Week 28, lesson 4 Phonemes "ng, nk" - Phonics Phase 5, unit 3 - Lesson plan

In Week 28's fourth lesson, part of the Phonics Phase 5 curriculum, the classroom buzzes with the sounds of 'ng' and 'nk' phonemes. The objective is clear: to review the spellings for the /ng/ sound and its close relative, the /nk/ sound. This session revisits these specific phonemes, encouraging students to articulate and recognise their distinct sounds and spellings within words.

The lesson begins with a 'Word Breaker' activity where the teacher vocalises a word and the class collaboratively deconstructs it into its individual phonemes before reassembling it orally. This warm-up primes the students for the main teaching point, which involves the Ngshi pictophone—a visual aid to help students connect the phoneme with its representation. The teacher writes the graphemes and on the board, each followed by illustrative words such as 'sing', 'running', 'bang' for , and 'rink', 'thank', 'dunk' for . The children are then encouraged to practice saying the sounds, with a focus on discerning the subtle differences between them. A 'Word Sort' exercise follows, where words are categorised under the correct grapheme headings, reinforcing their understanding through active participation. The lesson culminates with a practical application: children write dictated words and sentences on mini whiteboards, incorporating the phonemes they've learned—integrating their phonics skills into writing with examples like 'singing', 'dunk', 'string', and 'monkey'.