Year 1 English · Key Stage 1 · Writing – transcription (spelling)

Year 1 spelling: sounds, tricky words and the alphabet

Year 1 spelling builds on phonics. Children learn to break a spoken word into its sounds and write a letter or group of letters for each one, covering all of the more than 40 sounds they have been taught. They also learn to spell common tricky words and the days of the week, say the alphabet in order and use letter names to tell apart different spellings of the same sound.

Spelling sounds, tricky words and the alphabet, explained

Spelling is harder than reading. When reading, a child sees a grapheme and says one sound, or tries a second if the first doesn’t work. When spelling, a child hears a sound and must pick a spelling from several choices. The sound in “rain” could be written ai, ay or a-e, and only one is right for that word. This is why spelling needs more practice on individual words than reading does, and why it develops later.

The first step is segmenting: saying the word slowly and splitting it into its sounds. “Train” has four sounds, t-r-ai-n, so a child might hold up four fingers, one for each, and write a grapheme for each sound in order. Teachers expect children to make sensible attempts. A child who writes “rane” for “rain” has made a phonically plausible attempt, which shows they understand how sounds map to letters. If the word is one that has been taught, though, the teacher will show the correct spelling.

Common exception words, or tricky words, are spelled differently from how they sound, so they need to be learned by looking carefully at the word, spotting the odd bit, and rehearsing it. Words such as “the”, “said”, “was”, “you”, “one” and “friend” are typical, though the choice and order depend on the school’s programme. Children also learn to spell the days of the week, each starting with a capital letter. Several are good practice at saying a word as it is written: Wed-nes-day, Sat-ur-day.

Children are also taught to name the letters of the alphabet in order, and to use letter names to tell apart alternative spellings of the same sound. Saying the letters of a word aloud, such as “p-l-a-y”, helps them remember which spelling goes with the word, because the sound alone can’t tell them whether it is ai, ay or a-e. Reading is taught alongside spelling, so children can read back what they have written.

Words your child will hear

Segment: Split a spoken word into its separate sounds so you can write them.
Phoneme: A single sound in a word. “Train” has four: t, r, ai, n.
Grapheme: The letter or letters used to write a sound, such as t, sh or ai.
Tricky word: A common word with an unusual spelling, such as “said”. The curriculum calls these common exception words.
Vowel: The letters a, e, i, o and u, which are used to write most vowel sounds.
Alphabet: The 26 letters, always in the same order, from a to z.
Letter name: What a letter is called (“ay”, “bee”, “see”), as opposed to the sound it makes in a word.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 1, pupils should be taught to:

Spell words containing each of the 40+ phonemes already taught
Spell common exception words
Spell the days of the week
Name the letters of the alphabet in order
Use letter names to distinguish between alternative spellings of the same sound

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: spelling “train” and “play”

Your child is asked to spell “train”, and later “play”. How do they work out which letters to write?

Say the word slowly and listen for each sound. “Train” is t, r, ai, n. Hold up a finger for each sound, so there are four fingers. Note that there are four sounds, even though the word will be written with five letters.
```
t  r  ai  n
1  2  3  4
```
Write a grapheme for each sound, in order. The sound in the middle can be written ai, ay or a-e. This is the tricky choice, so ask which one the child thinks is right and let them have a go.
Use letter names to fix the spelling in memory. Say the letters aloud, “t, r, a, i, n”. The Year 1 spelling guidance notes that “ai” is hardly ever used at the end of an English word, and that “ay” is used for this sound at the end instead, as in “play”. Here the sound is in the middle, so “ai” is a good choice.
Now spell “play”. The sounds are p, l, ay, which is three. The last sound comes at the end of the word, so “ay” is the spelling to try. Say the letters, “p, l, a, y”.
```
p  l  ay
1  2  3
```
Read the word back and check it. Ask “Does it say train? Does it look right?” If a letter is missing or wrong, find it and fix it.

train (t-r-ai-n) and play (p-l-ay). Each sound has been written down, with the correct grapheme chosen for the vowel sound.

Common mistakes and how to help

Writing one letter for each sound, so “feet” becomes “fet” or “boat” becomes “bot”

At first children write the sound they hear with the simplest letter, and a grapheme of two letters is a new idea. Their attempt is logical but not the correct spelling.

What helps: Praise the attempt, then say “We use two letters for that sound”. Make cards for digraphs such as sh, ch, th, ai, ee, oa and ar, so they get to know the common ones.

Spelling tricky words by sound, such as “sed” for “said” or “wuz” for “was”

A child who has been taught to sound words out will do so for every word, and the logic is sound. It is the spelling that is odd.

What helps: Say: “That’s a tricky word. Which bit is tricky?” Underline it. Use look, say, cover, write, check for two or three words a week, not a long list.

Spelling the days of the week as they sound, such as “Wensday” or “Chewsday”

Several days are spoken differently from how they are written. The first d in “Wednesday” is silent, and in many accents “Tuesday” sounds like “chooz-day”.

What helps: Say the day as it is written, a bit silly and slow: “Wed-nes-day”. Practise saying and writing them in order along a weekly calendar on the fridge.

Writing a letter name in place of a word, such as “u” for “you” or “r” for “are”

Once children know letter names, they notice that some names sound like whole words. It is a clever idea, but it mixes up the name of a letter with the sounds in a word.

What helps: Point out that “you” and “are” are tricky words to learn by looking carefully, and keep letter names for spelling a word out loud: “y, o, u”. Write the word together and read it back.

How to help at home

Sound out and write it down. Say a simple word, such as “ship” or “moon”, and ask your child to hold up a finger for each sound before writing it. Use a pen and paper, chalk outside, or magnetic letters on the fridge.
Look, say, cover, write, check. Choose one or two tricky words a week. Your child looks at the word, says it, covers it, writes it from memory, then checks. If wrong, they try again from the start.
Days of the week on the calendar. Each morning, ask your child to say the day, then write it on the calendar or whiteboard. Talk about the tricky bit in that day’s spelling, and mention the day the next morning.
Alphabet in order. Sing the alphabet, then put letter cards or magnetic letters in order. Take one away and ask which is missing, or ask what letter comes after m.
Spell for real reasons. Write a shopping list, a birthday card or labels for toys. Praise your child for the sounds they got right and show the correct spelling for just one word at a time.

Leads on to

Year 2: Spelling sounds and homophones
Year 2: Apostrophes and suffixes