Week 3, lesson 3 Tricky words (he, she) - Phonics Phase 3 - Lesson plan

In the third week's third lesson of the Phonics Phase 3 programme, children are introduced to two new 'tricky words': "he" and "she". These words are termed 'tricky' because they do not follow the usual phonetic rules that the children have been learning. The objective of the lesson is clear: to familiarize the children with these two words, which are essential to their reading vocabulary. The lesson begins with a 'Quickwrite' activity, where children practice phoneme-grapheme correspondence by writing down graphemes on their whiteboards in response to spoken phonemes, reinforcing their phonetic knowledge.

The teaching segment of the lesson involves sound-talking the new tricky words and explaining the unusual long /ee/ sound represented by the letter in both "he" and "she". This is practiced repeatedly to ensure the children become comfortable with the words. The practice activity, 'Tricky Word Race', is a fun and competitive way for children to review all the tricky words learned so far, including the new additions. The children work in teams to sound out and read the words as quickly as possible, fostering both teamwork and quick recall. To apply their understanding, the 'Phrase Draw' activity requires children to decode a phrase and then illustrate it on their whiteboards, providing a visual and kinesthetic element to the learning process. The lesson can be further extended with activities such as using magnetic letters and practicing printing the tricky words.