🧠 Multi-sensory decoding with longer ‘ir’ words
This printable resource targets the /ɜː/ phoneme with the spelling ‘ir’, using high-utility words with 5–7 sounds. It’s designed to stretch decoding skills while supporting memory, attention and motor learning. Each tile features a single word — ideal for use in multi-sensory games, spelling practice, or movement-based reading tasks. Use on a nature walk, with window pens, or as part of a word hunt — activity suggestions included.
Suitable for home learning, tutoring, or specialist literacy intervention.
🧩 Words included:
circuit, swirling, birthday + 40 others (e.g. thirsty, circling, whirlwind, squirted, virtual, skirmish, chirping, dirtier, firmly, birthplace)
✅ Learning focus:
• Supports blending and sound–symbol mapping
• Strengthens fluency with 5–7 sound words
• Builds confidence through repetition and variation
• Reinforces memory and attention through sensory activity
• Can be adapted for movement-based or visual learners
🖨 What’s included:
• 48 printable word tiles
• Progress tracker (blend/automaticity/notes)
• Extensive multi-sensory activity suggestions
• Terms of use and guidance
Recommended age:
KS2–KS3, or any learner working on extended /ɜː/ words with the ‘ir’ spelling
Format:
PDF download – black-on-white word tiles + colour activity pages
Use:
Phonics practice, tutoring, home learning, or intervention settings
Licensing:
For personal/single-teacher use only. Please do not share, adapt or upload.
Copyright: Joanna Whale, Great Expectations Education.
This printable resource delivers 30+ ‘ur’ word tiles for learners tackling complex spellings of the /ɜː/ sound — perfect for multisyllabic vocabulary, Latinate forms, and subject-specific terms. Use the tiles in any of the included activity ideas (tactile tracing, flash-card races, story builders, and more). Each tile encourages reading, blending, and discussion.
Use in 1:1 tutoring, small groups, whole-class multisensory sessions, or independent practice.
furnace, nurture, surgeon + 28 others
• Reinforces decoding and reading fluency
• Builds word recognition and confidence
• Strengthens morphological awareness
• Encourages creativity, focus, and collaborative play
• 1 printable PDF of 30+ ‘ur’ word tiles
• Progress-tracking sheets (blend & automaticity)
• Detailed multi-sensory activity ideas and clear setup instructions
• Zero extra prep beyond printing and cutting
Recommended age:
KS2–KS3, or any learner working on advanced /ɜː/ representations
Format:
PDF download – colour word tiles
Use:
Phonics revision, tutoring, home learning, SEND intervention, literacy warm-ups
Licensing:
For personal/single-teacher use only. Please don’t share, adapt, or upload.
Copyright: Joanna Whale, Great Expectations Education.
A versatile resource for beginning readers of /ɜː/ words
This printable word-tile set focuses on the ur spelling of the /ɜː/ sound — ideal for learners who are developing reading skills and tackling single-syllable words. Designed to accompany multi-sensory activities, these cards add a tactile and visual component to phonics lessons.
Use in 1:1 tutoring, at home, or as a warm-up in structured intervention sessions.
🧩 Words included:
curve, blurb, spurt + 20+ others
✅ Learning focus:
• Reinforces decoding accuracy and automaticity
• Builds word recognition and reading confidence
• Strengthens phonological awareness through focused practice
• Encourages engagement through multi-sensory learning
🖨 What’s included:
• 1 printable PDF of 30+ word cards
• Clear instructions and suggested activities
• Ready to print — no extra prep required
Recommended age:
KS1–KS2, or any learner beginning to read /ɜː/ words
Format:
PDF download – colour word cards
Use:
Phonics revision, flashcard drills, home learning, SEND intervention, or multi-sensory classroom activities
Licensing:
For personal/single-teacher use only. Please do not share, adapt, or upload.
Copyright: Joanna Whale, Great Expectations Education.
This printable phonics game focuses on complex and less frequent spellings of the /ɜː/ sound — ideal for learners exploring multisyllabic vocabulary, Latinate forms, and subject-specific terms. Players take turns choosing words and aiming to claim four in a row.
Use in 1:1 tutoring, at home, or as a warm-up in structured intervention sessions.
🧩 Words included:
furnace, hurtling, murmur and 20+ others
✅ Learning focus:
Reinforces decoding and fluency
Builds word recognition and confidence
Strengthens morphological awareness
Encourages strategic thinking and collaboration
🖨 What’s included:
1 printable PDF game board
Clear instructions for play
No extra prep or printing required
Recommended age:
KS2–KS3, or any learner working on advanced /ɜː/ representations
Format:
PDF download – colour game grid
Use:
Phonics revision, tutoring, home learning, or SEND intervention
Licensing:
For personal/single-teacher use. Please don’t share, adapt or upload.
Copyright: Joanna Whale, Great Expectations Education.
A strategic reading game for phonics, vocabulary and morphological fluency
This Four in a Row game targets the /ɜː/ sound spelled ‘ur’, using real multisyllabic and morphologically rich words. Learners take turns reading words aloud and claiming squares in an effort to connect four — across, down, or diagonally. Word knowledge, decoding fluency and pattern recognition all in one easy-to-print game.
Designed for 1:1 tutoring, home learning or small group use.
Includes curtail, cursor, blurted, and 20+ other ‘ur’ words with real-world spelling patterns and rich vocabulary links.
Reinforces decoding of /ɜː/ words with the ‘ur’ spelling
Builds vocabulary and morphological awareness
Encourages collaborative play and strategic thinking
Flexible for use in reading warm-ups or fluency intervention
1 printable Four-in-a-Row board (PDF)
Clear instructions for how to play
Easy to use with counters, highlighters, or annotation tools
No additional setup required
Recommended age:
KS1–KS2 (or any learner working on the /ɜː/ phoneme)
Format:
PDF download – colour game board
Use:
Home education, tutoring, phonics warm-up, spelling intervention
Licensing notice:
This product is licensed for individual or single-teacher use only. No redistribution or uploading allowed.
Copyright: Joanna Whale, Great Expectations Education.
A strategic decoding game for advanced /ɜː/ words
This printable phonics game focuses on complex and less frequent spellings of the /ɜː/ sound — ideal for learners exploring multisyllabic vocabulary, Latinate forms, and subject-specific terms. Players take turns drawing lines and reading each word aloud. Complete a box? It’s yours.
Use in 1:1 tutoring, at home, or as a warm-up in structured intervention sessions.
submerge, verbatim, vertical, terminal, verbose
…plus others like Sherlock, serving, thermal, superb, vermin
Spellings explored include ‘er’, ‘ir’, ‘ur’, ‘or’, ‘ear’, and endings like -al, -ous, -um, -us, -ic.
Supports decoding of longer, less familiar /ɜː/ spellings
Reinforces phoneme–grapheme mapping in subject vocabulary
Builds fluency through structured repetition
Encourages concentration, turn-taking, and spoken rehearsal
1 full-colour printable Dots and Lines grid (PDF)
Instructions for play
Ideal for annotation or printing
No prep beyond the download
Recommended age:
KS2–KS3, or any learner working on advanced /ɜː/ representations
Format:
PDF download – colour game grid
Use:
Phonics revision, tutoring, home learning, or SEND intervention
Licensing:
For personal/single-teacher use. Please don’t share, adapt or upload.
Copyright: Joanna Whale, Great Expectations Education.
A strategic decoding game for phonics practice at home or in tutoring sessions
This printable Dots and Lines phonics game helps learners focus on the /ɜː/ sound (as in her, nurse, turn), exploring a wide range of spellings and word types. Designed for one-to-one or home use, the game builds fluency through strategic play. Players take turns drawing lines and reading words aloud — claiming boxes as they complete them.
exert, avert, internal, concern, herbal, assert, convert, expert, alert, eternal
…plus 20+ others with the /ɜː/ sound
Strengthens phoneme–grapheme mapping for /ɜː/
Builds word recognition through repetition and exposure
Supports strategic thinking and turn-taking
Ideal for fluency games in tutoring, intervention or home education
1 full-colour printable grid (PDF)
Simple gameplay instructions
Designed for pencil, pen or on-screen annotation
No additional prep or printing needed
Recommended age:
KS1–KS2 or any learner working on /ɜː/ spellings
Format:
PDF download — colour game board
Use:
Phonics intervention, home learning, literacy warm-up
Licensing:
Single-user or single-teacher licence. Please do not copy, share, or upload. Copyright: Joanna Whale, Great Expectations Education.
Four in a Row – ‘ir’ Sound (/ɜː/)
A fun way to practise reading words with the /ɜː/ sound, as in bird and shirt. This printable game helps children strengthen decoding skills while playing against a parent, sibling, or friend.
Each player chooses a colour, takes turns reading a word aloud, and claims that space on the board. The goal is to make four in a row — across, down, or diagonally. Every word read correctly reinforces confidence, accuracy, and fluency.
How it helps
Builds confidence reading ‘ir’ words aloud
Supports clear pronunciation and fluency
Encourages turn-taking, focus, and strategy
What’s included
Printable game board (colour and blackline)
Easy-to-follow instructions
All words aligned with the /ɜː/ sound spelt ‘ir’
Format
PDF for home printing or tablet use
Best for
Parents supporting children at home, home-educating families, and tutors working with early readers.
A home-friendly phonics game to support reading fluency and decoding of words with the /ɜː/ sound (as in ‘her’). This printable Dots and Lines activity invites learners to practise mixed spellings of /ɜː/ while playing strategically against a parent, tutor or peer. Ideal for 1:1 literacy support, with an easy-to-follow structure that encourages turn-taking, decoding aloud, and visual pattern spotting.
This resource contains complex words such as ‘curtain’, ‘herbal’, ‘emerge’, ‘fertile’ and ‘clergy’.
Make phonics practice engaging with Dots and Lines – ‘ir’ Sound (ɜː). This printable word game helps home-educated learners and parents practise decoding while playing. Take turns drawing lines between dots, saying each word aloud as you go. Complete a box to claim it – the player with the most boxes wins!
Designed for 1-to-1 learning at home, this activity strengthens reading fluency, supports sound–spelling links, and builds confidence through play. Perfect for literacy sessions, interventions, or family learning time.
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Curious to try my resources? Start here.
This little set of ‘test’ themed resources is a gentle way to try out how I teach spelling, morphology and vocabulary, without committing to full price.
Each one is 75% off for a limited time and works well as a standalone activity or as a taster before diving into the other packs.
Ideal for: home educators, 11+ candidates and anyone wanting a low cost starting point.
This downloadable pack explores the root ‘test’ (from Latin testari, meaning to witness or affirm). It includes a clear set of printable word cards designed for spelling, reading, and vocabulary practice – with a focus on how words are built.
All words in this set contain the root ‘test’ (e.g. attest, protestation, testimony, untestable), and are organised for ease of printing. These cards are not flashcards in the traditional sense – they’re designed to be used within play-based, sensory-rich tasks. Check out a scroll-through of the resource.
Included in the pack:
✅ 36 word cards featuring the root ‘test’
✅ A simple tracker to monitor blending and reading fluency
✅ 40+ activity suggestions using tactile, oral, visual, and movement-based approaches
Examples include:
• Writing with window pens or tracing in salt
• Playing Snakes and Ladders with a word per turn
• Echo reading, silly sentences, and morpheme matching
• Body spelling, hopscotch games, and torchlight hunts
These activities are especially supportive for learners who benefit from movement, repetition, and meaning-driven reading. The tracking sheet allows you to note when a word can be blended or read automatically – helpful for both planning and celebrating progress.
Decode big words like ‘testament’ and ‘protester’ — morpheme by morpheme.
This downloadable literacy pack helps children explore the morpheme ‘test’ (meaning to witness or to examine), using a Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) approach. Through colour-coded cards, clear explanations, and hands-on activities, learners discover how complex words are built — and what they really mean.
Inside the pack:
A complete set of morpheme cards (in both colour-coded and neutral green versions)
A parent guide that explains word parts clearly — including what a linking vowel is and when to drop the ‘e’
A progress tracking table for blending and reading
10+ multi-sensory word-building games and puzzles
Examples of real ‘test’ word families (e.g. testify, protest, testimony, untested, countertestimony)
Check out a scroll-through video of the resource.
Activities include:
Missing morpheme puzzles
Snap! word family edition
Build-your-own definition games
Word wall creation
Card sorting and classification
Designed by a qualified dyslexia and literacy specialist, this pack supports:
Home educators
Learners who thrive on pattern and logic
Spelling confidence through morphology
Older learners revisiting tricky words with purpose
📎 Part of the How Words Workcollection | ✏️ 75% Off | 🎞️ Scroll-through video included
This sample resource introdu ces learners to vocabulary built from the Latin root “testari”, meaning to bear witness. It’s part of my wider How Words Work: Root Study & Vocabulary collection — a series of tools for building spelling confidence and deeper word understanding.
This pack includes structured grids for exploring words like testify, protest, attest, and testimonial, using:
Clear definitions
Synonyms
Sentence prompts
Etymology (word origins)
The word contest is fully modelled as an example, and suggested answers are provided at the end to support independent learning. Illustrating the words is encouraged, particularly for visual memory or neurodivergent learners.
This sample is ideal for:
🟊 Home educators exploring root-based learning
🟊 Children preparing for 11+ exams
🟊 Learners who benefit from structured vocabulary work
🟊 Anyone curious about how words connect
🎞️ A scroll-through video shows the full resource before purchase
💸 Download it for 75% off as part of the test word collection
📄 Pairs well with my Test spelling sheets and word cards
A ready-to-use set of spelling and decoding grids exploring the root test (to bear witness or show evidence).
From test and attest to testimony, protest, and intestacy, this pack offers structured practice with over 30 derived words — all carefully segmented for reading, spelling, and meaning.
Each sheet supports multi-sensory learning, encouraging children to:
▪️ Explore the sounds
▪️ Create the word
▪️ Read, Spell, and Use it in a sentence
Also includes a page of hands-on activity ideas — from tracing and air-writing to chalk play and morpheme sorting.
Perfect for learners exploring morphemes, building vocabulary, or strengthening reading and spelling fluency.
🟩 You’ll get:
• Three printable spelling grids
• Word lists split by morpheme
• Sentence-writing prompts
• Multi-sensory activity suggestions
• Colour-coded versions to support visual memory
Check out the resource on this video.
Designed for home learning or 1:1 support.
Pairs well with the matching “test” jigsaw word cards.