The note
How schools teach it now
Not taught directly, though it uses spelling and reading for meaning. The 11+ strategy: read the sentence to guess the full word, then find which three-letter word fills the gap. Always check the finished word makes sense in the sentence.
5-minute kitchen-table activity
Read a cereal box or a page of a book together and hunt for little words hiding inside long ones (CARPET has PET, PLAYED has LAY). Then cover the little word with your thumb and see if your child can guess what's missing.
Worked example
Which three-letter word is missing? We walked across the soft new CAR in our socks.
- Think what you walk on in socks: a carpet.
- CAR + PET = CARPET, and pet is a word on its own.
- Check other fits: CARROT or CARTON don't make sense in the sentence.
Answer: PET (CARPET)
Common mistakes to watch for
- Ignoring the sentence, which tells you which word is meant.
- Choosing letters that aren't a real three-letter word.
- Only looking at the end of the word; the gap is often in the middle.
Encouragement
- Try saying
- “Use the sentence as your clue. Reading carefully is your superpower here.”
- Rather than
- “Hurry up, it's only three letters.”