Year 2 English · Key Stage 1 · Reading – word reading

Year 2 reading: tricky words and fluency

Year 2 is when reading starts to sound like reading. Children learn more of the common exception words, the everyday words with unusual spellings such as “people”, “because” and “beautiful”. They also begin to read familiar words at a glance, read aloud from books matched to what they know, and reread to build speed and confidence. Fluency matters because a child who is not struggling with the words has far more attention left for the meaning.

Tricky words and fluent reading, explained

Common exception words are words where some of the letters don’t make the sound you would expect. Year 2 adds a further list, including “door”, “floor”, “because”, “people”, “busy”, “money”, “water”, “eye”, “could”, “would”, “should” and “beautiful”. The curriculum asks children to notice the unusual correspondence between spelling and sound and where it happens in the word. In “busy”, the unusual part is the u, which says “i” as in “bit”. In “could”, the “ould” says “ood”, as in “good”. Reading the regular parts normally and noticing only the odd part is much easier than learning the whole word as a shape.

The second aim is automatic reading. When a child has decoded a word correctly several times, they stop needing to sound it out and simply recognise it. The curriculum describes this as reading most words quickly and accurately, without overt sounding and blending, once they have been frequently met. This doesn’t mean children are taught to memorise words by their shape. Recognition comes from having sounded the word out properly many times, which is why accurate decoding practice comes first and speed follows.

Reading aloud is how teachers and parents hear what is going on. Children are given books that closely match the sounds they have been taught, so they can sound out any new word accurately, automatically and without undue hesitation. Children who did not meet the standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check continue with their phonics programme and retake the check in June of Year 2, and they need lots of practice with well-matched books. Children are also taught how to choose a book, and are given chances to choose for themselves. A page where only one or two words cause trouble is a good fit for independent reading.

Rereading is a surprisingly powerful tool. The curriculum asks children to reread books that are closely matched to their phonic knowledge to build fluency and confidence. Reading the same page a second and third time lets the words become familiar, so the reading gets smoother and children can start to think about expression: pausing at full stops and changing their voice for a question or for dialogue, the way a storyteller would.

Fluency isn’t about speed alone. A child who races through a page and ignores the full stops is not reading well, and a careful, steady reader who gets the words right is on the right path. Fluent reading sounds natural, accurate and meaningful, a bit like talking. If a Year 2 child still struggles to read the words, it is worth talking to their teacher early, because extra phonics practice at this point makes a big difference.

Words your child will hear

Common exception word: A common word with an unusual spelling, such as “people” or “busy”. Schools often call these tricky words.
Fluent: Reading smoothly and accurately, so it sounds a little like talking.
Automatic: Reading a word at once without sounding it out, because it is very familiar.
Decodable book: A book that uses only the sounds and words a child has been taught.
Reread: Read the same text again to make it smoother and more confident.
Expression: Using your voice to show meaning, with pauses, emphasis and different voices.
Hesitation: Stopping or pausing before a word because you are unsure of it.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 2, pupils should be taught to:

Read further common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word
Read most words quickly and accurately, without overt sounding and blending, when they have been frequently encountered
Read aloud books closely matched to their improving phonic knowledge, sounding out unfamiliar words accurately, automatically and without undue hesitation
Reread books closely matched to their phonic knowledge to build up their fluency and confidence in word reading

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

Try it: a tricky word and three readings

Your child is learning to read “could” and then reads the sentence “Many people could not find the beautiful old door.” How can they practise?

Look at the tricky word first. In “could”, the c and d are as expected. The part that is different is “ould”, which says “ood”, as in “good”. Underline it together, and mention that “would” and “should” work in the same way.
```
c + ould
(ould says ood)
```
First reading, for accuracy. Your child reads slowly, pointing under each word. If they hit “people”, “beautiful” or “door”, let them look for the odd part: the “eo” in “people” says “ee”, and “oor” in “door” says “or”.
Second reading, for smoothness. The words they worked on are now familiar, so they should come more easily. Praise the improvement: “That was much smoother.”
Third reading, for expression. Ask them to read it as if they were telling it to a friend, pausing at the full stop and sounding a bit surprised that the door was so hard to find.
Finish by chatting about the meaning, so reading stays about understanding: “Where do you think the door was? Why was it hard to find?”

“Could” is read by noticing that “ould” says “ood”. Three readings take the sentence from careful to smooth to expressive.

Common mistakes and how to help

Trying to sound out every part of a tricky word

Sounding out is what children have been taught to do, so “busy” becomes “buzzy” with a u as in “cup”. The word comes out wrong.

What helps: Ask “Which part is tricky?” Read the regular letters as normal and learn the odd bit by heart, then say the word.

Believing that fast reading is good reading

Children notice when others read quickly, and may race through, skip words or ignore full stops to look good.

What helps: Praise accurate, steady reading and ask them to listen for the full stops. A relaxed, natural pace is the aim.

Feeling that rereading a book is cheating or boring

A child who has already read a page may say “I know this one” and feel they have nothing left to do. Parents sometimes worry the child is just remembering it.

What helps: Explain that rereading is how readers get smoother. Give each read a different job: first for accuracy, then smoothness, then expression. Point to a word at random and ask what it says to check that they are still reading it.

Thinking harder books are always better

Children compare themselves with friends and want books that look more grown up, and adults can encourage this to move up a level quickly.

What helps: For independent reading, choose books where they can read almost every word. Save harder books and chapter books for you to read aloud, where they can enjoy the story without struggling with the words.

How to help at home

Find the odd bit. Write a tricky word such as “people” or “busy” in big letters and underline the unusual part together. Ask your child to say the word, cover it, then write it with a finger on the table.
Read it three times. Pick one page of a book your child can read well and read it three times across a few days. Aim for accuracy first, then smoothness, then a storyteller voice.
Take turns reading. Read a sentence or a page each. Your child hears fluent, expressive reading, and a book that is slightly too hard becomes less tiring.
Choose books together. At the library, let your child pick, then ask them to read a page aloud. If they stumble on a lot of words, save it for a bedtime story and find another to read themselves.
Spot the tricky words around you. Look for words like “water”, “money”, “people”, “every” and “because” on packets, signs and in books. Ask your child to spot them and say which part is unusual.

Builds on

Year 1: Phonics, blending and tricky words
Year 1: Word endings, longer words and contractions

Leads on to

Years 3 and 4: Reading new words from their parts