LumiraWhat is a spelling pattern?
Some spelling patterns do not fit a tidy category but appear often enough to be worth teaching directly rather than leaving a reader to guess.
wa words — word list
Every word below appears in the decodable book on this page, so a reader who practises the list will meet the same words again in context.
- swan
- wallet
- wand
- wander
- wasp
- watch
Free decodable book: Decodable WA
This is an original Lumira decodable reader, written so that a child can sound out nearly every word using patterns they have already been taught. The full text is below — read it here, or open it in the app to read it together with the words highlighting as you speak.
Mia has a watch. Leo has a watch too. They like it.
Leo saw a wasp. Mia saw a wasp too. Mia and Leo did not get close to the wasp.
Mia had a wallet. Leo had a wallet too. They like it.
Leo saw a swan. Mia saw a swan too. Mia and Leo did wander by the swan.
Watch wasp wallet wand swan wander. Mia and Leo like them all.
How to teach it
- Say the sound on its own first, several times, before showing any letters.
- Show the spelling and name it explicitly — tell the reader what it says rather than asking them to work it out.
- Blend two or three words from the list together, out loud, slowly.
- Read the decodable book above, where the pattern repeats in real sentences.
- Come back to it two or three days later. Cumulative review is what makes it stick.
Lessons that practise this pattern
wa says /wo/ (watch, wasp)
Read wa as /wo/ after w