Homophones and Near Homophones Year 2 - PowerPoint

The English Teaching Resources for Year 2 focus on the intriguing world of homophones and near-homophones, aiming to help students differentiate between words that sound the same or similar but have distinct meanings and spellings. For example, 'hair' and 'hare' are homophones because they are pronounced identically but have unrelated meanings and are written differently. To avoid confusion, the context of a word within a sentence is crucial. This is because without context, it's impossible to discern whether 'hair' (the strands growing from the scalp) or 'hare' (the animal) is being referred to. The resources offer a variety of engaging activities, including the use of memorable images and picture reminders, to assist students in mastering the concept.

The resources also introduce near-homophones, which are words that sound very similar, such as 'won' and 'one'. Although they are not identical in pronunciation, these words are often mixed up. To help distinguish between homophones and near-homophones, students are encouraged to create visual associations. For instance, they might link 'their' with a person to signify possession, use an arrow for 'there' indicating a location, and a small 'a' for 'they're' to represent the contraction of 'they are'. Worksheets are provided to practice these skills, prompting students to choose the correct homophone to complete sentences and to invent their own mnemonic devices for remembering the differences between these tricky words.