Introduces the phonic sounds ar, or, ir, ur and er.

Illustrated sentences about Sam and Kim give children practice reading ar, or, ir, ur and er words, underlining each sound in its own colour and listing the words they find.
Year groups
Nursery–Reception (Early Years), Years 1–2 (Key Stage 1)
File type
PDF
Preparation
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Updated Sep 26, 2026

Subject
Phonics, Language Development, English
Topic
Phonic Sounds, Reading Packs
Resource types
Worksheets
Preparation
Print ready

From the author

About this resource

Introducing the Educational Resource: Phonic Sounds ar, or, ir, ur and er

This resource is designed to aid children in mastering the phonic sounds in an interactive manner. Its primary aim is to facilitate fluency development for readers at varying stages of their learning journey.

Efficacy and Applicability

The reading packs serve as efficient tools capable of boosting children's learning curve over a period of six months. They apply across various age groups from age 4 onwards; however, they prove particularly beneficial for older reluctant readers aged 7-9+, children with learning difficulties and those for whom English is a second language.

The Reading Packs Features:
  • An intriguing narrative featuring Sam - an enticing character whose adventures help develop learners' command over phonics sounds.
  • A hidden phonics sound hunt that cumulatively covers all 44 essential phonic sounds required to accurately pronounce approximately eighty percent of words used in English literature.
  • Captivating sketches alongside simple text designed keeping young readers' interests paramount
Educational Flexibility:

This useful resource offers flexibility regarding usability depending on individual learner’s level of progress - educators can use them either one-to-one or within small groups consisting of teacher-child or parent/guardian-child combinations. There isn't a rigid sequence allowing educators freedom regarding pack choice that best resonates with student’s specific sound building progression needs.

Aim:

Completion objectives include enabling students transitioning smoothly onto independent reading stage able to comfortably navigate through books like Roald Dahl's 'George's Marvellous Medicine' and 'Fantastic Mr Fox'.

First-hand Testimony:

Teachers adopting this comprehensive teaching resource have witnessed tangible improvement in the confidence and reading abilities of students. The phonic sounds ar, or, ir, ur and er resource is therefore a captivating way to make learning enjoyable and effective for children.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Read words with the r-controlled vowels ar, or, ir, ur and er

  • Sort words by their r-controlled vowel spelling

Teaching tips

  • Each sound is underlined in an assigned colour, so have a different coloured pencil ready for each of the five spellings.

Skills covered

  • Phonics decoding — reading sentences with ar, or, ir, ur and er words

  • Word sorting — underlining and listing words by vowel pattern

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