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All phonics

Phase 3 · Set 9

Sounds: ai ee igh oa

Tap a card to hear its sound, then say it. Look at the pictures. Tap the letters to blend a word.

Kit the kingfisher with a child and pictures of rain, snail, bee, feet, light, boat

Listen and say

Look and say

  • rainrain
  • snail
  • beebee
  • feetfeet
  • lightlight
  • boatboat

Tap to blend

Tap a letter to hear its sound. Tap the play button to blend the sounds into a word.

Read it

The goat sat in the boat in the rain.

Set 8 Set 10

Now play

For grown-ups

What to do: let your child tap a card, listen, and say the sound back. Then look at the pictures and say each word. Finish by blending a few words and reading the sentence together. Ten minutes is plenty.

Mouth tips

  • ai (/eɪ/): Start with the mouth half open and slide to a smile. As in rain.
  • ee (/iː/): A wide smile, tongue high. Hold it. As in tree.
  • igh (/aɪ/): Start with the mouth open wide and slide up to a small smile. As in night.
  • oa (/əʊ/): Lips round and slide to a small circle. As in boat.

Tricky words in this set: are, my. See the tricky words page.

Follow your own programme. This order follows the general Letters and Sounds phase order (GOV.UK, 2007, now historical). Schools in England choose their own phonics programme. The DfE publishes a list of validated programmes (there is no legal requirement to use one), and each programme orders the sounds a little differently. If your school has one, practise in its order and use these pages for extra listening and reading.

More: phonics notes for parents and teachers, phonics phases explained.