Week 33, lesson 1 -er Ending - Phonics Phase 5, unit 4 - Lesson plan

In Week 33's first lesson of Phonics Phase 5, Unit 4, young learners are introduced to the concept of the '-er' suffix, which is often used to form comparatives in English. The objective of the lesson is for the children to understand and recognize how adding '-er' to a word changes its meaning to indicate a comparison. The lesson begins with a 'Sound Match' activity, where the teacher writes a grapheme on the board and invites the children to identify different phonemes associated with it. This activity includes examples like 'pit' for the /i/ sound and 'blind' for the /igh/ sound, among others.

During the 'Teach' segment, the teacher draws two ladders of different heights on the board and uses the phrases "This ladder is tall" and "This ladder is taller" to illustrate the use of the '-er' suffix. The children are asked to read the phrases and the '-er' ending is emphasized to show its role in making comparisons. In the 'Practise' part of the lesson, a 'Countdown' game is played where children stand in line and take turns decoding and blending words with the '-er' ending, such as 'stronger' and 'kinder'. They can choose a word themselves or have one chosen for them at random. Points are tallied for each correctly read word. Finally, the 'Apply' stage involves using mini whiteboards where children write words dictated from the 'Countdown' activity or phrases containing those words, reinforcing their understanding of the '-er' suffix in a written context.