Egypt Primary 6 English (Connect), Week 5: Cut or cat? Sounds u and a; quotation marks

Sounds, speech and the best pet

Week 5 · Unit 2 (B): a folk tale (reference only), quotation marks, sounds u and a, estimating numbers (maths), a paragraph on a pet, project leaflet of my school, self-assessment · 3 lessons

Cut or cat? Sounds u and a; quotation marks

Connect Primary 6 Term 1, Unit 2: pp. 26–33

GoalHear the sounds u and a, and use quotation marks with say, ask, shout and whisper.

New words

quotation marks · the marks “ ” round the words that a person saysshout · to say something very loudlywhisper · to say something very quietlyask · to say a questionreply · to answer

Explanation

Two vowel sounds are easy to mix up. The u in cup, bus and sun is a short, relaxed sound. The a in cat, apple and ant is wider: open your mouth more. Pairs such as cup and cap or run and ran are different words. Now look at speech. We put the exact words of a speaker inside quotation marks: Omar said, “I am hungry.” A question mark or a comma stays inside the marks. Use a capital letter for the first word of the speech. We use verbs like said, asked, shouted, whispered and replied.

u as in cup	a as in cat
cup	cap
run	ran
bus	bat
sun	sat
drum	ant

Worked examples

Listen and say. Find the sound u.

Listen and say. Find the sound a.

Marwan asked, “Can I help you, Mum?” His mum replied, “Yes, please. Mix the eggs.” Marwan shouted, “Look! The cake is rising!” Mum whispered, “Be careful, the oven is hot.” Marwan said, “Thank you, Mum.”

Read and listen. Marwan and his mum bake.

Read the folk tale ‘Hare Gets Scared’ on pages 26 and 27 of your book. Find three sentences with quotation marks. Say who is speaking in each one, and which speech verb the writer uses.

Now you. Say a short sentence with u and a short sentence with a to a grown-up.

Class activity

Say it with marks. The grown-up says a short sentence, for example: I am thirsty. The child writes it with quotation marks and a speech verb: Heba said, “I am thirsty.” Then the child says the same sentence in a whisper, and again in a shout.

Practice

Put quotation marks in the right place: Yara asked, Where is my pen?

Look. Does the word have the sound u or a?

Listen. Which word do you hear: cup or cap?

…

Which verb is quiet: shout or whisper?

Writing: write two sentences with quotation marks. Use said and asked.