Common exception words are an important part of language learning. Common exception words are – like their name – found everywhere in our daily language use. However, the usual phonic and spelling rules don’t apply to common exception words, making them a little more complex to learn and understand.
Once children have learnt common exception words in year 1 and 2, they become familiar with these word choices. This boosts their confidence, increases fluency, and allows them to integrate year 3 and 4 common exception words more easily.
Contents
- What is a common exception word?
- Examples of common exception words
- Why are common exception words important?
- How to teach children common exception words
- Common exception word teaching resources
- Common exception words and spelling lists
What is a common exception word?
A common exception word doesn't follow the usual phonetic spelling rules that children learn in KS1. When children encounter these words, they often try to sound them out using their phonetic knowledge, but this strategy won't work.
Take words like 'gold' or 'pretty', for instance. These common exception words can't be decoded using typical phonics rules, yet they appear frequently in everyday English. That's why it's crucial for pupils to learn them by sight.
These essential words form the building blocks of reading and writing. They should be introduced systematically, starting in years 1 and 2, and the skills should be built on through years 3, 4, 5 and 6. By mastering these words, children can access more complex texts and develop their literacy skills with confidence.
Examples of common exception words
Here are some examples of common exception words for a range of year groups:
- Year 1: Today, were, has, said, school
- Year 2 : Behind, because, beautiful, every, improve
- Year 3 and 4 : Although, guard, particular, experiment, grammar
Why are common exception words important?
Common exception words are important because they are regularly used in everyday speech and writing. Without a solid grounding in these word groups, children may not have the confidence around language that they need to learn and expand their vocabulary.
Students can sometimes struggle to fully understand the meaning of a sentence, paragraph or text if they haven’t got a good grasp of common exception words. Teaching children words that will come up in conversations they have and texts they read will help improve their fluency and comprehension.
A sound understanding of common exception words also helps children become better writers, as many connectives, conjunctions and adverbials are on the common exception word lists. This helps them create more sophisticated sentence structures and access the foundations of English grammar.
How to teach children common exception words
There are many ways to teach children common exception words. Providing a variety of learning methods can help support children as they grow more confident with these types of words.
It may take some time for children to grasp the concept of common exception words and to feel comfortable identifying them. Don’t worry, this is part of the process and practising using words in familiar contexts will help!
Here are a few tried and tested methods to experiment with in your classroom:
1. Fun games
Why not play a few common exception word games to engage children in identifying them from a competitive angle? Games such as hangman, where children have to guess the word and the correct spelling, bring an entertaining edge. You could also try concentration, common exception word bingo, or a word scavenger hunt.
2. Mnemonics
Create a mnemonic using a memorable phrase or image to help children remember a common exception word. For example, the mnemonic ‘Silly Ants In Dresses’ can be used to help children identify the common exception word ‘said’.
3. Word scramble
Using letter tiles or scrambled words can be a supportive and fun way to get children to unscramble words into the right spelling. Magnetic letters can also be helpful with this activity as they can be moved around easily and support kinaesthetic learners.
4. Flash cards
Great for quick review or reinforcement activities, flash cards can also be used with the ‘look, cover, say/write, check’ method. Flash cards can be used in a whole-class scenario or in group activities as children explore common exception words through active learning.
5. Word mats
Word mats are such handy reference tools for children to have access to whenever they are thinking about word use. Common exception word mats can be laminated and placed on desks or stuck into books to easily check when needed.
6. Sticky notes
Using sticky notes to identify and highlight common exception words in books while you’re reading to the class or when children are doing personal reading is a great way to keep reinforcing the words and how they are spelt.
7. Visual aids
Pictures or images that are shown alongside common exception words can help children recall the vocabulary and feel more comfortable about identifying and using the words.
Common exception word teaching resources
Why not try some of these convenient and easy-to-use resources?
- Year 1 common exception words
- Year 2 common exception words
- Year 1 and 2 common exception words
- Year 3 and 4 common exception words
- High frequency crosswords
Common exception words and spelling lists
Creating spelling lists that include common exception words is really helpful for children as they learn. The regular reinforcement of learning spellings and working out how to spell in class can support a deeper knowledge of common exception words.
Give these resources a go to support spelling activities with your class:
- Year 1 spelling words
- Year 2 spelling words
- Year 3 spelling lists
- Year 4 spelling word lists
- Year 5 and 6 spelling word lists
Browse all spelling resources for KS1 and KS2.
