'Letter patterns' tutor notes
Letter patterns that are listed or focused on in this module:
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prefix patterns: tri, mis, pre, un, dis, trans
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suffix patterns: ing, al, ness, able, tion, ary, ship, bile, cian, sion
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English spelling rule patterns: ies, ves, ging, ches, ieve
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other patterns: chr, ough, ound, ould, ight, ought
The aim of the 'Letter patterns' topic area is to help learners recognise and learn common letter patterns which will help them remember how to spell words containing these patterns.
Other areas of the site which tie in with this module are the following:
Plurals - this module deals with spelling rules for remembering how to spell plurals.
Prefixes - factsheets, worksheets and a quiz
Suffixes - factsheets, worksheets and a quiz
How does this tie in with the curriculums?
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England
Ww/L1.1 - 'Spell correctly words used most often in work, studies and daily life'.
Rw/L1.3 - 'Identify words from own reading with similar patterns'.
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Wales
As England.
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Northern Ireland
As England.
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Scotland
See www.aloscotland.com for details of the Scottish curriculum.
In the Skillswise module you'll find:
Letter patterns games
This section has interactive wordsearch games where words containing specific letter patterns are hidden inside a grid of mixed letters. Each game covers one of the following different letter patterns : chr, sion, tion, cian, ould, ough, ight, ound, ought, ieve.
Instead of using block capitals as many wordsearch games do, all of the letters are in lower case to help students with visual letter shape recognition.
Because of this words like 'Christmas' or 'Wednesday' can't be shown with a capital letter in the word list or grid. We felt that the advantages of students being able to work with lower case letters should outweigh this small constraint.
There is also a timed or non timed option available, giving students the chance to play against the clock if they want more of a challenge. At present, timers are set to around 5 or 6 minutes per game.
If you think that the times should be made faster or slower or if you have any other comments about the games please email us with your suggestions.
Don't forget to use the F11 key to take the games up to a full size screen which will make them easier to play.
Letter patterns quiz
A three level quiz for learners to test their letter pattern recognition skills. Level A is the easiest and level C the hardest. All 3 levels deal with looking at letter patterns in relation to correctly spelling words.
There is a system in place that allows students to print out a certificate if they score 50% or over in the quiz. This appears as a link on the results page - click on the link and the certificate will appear in a new window. A learner can write their name in once the certificate is printed.
Letter patterns factsheets
There are 3 factsheets in this module. The first factsheet deals with general information about common letter patterns and how they can be used to help remember how to spell some words in the English language. Each of the other factsheets has a range of examples of different common letter patterns useful for students to know and learn.
If you feel that any important letter patterns have not been covered please let us know. We always want each module to be as helpful to learners as possible and appreciate your feedback.
Letter patterns worksheet
This is a 'hands on' worksheet where learners can cut out a variety of letter patterns and letters to rearrange into words. At least 30 different words can be made from the combination of letters given in the worksheet.
If you have any great worksheets that practise working with different types of text, let us know . We are always interested in finding good worksheets to publish on the site.
Technical help:
To get the most out of this topic area you need the following 'plug-ins':
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Flash
The game in this topic section uses Flash. This is free to download and should only take a few minutes. You can follow the BBC WebWise instructions to download it to your machine.
Find out more.
If you don't have Flash the same learning points are covered in the quiz and in the worksheets and factsheets.
If you are new to the web, why not try the BBC WebWise online course, Becoming WebWise? It's free, you can do it in your own time from any computer and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching.
Get WebWise.
You can find out more about the technical requirements for Skillswise in our Help - Technical Information section.
Taking it further:
With Skillswise
Don't forget to visit Lesson plans and Teaching inspirations for more ideas for teaching letter patterns.
With the web
Here's a few suggestions of other places on the web where you might find useful resources to adapt or use for teaching letter patterns.
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Spelling patterns in English
A comprehensive site listing various different letter patterns found in the English language. Patterns are listed under sound and structural groupings.
Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.
Do you know of any other great online resources for helping to recognise and learn letter patterns? Let us know if you do.
