English Resource Description
In the third lesson of Week 5, the students are introduced to a new split digraph, , as part of their ongoing phonics education in Phase 5, Unit 1. The objective of the lesson is to familiarise the children with this grapheme that represents the /ee/ phoneme. The teacher begins by engaging the children in identifying the /ee/ sound from a selection of pictophones, including the pictophone for Eagle, which they will use to anchor their understanding of the new grapheme.
The lesson continues with a 'Quickdash' activity, where children rapidly review grapheme/pictophone flashcards they have already learned, shouting out the corresponding phoneme and pictophone name. This fast-paced revision helps to reinforce prior learning. Next, the teacher demonstrates the new grapheme by writing the word "these" on the board, adding sound buttons under the
and , and a swooping line between the two 's to show that they work together as one grapheme. After practising the decoding and blending of "these", the children are encouraged to apply their knowledge by drawing the swooping line on additional words like "complete" and "concrete". The practice phase involves a 'True or False' activity where children read phrases aloud and determine their veracity. Finally, to apply their learning, students are given dictation exercises on mini whiteboards, writing down dictated words and sentences that include the new grapheme, such as "theme" and "swede", and the sentence "These are my pals Steve and Eve." | 
