English lesson plan · 6th grade (Year 7 in England) · 45 minutes

Tricky word pairs (affect/effect, advice/advise…)

Spelling

CCSS L.6.2.BCCSS L.7.1England: Y5/6 Spelling (homophones)England: KS2 SATs GPS

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Tricky word pairs (affect/effect, advice/advise…).

I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
I can explain each step and say why it works.
I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Homophones and near-homophones

Leads to: their/there/they're, its/it's, your/you're, whose/who's

Materials: Word cards, Look-say-cover-write-check sheets, Mini whiteboards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Homophones and near-homophones). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

Choose the correct homophone. After the war there was ___ in the land. (peace / piece) → peacePrompt: Both words sound the same. Think about what each one means.
Choose the correct homophone. The puppy wagged its ___. (tail / tale) → tailPrompt: Both words sound the same. Think about what each one means.
Choose the correct homophone. The ___ is sunny today. (whether / weather) → weatherPrompt: Both words sound the same. Think about what each one means.

Hook · 5 min

Show a word spelled two ways and ask which looks right, then why.
Share the objective: Tricky word pairs (affect/effect, advice/advise…). Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
Example: Choose the correct word. Yesterday the guide ___ us up the hill.
Step 1: These words are often confused because they look or sound alike.
Step 2: 'led' is the past tense of 'lead' (to guide).
Step 3: Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "Yesterday the guide led us up the hill."
Step 4: So the answer is: led
Answer: led
Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 min

Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

Choose the correct word. Walk down the ___ to find the rice in the supermarket. (aisle / isle) → aislePrompt: Is the gap a noun (a thing) or a verb (an action)?
Choose the correct word. In the ___, people wrote with quills. (past / passed) → pastPrompt: Is the gap a noun (a thing) or a verb (an action)?

You do: independent practice · 10 min

Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

Choose the correct word. Telling the truth is an important ___. (principle / principal) → principlePrompt: Is the gap a noun (a thing) or a verb (an action)?
Choose the correct word. I eat ___ with milk for breakfast. (cereal / serial) → cerealPrompt: Is the gap a noun (a thing) or a verb (an action)?

Watch out for

Spelling every word exactly as it sounds.
Learning a list for a test but not using the words in writing.

Support and stretch

Support

Review first: Homophones and near-homophones.
Use concrete materials: word cards.
Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

Move on to: their/there/they're, its/it's, your/you're, whose/who's.
Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-6.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder