Week 28, lesson 2 Phonemes "n,nn,kn,gn" - Phonics Phase 5, unit 3 - Lesson plan

In the second lesson of Week 28, young learners explore the various ways to spell the /n/ phoneme in Phonics Phase 5, Unit 3. The objective of the lesson is clearly stated: "Today we are learning ways to spell the /n/ phoneme." The lesson begins with a revisiting activity, where children participate in a High Frequency Word (HFW) Race, reviewing ten high-frequency word flashcards. Initially, they read each word individually, sounding them out if necessary, and then the activity becomes a team game to see which group can recognise and read the words quickest.

The teaching segment introduces the Nurse pictophone, which is used to help the class identify the /n/ phoneme. The teacher writes the different graphemes that represent this phoneme on the board: , , , and . Together with the students, the teacher practices writing words such as 'never', 'winning', 'know', and 'gnome', underlining the grapheme that corresponds to the /n/ phoneme in each. The class then discusses any patterns they notice, such as the fact that is not used in the middle or end of words, but only at the beginning. During the practise phase, the Sound Spotter activity involves reading sentences from the board and identifying where the /n/ phoneme appears. Students volunteer to underline the phoneme in the sentences and then compile a list of all the graphemes used to represent the /n/ sound. The lesson concludes with an application activity using mini whiteboards, where children write dictated words and sentences that contain the /n/ phoneme, such as 'I need my two knees' and 'The bunny knows how to hop', as well as individual words like 'knock', 'funny', 'never', 'banner', and 'gnaw'.