
Watch out
Watch out: th is one sound in thop. Do not read it as t and h.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Write the two-letter and three-letter sounds on cards, such as sh, ch and igh. Ask your child to find the card for the first sound of a word.
Exercise 12D Harder sounds and longer words
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.sh - i - p
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: sh.sh | i | p
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. sh, i, p
Check. Push the boxes together again: sh + i + p makes ship. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of sh together in one box. Do not split them 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.r - i - ng
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: ng.r | i | ng
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. r, i, ng
Check. Push the boxes together again: r + i + ng makes ring. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of ng together in one box. Do not split them into separate letters.
Method. Find the two letters at the start of whale.
- Say whale in sound boxes. The first box has two letters.wh | a-e | l
- Find the first box. The first box is wh, one sound.wh
- Write the answer. wh
Check. Read the start: wh, then the rest of whale. ✓
Watch out. wh is one sound. Write both letters together.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to read the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.ph
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.ph - i - m
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.phim
- Write the answer. phim
Check. Split the word back into sounds: ph, i, m. ✓ This is a made-up word, so there is no meaning to think about. Read the sounds.
Watch out. Say ph as one sound, not as two 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 - a - th
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: th.b | a | th
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. b, a, th
Check. Push the boxes together again: b + a + th makes bath. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of th together in one box. Do not split them 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.l - igh - t
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: igh.l | igh | t
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. l, igh, t
Check. Push the boxes together again: l + igh + t makes light. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of igh together in one box. Do not split them 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.m - oo - n
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: oo.m | oo | n
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. m, oo, n
Check. Push the boxes together again: m + oo + n makes moon. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of oo together in one box. Do not split them into separate letters.
Method. Look at the start of each word.
- Look at chin. chin starts with ch.chin: ch
- Look at shop. shop starts with sh, one sound.shop: sh
- Look at thin. thin starts with th, a different sound.thin: th
- Write the answer. shop
Check. Only shop starts with the sh sound. ✓
Watch out. sh, ch and th look alike. Read each start slowly.
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.sh - o - ff
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: sh, ff.sh | o | ff
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. sh, o, ff
Check. Push the boxes together again: sh + o + ff makes shoff. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of sh together in one box. Do not split them into separate letters.
Key words. A long word can be two small words put together.
Method. Look for two small words inside the long word.
- Say the long word slowly. Listen for where it breaks into two small words.sunshine
- Read each small word on its own. Each small word can be read by itself.sun and shine
- Write the two small words. sun, shine
Check. Put the two small words together again: sun + shine makes sunshine. ✓
Watch out. Read the small words first, then read the whole long word again.
Method. Count the sounds in wing, one box at a time.
- Split wing into sound boxes. ng is one box, with two letters that make one sound.w | i | ng
- Count the boxes. There are three boxes, so three sounds.3 sounds
- Write the answer. Aisha counted n and g as two sounds.No. Wing has three sounds: w, i, ng.
Check. Push the boxes together: w - i - ng makes wing. ✓
Watch out. ng is one sound. Do not count the n and the g as two sounds.
Method. Look for a digraph: two letters that make one sound.
- Look at ship. The letters sh make one sound.ship: sh
- Look at rain. The letters ai make one vowel sound.rain: ai (a vowel sound)
- Look at boat. The letters oa make one vowel sound.boat: oa (a vowel sound)
- Write the answer. Only ship has a consonant digraph, two consonants that make one sound.ship
Check. sh is the only consonant digraph in the list. ✓
Watch out. A consonant digraph has two consonant letters, like sh.