Lesson plan PDF and nine-page phonics cards PDF
KS1, KS2
Years 1-6
Set up an imaginary baked goods delivery service to explore the spelling of ‘ough’ words with Cara Fairhall’s scrummy idea...
This download contains a lesson plan and all the resources you need to carry out the lesson.
‘Ough’ words can be tricky to master. ‘Ough’ can represent so many different sounds and there’s no obvious pattern for how it might sound in any given word. It might be the /or/ sound in ‘thought’, /ou/ in ‘plough’ or /oa/ in ‘doughnut’.
This lesson involves children running their own imaginary doughnut delivery service in teams of two, deciding which sound the spelling makes in various different words.
Conclude activities by penning and performing poems featuring all the ‘ough’ words you’ve discovered.
‘Ough’ words learning objectives
- Learn how the ‘ough’ spelling can represent many different sounds
- Understand that the ‘ough’ spelling doesn’t have a pattern in how it may sound in any given word
- Expand vocabulary range
Sounds included
- /or/
- /ou/
- /oa/
- /oo/
- /uff/
- /off/
- /uh/ (schwa)
- /up/
Examples of ‘ough’ words
- thought
- plough
- doughnut
- through
- rough
- cough
- thorough
- hiccough
Starter activity
Script an introduction that contains lots of ‘ough’ words. Here’s an example you can use. “Oh children, I am just so hungry! Even though I’ve already eaten breakfast, you must know by now that it can be tough being a teacher, and it can get rather rough if I haven’t got enough energy to get me through the day! Although throughout the day I do try and make sure to keep hydrated. As an afterthought, I think it might just be worth keeping some essential snacks in my cupboard. Luckily for me, today I bought in some doughnuts!”
Cara Fairhall is project coordinator at Jolly Learning and supports teachers, parents and trainers all over the world. She has previously spent time teaching in Ethiopia. Find out more at jollylearning.co.uk and follow on Twitter at @jollylearning. Browse our round-up of spelling games.
