In English, most words can be decoded by blending individual letter sounds together.
Tricky words are the exception, though: they contain irregular spellings that cannot be reliably blended or segmented, and must therefore be learned through different, targeted strategies. For Early Years educators, understanding how to teach tricky words effectively is one of the most practically impactful areas of phonics instruction.
This resource is part of my comprehensive support for Phonics and Grammar Teaching in Bilingual Contexts.
What Are Tricky Words?
Tricky words are high-frequency words whose spelling does not follow the regular phonics patterns children have been taught. They appear constantly in texts, which means that uncertainty around even a small number of them can significantly disrupt reading fluency and confidence.
They are introduced progressively once all 42 letter sounds have been taught, from the most common and essential words encountered in early reading (I, the, he, she, me, we, be, was, to, do, are, all) through to more complex ones (once, upon, always, also, of, eight, love, cover, after, every, mother, father). This sequenced introduction ensures that children become familiar with the words they encounter most frequently before moving on to less common forms.
In bilingual and international school contexts, tricky words present an additional layer of challenge: children who are acquiring English as a second language cannot draw on phonological intuition built from years of oral exposure, making the explicit, multisensory teaching approaches described in this guide especially important.
Six Techniques for Teaching Tricky Words Effectively
The following six techniques form the core instructional toolkit for teaching tricky words. Each addresses a different dimension of word learning: visual memory, phonological awareness, pattern recognition and self-monitoring.
- Look, Cover, Write, Check — The foundational technique for visual memorisation. Students look at the word carefully, cover it, attempt to write it from memory, then check their spelling against the original. Repeated cycles build accurate visual recall without rote repetition.
- Word Wall — A visible classroom display of tricky words introduced to date, organised to support ongoing reference and incidental learning. A well-maintained word wall serves as both a teaching tool and a reading support, keeping high-frequency words in the child’s visual field throughout the school day.
- Say as it Sounds — Rather than pronouncing the word as it sounds in natural speech, students are taught to say it exactly as it is spelt, for example, pronouncing said as “s-ay-d” rather than “sed.” This technique creates a phonological memory hook that supports spelling accuracy even when the word’s pronunciation offers no reliable cues.
- Mnemonics — A memory strategy that embeds the spelling within a phrase or image. The classic example: because = Big Elephant Catches Ant Under Small Elephant. Mnemonics are particularly effective for words with silent or counterintuitive letters and for children who respond well to narrative or visual anchors.
- Word Families or Patterns — Where possible, tricky words are grouped with words that share spelling patterns, helping children build analogical reasoning about orthography. Even irregular words often share partial patterns with other words; identifying these connections reduces the cognitive load of learning each word in isolation.
- Does it Look Right? — A self-monitoring strategy that develops children’s orthographic awareness. Students are encouraged to ask themselves whether a word looks right after writing it, building the metacognitive habit of visual checking that supports independent proofreading and editing over time.
Hands-On Tricky Word Activities for the Classroom
Beyond the core techniques, the following three activities offer hands-on, multisensory reinforcement, particularly effective for kinaesthetic learners and for consolidating words that have been introduced but not yet fully secured.
Cut the Word Up (Individual Word Practice)
Print the tricky word in large font with spaces between each letter. Cut the letters into individual strips, muddle them, and ask the child to rearrange them into the correct order. After three successful attempts, the word becomes increasingly fixed in memory. Follow up with dictation to check spelling accuracy independently of the physical letters.
Tricky Word Letters (Multiple Word Practice)
An extension of the cut-up activity for when multiple words have been introduced. Cut several tricky words into individual letters, then muddle all the letters from different words together. Call out one word at a time and ask children to select the correct letters and arrange them in order. The additional challenge of selecting from a mixed pool reinforces both spelling and visual discrimination.
List of Words — Say-as-it-Sounds Technique (Group Practice)
Write each tricky word on a card. Hold the card facing away from the children, call out the word, and have the class chant it using the Say-as-it-Sounds pronunciation. Then reveal the card so children can see the written form and read it as spelt. This activity integrates kinaesthetic, auditory and visual learning simultaneously, making it one of the most effective formats for group consolidation of tricky words.
Using This Resource
The downloadable guide brings together the full tricky word lists, the six main teaching techniques and the three additional activities in a single printable reference, designed for use in planning, in professional development sessions and as a classroom toolkit for early years and Key Stage 1 teachers.
[Download the Tricky Words Teaching & Practice Guide]
Bringing It All Together
Tricky words are a small but significant piece of a broader literacy picture. How they are taught — and how consistently teaching strategies are applied across year groups and between home and school — makes a measurable difference to children’s reading fluency and spelling accuracy over time.
If your school is looking to strengthen its phonics programme, align tricky word teaching across departments, or support teachers in developing a more consistent and evidence-informed approach to early literacy, I am available for consultation.
to discuss how these and other practical tools can be integrated into a coherent, whole-school literacy framework.
Jolly Phonics® and Jolly Grammar® Disclaimer: This work/product/service has been developed independently and not endorsed by Jolly Learning®. Jolly Phonics® and Jolly Grammar® are registered trademarks of Jolly Learning®.
