CONTENTS
CONTENTSOn this page
Practising sounds and letters with your child#
These slides have the sounds and letters that are taught in the second year of school. You can use these slides at home to practise the sounds and letters your child has been learning at school.
The slides are best viewed full screen. Select the 3 dots at the bottom of the slides and then select 'Enter full screen'.
🔊 Select this icon to hear the name of the letter, the sound being learned and a word containing that sound. It can take a few seconds to play.
/ / These slashes indicate the sound for the letter or letters. For example, /m/ is represented by the letter m.
- This hyphen indicates that the letters occur at the end of a word.
_ This underscore indicates that there is a letter missing when the other letters work as a team.
/ā/ This macron above a vowel indicates that the vowel makes a long sound (the sound is usually the name of the letter).
Sounds and letters cards – Set 4#
Set 4 includes the spelling patterns -ff, ll, ss, zz, the letter x, the groups of letters -tch, qu, wh, dge and the sounds they represent.
Set 4 also introduces blending sounds together, for example cr- and -st.
-ff
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ff spelling pattern for the /f/ sound at the end of words.
- Listen for the /f/ sound at the end of these words: cliff fluff sniff. Say them with your child.
- If a one-syllable word ends with the /f/ sound after a short vowel sound it is spelt ff.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time: cuff huff puff.
-ll
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ll spelling pattern for the / l/ sound at the end of words.
- Listen for the / l/ sound at the end of these words: gull hill doll. Say them with your child.
- If a one-syllable word ends with the / l/ sound after a short vowel sound, it is spelt ll.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time. gull dull hull.
-ss
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ss spelling pattern for the /s/ sound at the end of words.
- Listen for the /s/ sound at the end of these words: kiss fuss glass. Say them with your child.
- If a one-syllable word ends with the /s/ sound after a short vowel sound, it is spelt ss.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time. kiss miss hiss.
-zz
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the zz spelling pattern for the /z/ sound at the end of words.
- Listen for the /z/ sound at the end of these words: buzz frizz jazz. Say them with your child.
- If a one-syllable word ends with the /z/ sound after a short vowel sound, it is spelt zz.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing one sound each time. fizz fuzz buzz.
x
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning that the letter x can be used as a single unit for the /ks/ sounds.
- Listen for the /ks/ sounds at the end of these words: box six wax. Say them with your child.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time: mix fix six.
-tch
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the tch spelling pattern for the /ch/ sound at the end of words.
- Listen for the /ch/ sound at the end of these words: hatch fetch itch. Say them with your child.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time: catch hatch match.
qu
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning that the qu letters are used as a unit for the /kw/ sounds.
- /kw/ is used as a single unit in English.
- Listen for the /kw/ sounds at the beginning of these words: queen quilt quack. Say them with your child.
wh
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the wh spelling pattern for the /w/ sound at the beginning of words.
- Listen for the /w/ sound at the beginning of these words: whistle whip wheel. Say them with your child.
- Listen for the /w/ sound at the beginning of these question words: what when where why. Say them with your child and use them to make questions. For example, What is your favourite food?
-dge
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the dge spelling pattern for the /j/ sound at the end of words.
- Listen for the /j/ sound at the end of these words: badge fudge dodge. Say them with your child.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time: fudge judge nudge.
Initial blends for example: cr-
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning to blend consonants at the start of words so they can read and spell words like crab.
- Listen for the four separate sounds in these words: crab slip flop. Say them with your child.
- In consonant blends, you say both sounds and blend them. Say each of these sounds with your child and blend them together: /f/ /r/ ➞ fr (frog) /b/ /l/ ➞ bl (block) /s/ /p/ ➞ sp (spot).
End blends for example: -st
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning to blend consonants at the end of words so they can read and spell words like rest.
- Listen for the four separate sounds in these words: rest pond lift. Say them with your child.
- In consonant blends at the end of words, you say both sounds and blend them. Say each of these sounds with your child and blend them together. /s/ /t/ ➞ st (nest) /n/ /d/ ➞ nd (hand) /f/ /t/ ➞ ft lift).
Sounds and letters cards – Set 5#
Set 5 includes spelling patterns for long vowel sounds a_e, e_e, i_e, o_e, u_e, ee, oo, (as in moon).
Set 5 also includes spelling patterns for soft c (as in dice), oo (as in book), -all and -ell, and the sounds they represent.
a_e
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the a_e spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ā/.
- Listen for the long /ā/ sound in the middle of these words: wave rake shade. Say them with your child.
- Adding the e changes the vowel sound from a short /a/ to a long /ā/. The e is silent.
- Say these words with your child to notice how the vowel sound changes. mad ➞ made cap ➞ cape mat ➞ mate.
e_e
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the e_e spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ē/.
- Listen for the long /ē/ sound in the middle of these words: Pete eve theme. Say them with your child.
- Adding the e changes the vowel sound from a short /e/ to a long /ē/. The e is silent.
- Say these words with your child to notice how the vowel sound changes. pet ➞ Pete them ➞ theme.
i_e
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the i_e spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ī/.
- Listen for the long /ī/ sound in the middle of these words: bike dive hide. Say them with your child.
- Adding the e changes the vowel sound from a short /i/ to a long /ī/. The e is silent.
- Say these words with your child to notice how the vowel sound changes. rid ➞ ride kit ➞ kite hid ➞ hide.
o_e
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the o_e spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ō/.
- Listen for the long /ō/ sound in the middle of these words: rope stone vote. Say them with your child.
- Adding the e changes the vowel sound from a short /o/ to a long /ō/. The e is silent.
- Say these words with your child to notice how the vowel sound changes: hop ➞ hope not ➞ note rod ➞ rode.
u_e
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the u_e spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ū/.
- Listen for the long /ū/ sound in the middle of these words: tune flute tube. Say them with your child.
- Adding the e changes the vowel sound from a short /u/ to a long /ū/. The e is silent.
- Say these words with your child to notice how the vowel sound changes: tub ➞ tube cut ➞ cute cub ➞ cube.
ee
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ee spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ē/.
- Listen for the long /ē/ sound in these words: sleep bee green. Say them with your child.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time: deep beep keep.
soft c
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the soft spelling pattern for the /s/ sound.
- Listen for the /s/ sound in these words: dice city cycle. Say them with your child.
- When the letter c is followed by the letters e, i, or y, it makes the /s/ sound.
- Read these words together: mice face place.
oo
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the oo spelling pattern for the long /o _ o/ sound, as in moon.
- Listen for the long /o _ o/ sound in these words: moon broom tooth. Say them with your child.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time: zoom room broom.
oo
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the oo spelling pattern for the short /oo/ sound, as in book.
- Listen for the short /oo/ sound in these words: book foot good. Say them with your child.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time: book look cook. Say them with your child.
-all
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the all spelling pattern so they can read and spell words like ball.
- In these words, the /aw/ and /l/ sounds are spelt all.
- Listen for the /aw/ /l/ sounds in these words: wall fall calling. Say them with your child.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time: tall mall small.
-ell
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ell spelling pattern so they can read and spell words like bell.
- In these words, the /a/ and /l/ sounds are spelt ell.
- Listen for the /a/ /l/ sounds in these words: fell shell smelly. Say them with your child.
- Say and spell these words with your child, changing the beginning sound each time: well bell tell.
Sounds and letters cards – Set 6#
Set 6 includes spelling patterns for the suffixes -ing, -ed, -s, and -es.
-ing
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning that -ing is a suffix.
- A suffix is added to the end of a word to make a new word. -ing is added to a word to show that something is happening now.
- Listen for the -ing at the end of these words: jumping running playing. Say them with your child.
- We can change jump to jumping by adding -ing. Add -ing to these words to make new words: go ➞ going look ➞ looking hop ➞ hopping Say them with your child.
-ed
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning that -ed is a suffix.
- A suffix is added to the end of a word to make a new word. -ed is added to a word to show that something has already happened.
- Listen for the different ways -ed can sound at the end of these words: smiled /d/, walked /t/, melted /id/ Say them with your child. Even though the sound is different it is always spelt -ed.
- We can change melt to melted by adding -ed. Add -ed to these words to make new words: hug ➞ hugged look ➞ looked paint ➞ painted Say them with your child.
-s
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning that -s is a suffix.
- A suffix is added to the end of a word to make a new word. -s is added to a word to show that there is more than one, or that a person or thing is doing something now.
- Listen for the different ways -s can sound at the end of these words: dogs /z/, runs /s/. Say them with your child. Even though the sound is different it is always spelt -s.
- We can change dog to dogs by adding -s. Add -s to these words to make new words: cat ➞ cats hug ➞ hugs pet ➞ pets Say them with your child.
-es
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning that -es is a suffix.
- A suffix is added to the end of a word to make a new word. -es is added to a word to show that there is more than one, or that a person or thing is doing something now.
- When words end with s, z, ch, sh, or x, -es is added instead of -s.
- Listen for the -es at the end of these words: brushes /iz/ misses /iz/ foxes /iz/ Say them with your child.
- We can change brush to brushes by adding -es. Add -es to these words to make new words: catch ➞ catches dress ➞ dresses bench ➞ benches Say them with your child.
Sounds and letters cards – Set 7#
Set 7 includes spelling patterns for long vowel sounds ai, ay, ea (as in team), igh, ie, oa, ow (as in snow), oe, ew, and ue.
ai
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ai spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ā/.
- Listen for the long /ā/ sound in these words: rain hail paint. Say them with your child.
- ai is used at the beginning or in the middle of a word or syllable.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ai spelling pattern in the words. I will race to the train. There is rain and hail on my street.
ay
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ay spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ā/.
- Listen for the long /ā/ sound in these words: play tray day. Say them with your child.
- ay is used at the end of a word or syllable.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ay spelling pattern in the words. I may go all the way to the moon. Stay away from the edge.
ea
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ea spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ē/ (as in team).
- Listen for the long /ē/ sound in these words: team beach sea. Say them with your child.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ea spelling pattern in the words. The leaf is from the beach. We wait on the seat for the train.
igh
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the igh spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ī/.
- Listen for the long /ī/ sound in these words: light high right. Say them with your child.
- igh is used in the middle or at the end of a word or syllable.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the igh spelling pattern in the words. We need the light on at night. We took a flight on the plane.
ie
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ie spelling pattern for the long vowel sound / ī/.
- Listen for the long / ī/ sound in these words: pie tie lie Say them with your child.
- ie is used at the end of a word.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ie spelling pattern in the words. We can eat pie all day! She can tie her laces.
oa
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the oa spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ō/.
- Listen for the long /ō/ sound in these words: boat soap toast. Say them with your child.
- oa is used at the beginning or in the middle of a word or syllable.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the oa spelling pattern in the words. The goat is eating toast. The oak tree is tall.
ow
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ow spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ō/ (as in snow).
- Listen for the long /ō/ sound in these words: snow glow show. Say them with your child.
- The letters ow are used to represent a vowel sound.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ow spelling pattern in the words. I will show you the snow. The trees are slow to grow.
oe
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the oe spelling pattern for the long vowel sound /ō/.
- Listen for the long /ō/ sound in these words: toe hoe Joe. Say them with your child.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the oe spelling pattern in the words. Joe likes to play in the rain. I have five toes on each foot.
ew
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ew spelling pattern for the long /o _ o/ sound.
- Listen for the long /o _ o/ sound in these words: screw flew crew. Say them with your child.
- It can sometimes sound like /ū/, as in few.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ew spelling pattern in the words. The crew played as a team. I am slow to chew my food.
ue
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ue spelling pattern for the long /o _ o/ sound.
- Listen for the long /o _ o/ sound in these words: blue true glue Say them with your child.
- It can sometimes sound like /ū/, as in due.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ue spelling pattern in the words. Is it true that we like fudge? There is a blue clue on the seat.
Sounds and letters cards – Set 8#
Set 8 includes spelling patterns for r-controlled vowel sounds ar, or, er, ir, ur, ear, and air.
ar
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ar spelling pattern for the /ar/ sound.
- Listen for the /ar/ sound in these words: car dark art Say them with your child.
- The r changes the sound of the vowel a.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ar spelling pattern in the words. We will park the car at home. The farm is dark at night.
or
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the or spelling pattern for the /or/ sound.
- Listen for the /or/ sound in these words: corn sport porch Say them with your child.
- The r changes the sound of the vowel o.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the or spelling pattern in the words. He is not short; he is tall. I can eat corn with a fork for tea!
er
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the er spelling pattern for the /er/ sound.
- Listen for the /er/ sound in these words: fern herd perch Say them with your child.
- The r changes the sound of the vowel e.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the er spelling pattern in the words. There is a herd of goats. It will be the end of term soon.
ir
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ir spelling pattern for the /er/ sound.
- Listen for the /er/ sound in these words: first dirt chirp Say them with your child.
- The r changes the sound of the vowel i.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ir spelling pattern in the words. I was fi rst in the race. We like it when the bird chirps.
ur
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ur spelling pattern for the /er/ sound.
- Listen for the /er/ sound in these words: surf turn burst Say them with your child.
- The r changes the sound of the vowel u.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ur spelling pattern in the words. I hurt my toe in the surf. We burnt the toast!
ear
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ear spelling pattern for the /eer/ sound.
- Listen for the /eer/ sound in these words: beard hear gear Say them with your child.
- The r changes the sound of the vowels ea. Due to different accents, this sounds similar to the /air/ sound.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ear spelling pattern in the words. I can hear the bird. My dad has a black beard.
air
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the air spelling pattern for the /air/ sound.
- Listen for the /air/ sound in these words: chair pair stair Say them with your child.
- The r changes the sound of the vowels ai. Due to different accents, this sounds similar to the /eer/ sound.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the air spelling pattern in the words. I am sitting on the chair. My hair blows in the air.
Sounds and letters cards – Set 9#
Set 9 includes the groups of letters ea, and ph, and the spelling patterns for soft g (as in gem), ow (as in cow), ou, oy, oi, and the sounds they represent.
ea
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ea spelling pattern for the short vowel sound /e/ (as in bread).
- Listen for the short /e/ sound in these words: bread meant sweat. Say them with your child.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ea spelling pattern in the words. I am going to bake a loaf of bread. I can hear my breath.
ph
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ph spelling pattern for the /f/ sound.
- Listen for the /f/ sound in these words: photo phone graph. Say them with your child.
- Words that contain the letters ph are often of Greek origin.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ph spelling pattern in the words. I will take a photo of my nephew. The phone is ringing.
soft g: ge gi gy
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the soft spelling pattern for the /j/ sound.
- Listen for the /j/ sound in these words: gem large giant. Say them with your child.
- When the letter g is followed by the letters e, i, or y, it makes the /j/ sound.
- No English words end in the letter j.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the soft spelling pattern in the words. We are on a huge stage. There is a large gem on her ring.
ow
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ow spelling pattern for the /ow/ sound (as in cow).
- Listen for the /ow/ sound in these words: cow owl brown. Say them with your child.
- The letters ow are used to represent a vowel sound.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ow spelling pattern in the words. How can I see a brown owl? We are going shopping in town.
ou
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the ou spelling pattern for the /ow/ sound.
- Listen for the /ow/ sound in these words: cloud found out. Say them with your child.
- The letters ou are used to represent a vowel sound.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the ou spelling pattern in the words. We found a photo on the ground. I shout at the goat to get out!
oy
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the oy spelling pattern for the /oy/ sound.
- Listen for the /oy/ sound in these words: boy toy Troy. Say them with your child.
- The letters oy are used to represent a vowel sound. oy is usually at the end of a word or syllable.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the oy spelling pattern in the words. Troy enjoys cake for tea! There is a ploy to get a toy.
oi
Listen and say
- Your child has been learning the oi spelling pattern for the /oy/ sound.
- Listen for the /oy/ sound in these words: coin soil oink. Say them with your child.
- The letters oi are used to represent a vowel sound. oi is usually at the beginning or in the middle of a word or syllable.
- Read these sentences aloud together and help your child to identify the oi spelling pattern in the words The oil will spoil the road. I will join the coin club.
Parent tip
Practice is important when learning sounds and letters.
Practising the sounds your child has learned, for up to 10 minutes a day, will help them to remember what has been taught at school.
When your child is learning to read, their teacher will show them how sounds match with letters and how to combine these to read words. They will start with simple sounds and letters, then move on to more complex ones.
The sets of slides move from simple to more complex following the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series (provided by the Ministry of Education). Practise the set that best matches what your child has learned at school.
The sounds are taught over a full school year, so check in with your child’s teacher to make sure you are practising the best set for your child.
Extra activities#
Play games with your child that focus on the sounds and letters in words.
- Say a word with your child and add a suffix to the en. For example, look➞ looking, look➞ looked.
- Play word games where you change sounds. For example: "If I change the /f/ in fight to /s/, I have …?" (sight). "If I take off the /t/ at the end, I have …?" (sigh).
- Make sentences using the words on the slides, for example, I have five toes on each foot.
- Show your child how sounds are linked to letters by pointing out words in your home and in your community (for example, words in books or on signs).
- When you are reading books together, have fun noticing letters and sounds you know.
- Show your child that they can use their sound-to-letter knowledge to spell words.
