Bee Tree Lesson Plan
Year 2 Phonics Mastery
Bee Tree Phonics: Long E /iː/
Duration: 45–50 Mins
Spelling Focus: ee, ea, -y
Learning Intent
Recognise, read, and spell words with the long e sound using graphemes ee, ea, and final y.
Success Criteria
- I can hear and isolate /iː/.
- I can map sounds to letters.
- I can decode long e sentences.
Key Materials
Mini whiteboards, sound button counters, Long E Quest Worksheets, fly swatters/highlighters.
Phonics Anchor Rules for Year 2
ee (Double E)
Most common in the middle or end of simple roots. see, bee, tree, green
ea (Team EA)
Very common middle vowel team. leaf, seal, beach, meat
-y (Sneaky Y)
Makes long e at the end of 2-syllable words. puppy, sunny, happy, jelly
Phase 1: Revisit & Review
8 Mins
1. Fast Flash: Rapid review of known Phase 3/4 digraphs: sh, ch, th, ai, igh, oa, oo. Have students tap tables on vowel digraphs.
2. Auditory Sound Swap: Call out minimal pairs to warm up phonemic awareness: bed → bead, set → seat, met → meet. Ask: "What happened to the vowel sound? It stretched from short /e/ to long /iː/!"
Phase 2: Explicit Teach & Model
14 Mins
1. Catchy Anchor Chime: Introduce the visual chant: "The busy bee sat in the tree, drinking sweet green tea by the sea!" Have children smile wide like a big 'e' grin.
2. Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping (Elkonin Boxes): Draw 3-box sound grids on board. Model sounding out: t - r - ee (3 sounds, 4 letters); l - ea - f (3 sounds, 4 letters). Point out that both ee and ea are 2 letters representing 1 stretched sound.
3. Introducing Sneaky 'y': Clapping syllables with sun-ny and pup-py. Explain: "When an English word has two syllables and ends in the /ee/ sound, the letter 'y' steals the sound!"
Year 2 Phonics: Long E Lesson Plan Page 1 of 2
Instructional Delivery
Phases 3 to 5 & Teacher Toolkit
Guided, Independent & Plenary
Phase 3: Guided Practice (Team Word Sort)
12 Mins
Word Basket Relay: Post three headers on whiteboard: [ ee ], [ ea ], and [ -y ]. Hand word cards to pairs (speed, dream, baby, queen, peach, tiny, sleep, clean).
Teacher Talk: "Read your word together. Sound button it with your fingers. Who has the double 'e'? Who has team 'ea'? Who has sneaky 'y'?" Call pairs forward to tape under the matching anchor tree.
Phase 4: Independent Application (Long E Quest)
12 Mins
Student Task: Distribute the Long E Quest Worksheet. Students independently complete:
- Part 1: Sound Mapping (putting dots under single consonants, lines under digraphs).
- Part 2: Spelling Sort (organizing 9 target vocabulary words into their spelling homes).
- Part 3: Decodable Sentence Cloze (filling missing target words into contextual stories).
Phase 5: Plenary & Quick Check Dictation
6 Mins
Dictation Sentence: Read slowly twice for students to write on the bottom check line:
"The happy puppy sat by the green tree to eat a treat."
Check for: happy (-y), puppy (-y), green (ee), tree (ee), eat (ea), treat (ea).
Common Misconceptions
- EA alternate sound: Children may encounter words where ea makes short /e/ (e.g. head, bread). Remind them: "First try long e! If it sounds silly, flip the vowel to short e."
- Overusing 'ee' at word end: Writing *happee* or *sunnee*. Emphasise the two-syllable rule: almost all 2-syllable words use -y.
Targeted Differentiation
- Support (Scaffold): Provide pre-drawn Elkonin sound boxes with the vowel team already filled in (e.g., m | ea | t). Focus primarily on high-frequency ee words first.
- Extension (Deepen): Introduce split digraph e_e (e.g. these, Pete, athlete) or challenge students to write a silly 2-sentence story using at least 4 long e words.
Year 2 Phonics: Long E Lesson Plan Page 2 of 2
Long E Quest Worksheet
Phonics Explorer
Long E Quest Worksheet
Name:
Date:
Sound Focus: Long E /iː/
Stretch your lips like a wide smile: "eee!"
tree leaf puppy
1
Sound Button Detective
(Tap single sounds with a dot • and vowel teams with a line —)
Example
b ee
• ——
2 sounds
Word A
s ee d
Draw buttons
Word B
m ea t
Draw buttons
Word C
t r ee
Draw buttons
2
Honeycomb Word Sort
Read each word and write it in the correct spelling basket.
Explorer Word Bank
green sunny beach sleep happy clean queen dream jelly
Double EE
ee
Team EA
ea
Ending -Y
-y
Year 2 Phonics: Long E Worksheet Page 1 of 2
Sentence Safari & Detective Story
Apply your long e spelling powers in real sentences!
Part 2 of 2
3
Missing Word Mystery
Choose the best word from the bank to complete each sentence.
sea teeth puppy sleep treat
-
We watched big blue waves crash in the deep .
-
Remember to brush your white every night.
-
The playful brown barked at the bee.
-
After playing outside, I was ready to .
-
Mum gave us a crunchy green apple for a sweet .
4
Decodable Detective Story
Circle all long e words!
Pete and the Honey Tree
One sunny day, a happy puppy named Pete ran to the green meadow.
He saw three busy bees buzz near a tall tree.
Pete sat on a soft leaf to eat his sweet treat.
A cool breeze blew from the sea. Pete fell fast asleep!
How many long e words did you circle?
I found: words!
5
Super Speller Sentence Check
(Listen to your teacher and write the sentence)
Year 2 Phonics: Long E Worksheet Page 2 of 2
Long E Answers Guide
Teacher Reference
Long E Answers Guide
Worksheet Page 1 Key Activities 1 & 2
1 Activity 1: Sound Button Detective Key
3 Marks Total
Word A
s ee d
• —— •
3 sounds (/s/ /iː/ /d/)
Word B
m ea t
• —— •
3 sounds (/m/ /iː/ /t/)
Word C
t r ee
• • ——
3 sounds (/t/ /r/ /iː/)
Teaching Note: In tree, ensure students place separate dots under t and r. The consonant cluster /tr/ consists of two distinct phonemes, while ee is a single digraph representing one phoneme.
2 Activity 2: Honeycomb Word Sort Key
9 Marks Total
Double EE (ee)
Team EA (ea)
Ending -Y (-y)
Marking Rubric: Award 1 point per word placed accurately with correct handwriting. Accept words written in any row order within their matching column.
Year 2 Phonics: Long E Answers Guide Page 1 of 2
Teacher Reference
Worksheet Page 2 Key & Rubric
Activities 3, 4 & 5
3 Activity 3: Missing Word Mystery Key (5 Marks)
1. We watched big blue waves crash in the deep sea.
2. Remember to brush your white teeth every night.
3. The playful brown puppy barked at the bee.
4. After playing outside, I was ready to sleep.
5. Mum gave us a crunchy green apple for a sweet treat.
4 Activity 4: Detective Story Key & Word Tally
11 Target Words Found
One sunny day, a happy puppy named Pete ran to the green meadow.
He saw three busy bees buzz near a tall tree.
Pete sat on a soft leaf to eat his sweet treat.
A cool breeze blew from the sea. Pete fell fast asleep!
*Note: If students also circle three, Pete (e_e), breeze (ee), or sweet (ee), award bonus detective stars!
5 Activity 5: Dictation Sentence & Assessment Rubric
Spoken Model Sentence:
"The happy puppy sat by the green tree to eat a treat."
Spelling Focus
Correct ee, ea, and -y graphemes in all 6 target words.
Punctuation
Capital T at start, full stop . at end.
Spacing
Clear finger spacing between words.
Letter Formation
Ascenders (b, d, t, h) and descenders (p, y) placed accurately on lines.
Year 2 Phonics: Long E Answers Guide Page 2 of 2
