Year 1 · Phonics Check Practice · Summary
Year 1 English Phonics Check Practice: summary and key words
Part of the Year 1 English phonics check practice chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Chapter summary
| Skill | Method |
|---|---|
| Real or alien | A real word has a meaning. An alien word is made up, so read its letters. |
| Sound boxes | Put each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box. |
| Blend to read | Say each sound, then push the sounds together. |
| Two letters, one sound | ck, ff, ll, ss, zz, sh, ch, th, ng, nk, wh and ph make one sound each. |
| Split digraphs | a-e, i-e, o-e, u-e and e-e: the first vowel says its name. |
| Other spellings | ay, ai and a-e all make the long a sound. oy is the sound in boy. |
| Longer words | Read the two small words first, then the whole word. |
| Practice sets | Sets A, B and C: 40 words each, 20 real and 20 alien, in two sections. |
Can you…?
- I can say what the phonics check is, and when it happens
- I can tell a real word from an alien (made-up) word
- I can split a word into sounds and blend the sounds to read it
- I can read the two-letter sounds ck, ff, ll, ss, zz, sh, ch, th, ng and nk
- I can read split digraphs such as a-e and i-e, and other spellings such as ay and oy
- I can read a longer word by reading its two small words
- I can read a practice set of 40 words, one word at a time
Key terms
- phonics check
- a short check of reading, taken in June in Year 1, with real and alien words
- real word
- a word with a meaning that people know
- alien word
- a made-up word with no meaning, also called a nonsense word
- sound box
- one box for each sound in a word
- blend
- push the sounds together to read a word
- split digraph
- a vowel, one consonant and then e, such as a-e in cake
- trigraph
- three letters that make one sound, such as igh
- read-it card
- a card with only the word on it, and no picture, for reading practice
- practice set
- a list of 40 words, 20 real and 20 alien, for practice