Reading Tips!
Short vowels: a=ah, e=eh, i=ih , o=oh , u=oo (cat, bet, sit, cop, cup)
Long Vowels: say the letter name of the vowel (date, Pete, like, poke, cube)
Blends are consonants that make 2-3 sounds and your can hear each sound:
br, bl, cl, spl, sp, thr, squ, gl, pl. . . .
nk: ank - ink - onk - unk: tank, think, honk, trunk
Digraphs are 2 letters that make one sound:
th, ch, sh, wh, ai, oa, oi, oy, ck, ee, ea, oo. . . .
al: sounds like “ol”: ball, fall, hall, tall, call, walk, talk, salt
wa: water, watch, want, wash
ng: ang - ing - ong - ung: sang, sing, song, sung
Consonant Digraphs: Two or more consonants that make one sound
ck: Use ck at the end of one syllable words after the short vowel: clock, black, back deck
H Brothers: wh, th, ch, ph
On wh words, the h is silent: whale wheel whip
On th words, makes one sound (put your tongue between your teeth to say): with think tooth
ch can make 3 sounds: chase, Christmas, chef
On tch words the t is silent: catch hitch stretch
The “t” is there to touch the short vowel, otherwise we don’t need it:
march brunch inch crunch
On ph words, it makes the "f" sound: alphabet, phrase, trophy, elephant
gh at the end of words also makes the "f" sound": cough
Tricky Question Words:
who, what, where, when, why, how, could, should, would
dge and ge
dge is at the end of the word after 1 short vowel: judge, edge bridge
(You don’t hear the d, but it’s there to touch the single short vowel.
If it’s a long vowel word we don’t need the d: stage, huge.
If there’s a consonant touching the vowel we don’t need the d: lunge, hinge)
Silent e makes the vowel say its name, not its sound:
cake Pete hide lone tube
Drop the silent e when adding a suffix that begins with a vowel, as in ed or ing, but NOT if the suffix begins with a consonant: hope, hoped, hoping, hopeful
Bossy r: when the r is next to a vowel it controls the vowel:
car corn
ir, ur, er makes the exact same sound! Her turn first!
Not typical long vowels:
Different Sounds
c sounds like s next to e, i, and y: cent, city, cymbals
g sometimes sounds like j next to e, i, and y: gem, giraffe, gym
gu is hard: guest, guitar, guide
ie/ei: put i before e, except after c, or when sounded like long a as in neighbor or weigh
Words never end with v alone: have, brave, believe
Past tense ed has 3 sounds:
1. after t or after d it makes the ed sound and makes the ed syllable: painted, wanted, crowded, sounded
2. When the verb ends in a voiced sound other than /d/, the ending is pronounced as /d/. called, screamed, yelled, listened
3. When the verb ends in a voiceless consonant other than /t/, the ending is pronounced as /t/. asked, laughed, fixed, bumped
Vowel Digraphs:
(a digraph is two or more letters that make one sound)
oi/oy: boil, boy, spoil, joy
aw/au: thaw, taught, saw, author
oo/oo: can make 2 different sounds:
1. school, moose
2. book, cook
2 sounds of ow: snow, plow
ow/ou: ouch, clown
Silent letters: wr, mb, kn, gn
write, thumb, knife, gnaw.
"Tricky Y" or "Sneaky Y": The y can steal the sound of other vowels.
sounds of y: yellow, sky, baby
y makes the ya at beginning of words: yellow, year, young
y makes the long i sound at end of 1 syllable words: sky, try, by
y makes the long e sound at the end of 2 syllable words: baby (ba-by), silly, sneaky, tricky
Double f, l, s: if the word has 1 syllable: fluff, hill, mess (There are some exceptions, like bus, or when s sounds like z as in was, or f sounds like v as in of.)
Double final consonant: if the word has one syllable and ends in one consonant, and suffix starts with a vowel
big, bigger, bigness fret, fretting, fretful
es: If the noun ends in s, ss, x, z, ch, sh, and there’s more than 1
buses, benches, foxes, bushes, buzzes
ies: If the noun/verb ends in y: change the y to i and add es or ed IF there is a consonant before the y
pennies, babies, carried, hurried,
s: not when there is just a vowel touching the y:
boys, plays
Final y after a vowel remains unchanged when adding any suffix:
payed, payment, payable,
BUT if there’s a consonant before the y change the y to i: pitiful, copied
f to v
If the noun ends in f: Change the f to v and add es
leaves, knives, but other times you don’t: fifes, roofs
Possessives:
When the noun is singular use ‘s: child’s ball, Meg’s dress
If the noun already has an s, use s’ as in boys' or James’ room
Plural for Letters and Figures:
Suffix ful: ful has one l: joyful
Suffix ly: the base word spelling doesn’t end when ly is added ~ hopefully, safely, softly
Copied and Adapted from Judy Araujo: http://www.mrsjudyaraujo.com/spelling-rules-and-44-phonemes/
Long Vowels: say the letter name of the vowel (date, Pete, like, poke, cube)
Blends are consonants that make 2-3 sounds and your can hear each sound:
br, bl, cl, spl, sp, thr, squ, gl, pl. . . .
nk: ank - ink - onk - unk: tank, think, honk, trunk
Digraphs are 2 letters that make one sound:
th, ch, sh, wh, ai, oa, oi, oy, ck, ee, ea, oo. . . .
al: sounds like “ol”: ball, fall, hall, tall, call, walk, talk, salt
wa: water, watch, want, wash
ng: ang - ing - ong - ung: sang, sing, song, sung
Consonant Digraphs: Two or more consonants that make one sound
ck: Use ck at the end of one syllable words after the short vowel: clock, black, back deck
H Brothers: wh, th, ch, ph
On wh words, the h is silent: whale wheel whip
On th words, makes one sound (put your tongue between your teeth to say): with think tooth
ch can make 3 sounds: chase, Christmas, chef
On tch words the t is silent: catch hitch stretch
The “t” is there to touch the short vowel, otherwise we don’t need it:
march brunch inch crunch
On ph words, it makes the "f" sound: alphabet, phrase, trophy, elephant
gh at the end of words also makes the "f" sound": cough
Tricky Question Words:
who, what, where, when, why, how, could, should, would
dge and ge
dge is at the end of the word after 1 short vowel: judge, edge bridge
(You don’t hear the d, but it’s there to touch the single short vowel.
If it’s a long vowel word we don’t need the d: stage, huge.
If there’s a consonant touching the vowel we don’t need the d: lunge, hinge)
Silent e makes the vowel say its name, not its sound:
cake Pete hide lone tube
Drop the silent e when adding a suffix that begins with a vowel, as in ed or ing, but NOT if the suffix begins with a consonant: hope, hoped, hoping, hopeful
Bossy r: when the r is next to a vowel it controls the vowel:
car corn
ir, ur, er makes the exact same sound! Her turn first!
Not typical long vowels:
- old (cold, gold)
- ind (find, blind)
- ild (wild, child)
- ost (ghost, most)
- olt (bolt, colt)
Different Sounds
c sounds like s next to e, i, and y: cent, city, cymbals
g sometimes sounds like j next to e, i, and y: gem, giraffe, gym
gu is hard: guest, guitar, guide
ie/ei: put i before e, except after c, or when sounded like long a as in neighbor or weigh
- chief, ceiling, eight
Words never end with v alone: have, brave, believe
Past tense ed has 3 sounds:
1. after t or after d it makes the ed sound and makes the ed syllable: painted, wanted, crowded, sounded
2. When the verb ends in a voiced sound other than /d/, the ending is pronounced as /d/. called, screamed, yelled, listened
3. When the verb ends in a voiceless consonant other than /t/, the ending is pronounced as /t/. asked, laughed, fixed, bumped
Vowel Digraphs:
(a digraph is two or more letters that make one sound)
oi/oy: boil, boy, spoil, joy
aw/au: thaw, taught, saw, author
oo/oo: can make 2 different sounds:
1. school, moose
2. book, cook
2 sounds of ow: snow, plow
ow/ou: ouch, clown
Silent letters: wr, mb, kn, gn
write, thumb, knife, gnaw.
"Tricky Y" or "Sneaky Y": The y can steal the sound of other vowels.
sounds of y: yellow, sky, baby
y makes the ya at beginning of words: yellow, year, young
y makes the long i sound at end of 1 syllable words: sky, try, by
y makes the long e sound at the end of 2 syllable words: baby (ba-by), silly, sneaky, tricky
Double f, l, s: if the word has 1 syllable: fluff, hill, mess (There are some exceptions, like bus, or when s sounds like z as in was, or f sounds like v as in of.)
Double final consonant: if the word has one syllable and ends in one consonant, and suffix starts with a vowel
big, bigger, bigness fret, fretting, fretful
es: If the noun ends in s, ss, x, z, ch, sh, and there’s more than 1
buses, benches, foxes, bushes, buzzes
ies: If the noun/verb ends in y: change the y to i and add es or ed IF there is a consonant before the y
pennies, babies, carried, hurried,
s: not when there is just a vowel touching the y:
boys, plays
Final y after a vowel remains unchanged when adding any suffix:
payed, payment, payable,
BUT if there’s a consonant before the y change the y to i: pitiful, copied
f to v
If the noun ends in f: Change the f to v and add es
leaves, knives, but other times you don’t: fifes, roofs
Possessives:
When the noun is singular use ‘s: child’s ball, Meg’s dress
If the noun already has an s, use s’ as in boys' or James’ room
Plural for Letters and Figures:
Suffix ful: ful has one l: joyful
Suffix ly: the base word spelling doesn’t end when ly is added ~ hopefully, safely, softly
Copied and Adapted from Judy Araujo: http://www.mrsjudyaraujo.com/spelling-rules-and-44-phonemes/