Year 4 · Spelling patterns

Homophones and tricky Year 4 words

Spell homophones and near-homophones correctly

20 minutes4 checks6 exit questionsNational curriculum objective

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Spell homophones and near-homophones correctly

Key learning points

• The big four
• More Year 4 homophones
• Prefixes change meaning
• Suffixes and the words that catch people out

This lesson at a glance

20 minutes
18 parts to scroll through
4 quick checks
No marked quiz yet
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

homophonesnear-homophonescorrectlyprefixeschange

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Discover6%

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Watch first

Homophones and tricky Year 4 words

Add a little piece to the front of a word and watch its meaning change.

In a nutshell

Spell homophones and near-homophones correctly

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You can hear the sounds in a word and write them down.

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

homophone: A word that sounds the same as another but is spelt differently.
prefix: Letters added to the front of a word, like un- in unhappy.
suffix: Letters added to the end of a word, like -ly in quickly.

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 — Sound-alike traps

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 18

Learn

The big four

there / their / they're — there has 'here' inside it, so it is about place; their has 'heir' inside, so it belongs to people; they're is short for 'they are'. to / too / two — too means 'as well' or 'too much' and has an extra o; two is the number. your / you're — you're is 'you are'. its / it's — it's is only ever 'it is'.

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

More Year 4 homophones

here / hear (you hear with your ear), scene / seen, plain / plane, mail / male, weather / whether, medal / meddle, accept / except. Test yourself by saying the long version out loud: if 'they are' fits, write they're.

Quick check

Part 7 of 18

Quick check

Choose: 'Put it over ___.'

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

Choose: '___ going to be late.'

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 — Building longer words

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 18

Learn

Prefixes change meaning

in-, im-, il-, ir- and un- all mean 'not': incorrect, impossible, illegal, irregular, unhappy. The choice depends on the next letter — im- before m, b and p; il- before l; ir- before r. inter- means between (international) and super- means above (supermarket).

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 18

Learn

Suffixes and the words that catch people out

Add -ly to make an adverb: sudden → suddenly, gentle → gently (the e goes). Words worth learning by heart from the Year 3 and 4 list: because, different, believe, favourite, February, separate, sentence, thought, through, actually, probably, business.

Quick check

Part 13 of 18

Quick check

Which means 'not possible'?

Quick check

Part 14 of 18

Quick check

Gentle + ly =

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

Using their when you mean there.
Writing it's when you mean its (the belonging one).
Spelling different as 'diffrent' because of how it sounds.

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

No quiz for this one

This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Extract

The last bus

The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.

She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.

Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.

Original extract written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.

Reading response
Reading
Read the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
Writing
Write your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.
250–350 words
Reading log
Reading
Note the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.
20 minutes' reading

Write your answer, notes or working here

Saved as you type.

Photos of paper work, diagrams or working outHow many minutes did the written work take?

Part 1 of 18 · Watch & discover

0 points

Back to your Year 4 units, or a few minutes of quick practice.

All Year 4 units Skills quest