Boss of the Hill Sentences

Overview

Across four 15-minute small-group sessions, students reread Phonics Plus: Boss of the Hill using a BSLA Structured Literacy routine. They practise blending, reading, and spelling words containing -ff, -ss, -ll, -zz, while revisiting ck, th, ch, sh and ng. Each session ends with students orally composing and writing one sentence using a taught word.

Learning intentions

• WALT reread a familiar decodable text accurately and smoothly.
• WALT blend and segment words with the target sound–letter patterns.
• WALT spell words by saying the sounds and recording the graphemes.
• WALT compose and write one complete sentence.

Success criteria

• I can blend the sounds in a word and read it.
• I can hear the sounds and write the letters that represent them.
• I can say a sentence before I write it.
• I can write a sentence with a capital letter, spaces, and a full stop.

Curriculum links

• English — structured literacy approaches: strengthening phonological awareness, decoding, encoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
• English — Writing: orally segmenting words into syllables and phonemes for spelling.
• English — Writing: combining and saying sentences orally before writing them.
• English — sentence structures, grammar, and punctuation: experimenting with sentence structures by saying them aloud first.

Lesson structure (15 minutes)

Use the same structure in each of the four sessions. Change the word set and sentence focus as shown below.

1. 0–2 min · Reconnect and prepare. Teacher displays the session’s sound cards using the sound and word review slides, briefly revisits the previous learning, and reminds students to “look, say, blend, read”. Students say the sounds, trace the target graphemes in the air, and identify the focus pattern.

2. 2–5 min · Blend and read words. Teacher presents two or three words from the session’s list, modelling continuous blending and then reading the word in a sentence. Students tap or sweep under the graphemes, blend the sounds, read the words, and explain what each word means where appropriate.

• Session 1: hill, off, puff, shell; revisit ck and sh.
• Session 2: miss, grass, bell, well; revisit ch and th.
• Session 3: buzz, fizz, fell, hill; revisit ng and ck.
• Session 4: mixed review: off, shell, grass, buzz, chick, sing.

3. 5–7 min · Reread the text. Teacher leads a phrase-by-phrase reread of the relevant pages or the whole short text from Boss of the Hill, prompting students to decode rather than guess and briefly discussing one word or event. Students read together, then take turns reading a line or sentence with attention to accuracy and expression.

4. 7–10 min · Segment and spell. Teacher dictates two words from the session, using the BSLA routine: say the word, stretch it, segment the phonemes, identify the graphemes, and check the spelling. Students repeat, tap the sounds, write the words on the four-session word and sentence practice sheet, and reread what they have written. Suggested dictation: Session 1 hill, puff; Session 2 miss, bell; Session 3 buzz, fell; Session 4 shell, sing.

5. 10–14 min · Compose and write. Teacher chooses one focus word and orally constructs a simple sentence with the group. Model saying the sentence, counting the words on fingers, stretching any tricky words, and checking capital letter, spaces, and full stop. Students rehearse their own sentence to a partner, then write it on the four-session word and sentence practice sheet. Possible prompts: “The ___ is on the hill.” “I can ___.” “The ___ fell.” “I saw a ___.” Accept students’ own sensible sentences, provided they can explain their meaning.

6. 14–15 min · Read back and check. Teacher invites each student to read their sentence softly to a partner or the teacher and gives one specific positive prompt, such as “Check the first letter” or “Point to each word.” Students use the check routine: capital letter, spaces, full stop, and does it make sense?

Resources

• Phonics Plus: Boss of the Hill
• Grapheme cards: ff, ss, ll, zz, ck, th, ch, sh, ng
• Magnetic letters or sound boxes
• Mini whiteboards and pens
• the sound, blending, rereading, and sentence routine deck
• the four-session word and sentence practice sheet

Assessment

• Listen for accurate phoneme blending and note whether students recognise the final spelling patterns without guessing.
• During dictation, check whether students segment the whole word and represent each phoneme, particularly in words with double final letters.
• Collect or quickly review the sentence after each session: check readable spelling, a complete idea, capital letter, word spacing, and full stop.

Differentiation

• Support students by using sound boxes, magnetic letters, continuous blending, and a teacher-scribed oral rehearsal before writing. Allow students to copy a sentence frame after independently supplying the target word.
• For students needing additional language support, use the text illustration and act out unfamiliar words before reading; repeat and gesture the sentence orally.
• Pair students strategically for partner rereading, ensuring the more confident reader models without giving the word immediately.
• Extend ready writers by asking them to add a describing word or a second orally rehearsed clause, while retaining correct sentence punctuation.