Practice for the Year 1 phonics screening check, built around the ar sound. Across three pages, pupils read a mix of four real words (car, park, farm, star) and four alien words (zarp, darp, thar, varn), marking sound buttons on each. They then write ar to finish card, farm, yard and shark, and read one sentence aloud. The answer key gives the full dot and dash pattern for all eight words. It covers England National Curriculum word reading.
Reading - word reading
“Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words”
The mix of real and alien words copies the screening check format, so pupils must decode rather than recognise.
Reading - word reading
“Respond speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes”
Every word on the sheet turns on the ar grapheme, and thar pairs it with th.
Reading - word reading
“Read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words containing GPCs that have been taught”
Pupils blend zarp, darp and varn with no picture meaning to lean on.
Eight words in a table, with an alien picture beside the made-up ones. Pupils draw a dot under single sounds and a dash under ar.
Pupils write ar into c _ d, f _ m, y _ d and sh _ k, then say each word to check it sounds right.
Pupils point to each word as they read I can see a bright star in the dark, looking for the ar words.
Screening check warm-up
Run the sound button table in the spring term. It shows who reads alien words as real ones, such as darp as dark.
Small group
Take the pupils who dropped points on digraphs in a mock check and read the eight words together, one row at a time.
Home reading
Send the Read the Sentence page home. Parents can hear the star sentence in under a minute.
Get started today
