Phoneme Detectives

Case: Find alternative spellings for the /ai/ sound.

Start by spotting the /ai/ sounds

in the text on the next page?

Dear DiMy mate is always late. Every day I wait for him at eight on the corner of the estate. It never fails: half an hour later he trails along like a snail. Every day I’m waiting for ages. It’s not safe and it’s starting to frustrate me. It’s my fate to be late for school every day. I’m even getting worse grades. I stayed with him once. His dad lays out his clothes, makes his breakfast (plate of baked beans like a lake) and he’s still late. Even when we go to play football or to the Arcade, he’s late.I start every day in a real rage, knowing he'll be late again. Maybe I should say something. But I don’t want to change things in case Ilose my mate. I’ve been thinking about what to do for ages. My head aches. I’m in a state.Help!

a_e

hate

ay

pay

ai

snail

eigh

eight

There are some other rare spellings of /ai/. Can you discover them?

Now play a SORTING GAME

to investigate the BEST GUESSES

for spelling /ai/?

Best GuessesThe best guess is:

You (usually) only get this in the middle of the word :

You (usually) only get this at the end of the word:

Not as common:

a_e

ai

ay

a eigh ey ei