Parent guide · Grade 1 Phonics & Reading: Long Vowels and Many Words · Unit 3
Lesson 3.2 The Ending -es
Written for the parent. Read the Say this lines aloud as they are, or in your own words. Answers for you are marked Listen for.
At a glance
- Time
- 5 sessions of 15–20 minutes
- Goal
- I can say /ĭz/ ending when I see -es (as in boxes ), and write it. I can tap and blend words such as boxes , dishes , foxes . I can read the heart words laugh , through and say which part is learned by heart. I can read “The Tin Pot and the Mud Pot” and tell it back.
- You need
- Sound cards (printables pack)
- Heart-word cards (printables pack)
- A small whiteboard or a tray of salt or sand
- Primary-ruled paper and a pencil
- A King James Bible
- the lesson page (it also has a short video (6:01) and an explainer to read aloud (about 11 minutes))
Steps
Do this: One or many: box/boxes, dish/dishes, bench/benches, fox/foxes. When do we hear an extra beat? After s, x, z, sh, ch.
Do this: New sound: -es. Show the card and say: “This says /ĭz/ ending, as in boxes.” Your child says it three times, then writes it in the air, on the table with a finger, and on paper. Then play a quick ears game: you say words and your child gives a thumbs up whenever /ĭz/ ending is in the word.
Do this: Tap and blend. For each word your child touches each letter (or letter team) and says its sound, then sweeps a finger under the whole word and says it smoothly. Never guess from the first letter or a picture. If a word is misread, point to the part that was missed and blend again from the start.
Do this: Spell it. Say a word. Your child says it back, taps the sounds on his or her fingers, then writes one letter (or letter team) for each sound. Check together, sound by sound.
Do this: Heart words. A heart word is mostly regular. We tap it like any other word, and draw a heart over the one part that does not follow the rules we know yet. Practise the heart words on cards every day this week (see the table below).
Do this: The week at a glance. Day 1: warm-up, new sound, handwriting. Day 2: card review, word lists, spelling. Day 3: second new sound or more words, heart words. Day 4: read the story, talk about it. Day 5: reread the story for fluency, play the game, quick check (10 words, 1 sentence, 5 spelling words). Read the read-aloud at another time of day.
New cards:
- -es says /ĭz/ ending, as in boxes. Make a sound card: write -es on the front and draw a boxes on the back.
Show: Blend boxes.
Say this: “Touch and say: /b/ /o/ /x/ /e/ /s/.”
Say this: “Sweep your finger under the word and say the sounds again, faster, without stopping between them.”
Say this: “Say the word: boxes . Use it in a sentence.”
Answer: boxes
Show: Blend dishes.
Say this: “Touch and say: /d/ /i/ /sh/ /e/ /s/.”
Say this: “Sweep your finger under the word and say the sounds again, faster, without stopping between them.”
Say this: “Say the word: dishes . Use it in a sentence.”
Answer: dishes
Do this: Your child does these with you. Let them try first; help only after a real try.
Ask: Read: boxes · dishes · foxes · wishes
Listen for: boxes = b | o | x | e | s; dishes = d | i | sh | e | s; foxes = f | o | x | e | s; wishes = w | i | sh | e | s
Ask: Read: benches · lunches · buses · inches
Listen for: benches = b | e | n | ch | e | s; lunches = l | u | n | ch | e | s; buses = b | u | s | e | s; inches = i | n | ch | e | s
Ask: Read: glasses · matches
Listen for: glasses = g | l | a | ss | e | s; matches = m | a | tch | e | s
4 more practice items on the lesson page.
- Guessing from the first letter or the picture. Cover the picture and ask the child to tap every sound.
- Copy: The dishes are in the boxes.
- Use the ball-and-stick lines: tall letters touch the top line, short letters touch the middle line, tails go below the base line.
Copywork: Write each word once, saying the sounds as you write: boxes, dishes, foxes, wishes, benches, lunches.
Word Sounds Heart part laugh /l/ /ă/ /f/ ♥ au says /ă/, gh says /f/ through /th/ /r/ /oo/ ♥ ough says /oo/ The Tin Pot and the Mud Pot
A tin pot and a mud pot sat on a shelf with the dishes and the boxes.
A big flood came. The water rose. The tin pot and the mud pot slid in!
The tin pot said, "Let us swim side by side. I will help you." The mud pot said, "No thanks! If you bump me, I will smash to bits."
The tin pot was kind, but the mud pot was wise. Pick pals who will not crack you.
Retold from Aesop, The Earthen Pot and the Pot of Brass. Before reading, show your child these story words and read them together: flood.
Every word in this story uses only the sounds and heart words taught so far (checked by the School Launch decodability checker). Read a page a day on Days 3 and 4, and the whole story on Day 5.
- Where did the pots sit?
Answer
On a shelf with the dishes and boxes.
- What did the tin pot offer?
Answer
To float side by side.
- Why did the mud pot say no?
Answer
If the tin pot bumped it, it would break.
- What is the lesson?
Answer
Choose friends who will be safe for you.
Then ask your child to tell the whole story back in his or her own words (narration).
- Where did the pots sit?
Aesop: The Earthen Pot and the Pot of Brass. Read the original.
The read-aloud is for listening, not decoding. Read it to your child at another time of day.
Say a word; your child adds -s or -es and spells it on a whiteboard.
Say this: “Tell me the new sounds you learned this week, and read me one word.”
Listen for: I can say /ĭz/ ending when I see -es (as in boxes ), and write it.; I can tap and blend words such as boxes , dishes , foxes .; I can read the heart words laugh , through and say which part is learned by heart.; I can read “The Tin Pot and the Mud Pot” and tell it back.
Time to Rise (Robert Louis Stevenson)
A birdie with a yellow bill
Hopped upon my window sill,
Cocked his shining eye and said:
"Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy-head!"This week: Clear words. Say every ending sound: the t, the d, the s. Open your mouth wider than feels normal.
- Day 1: The teacher says it twice; the child echoes it one line at a time.
- Days 2–4: Say it together each morning; drop one line of help each day.
- Day 5: Say the title and the poet, then the poem. Stand up and say it alone for the family.
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Choose wise friends.
Spread over the week
5 sessions of 15–20 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.
- Session 1. Warm-up, then New sound: -es. Finish with a little practice or the game.
- Session 2. Warm-up, then Tap and blend. Finish with a little practice or the game.
- Session 3. Warm-up, then Spell it. Finish with a little practice or the game.
- Session 4. Warm-up, then Heart words. Finish with a little practice or the game.
- Session 5. Warm-up, then The week at a glance. Finish with a little practice or the game.
For you
For families. Keep each session short and cheerful: 15 to 20 minutes, then stop. If your child is tired or frustrated, stop and finish tomorrow. A lesson can take more than a week; move on when the quick check on Day 5 is mostly “Got it.”