Spelling, Skills, Sight Words

 

 Phonics Rules for Parents

Vowel Coding Rules:

  • VOWEL RULE 1: Short Vowels: (lesson 2) A vowel followed by a consonant is short.  Code it with a breve.
  • VOWEL RULE 2: Long Vowels:  (lesson 3) An open, accented vowel (not followed by a consonant) is long.  Code it with a macron and an accent.
  • VOWEL RULE 3: (lesson 41)  A vowel followed by a consonant and a silent e is long; code the vowel with a macron, and cross out the silent e.
  • Vowel Rule 4 (Schwa):(lesson 84) Open, unaccented vowels usually have the following sounds: a is schwa; e, o, and u are long; and i is short.  Any vowel can have the /u/ sound.  Coded with an upside down e. (schwa)

Spelling Rules

  • K and C Spelling Rules: (lesson 23) 
    • k before e, i, or y
    • c before a, o, u, and any consonant
  • Final /k/ Spelling Rules: (lesson 29)
    • ck after a short vowel
    • k after a consonant or a vowel digraph
    • ke after a long vowel
    • c at the end of a word with two or more syllables
  • Floss Rule: (lesson 52) When a one-syllable root word has a short vowel sound followed by the sound /f/, /l/, /s/, it is usually spelled ff, ll, ss, zz.
  • Final /v/ Spelling Rule: (lesson 53) When a word has the final sound /v/, it is spelled ve.
  • Final /s/ Spelling Rules: (lesson 78)
    • ss after a short vowel
    • ce after a long vowel
    • se after anything else
  • Adding a Consonant Suffix: (lesson 88) To spell a word with a consonant suffix, just add the suffix to the end of the root word.
  • Adding a Vowel Suffix-Dropping Rule: (lesson 88) When a word ends with a silent e, drop thee before adding a vowel suffix.
  • Adding a Vowel Suffix-Doubling Rule: (lesson 88) When the final syllable of a word isaccented and ends with one vowel and one consonant, double the final consonant beforeadding a vowel suffix.
  • J & G Spelling Rule: (lesson 109)
    • j before a, o, or u
    • g before e, i, or y
  • Final /ch/ Spelling Rules: (lesson 116) 
    • tch after a short vowel
    • ch after anything else
  • Final /j/ Spelling Rule: (lesson 117) 
    • dge after a short vowel 
    • ge after anything else

Syllable Division

  • How to Divide and Label a Word: (lesson 36) vc/cv
  • Syllable Division Rule vccv (lesson 39) vc'/cv; vc/cv'
  • Syllable Division Rule vcv (lesson 81) v'/cv; vc'/v; v/cv'
  • Syllable Division Rule vc/cvc/cv (lesson 92)
  • Syllable Division Rules vcccv (lesson 99) vc/ccv; vcc/cv

Definitions and Understanding :

  • Combination- two letters that come together to make an unexpected sound (ar, er, ir, or, ur, qu, wh); coded with an arc
  • Digraph- two letters that come together to make one new sound (consonant digraphs: ch, ck, ng, ph, sh, th; vowel digraphs: ai, au, aw, ay, ea, ee, ei, ew, ey, ie, oa, oo, ow, ue);underline to code
  • Diphthong- two vowel sounds that come together so quickly that they are considered one syllable (oi, ou, ow, oy); code with an arc
  • Final, stable syllable: a nonphonetic syllable that occurs in the final position frequently enough to be considered stable (ble, cle, dle, fle, gle, kle, ple, sle, tle, zle, tion); code with a bracket
  • Ghost Letter Digraphs:  two letters that make one sound; first sound is silent (gn, kn, wr);silent letters are coded with a diagonal slash
  • High-frequency words: those words that occur most often in written text
  • Prefix: a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a root word that changes the meaning or usage of the word (dis, pre, un)
  • Root word: a word with no prefix or suffix added
  • Sight word: a word of which all or part does not follow phonetic rules
  • Sneaky e: the e in the vowel rule v-e; it makes the vowel have a long sound (a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e); coded by drawing a diagonal slash through the silent e and a macron drawn above the long vowel
  • Suffix: a letter or group of letters added to the end of a root word that changes the meaning or usage of the word (vowel suffix: ed, er, es, est, ing, y; consonant suffix: ful, less, ly, ness, s); suffixes are coded by boxing in the affix added to the root word
  • Syllable: a word or part of a word that contains only one vowel sound and is made by one impulse of the voice; syllables are split with a vertical line
  • Trigraph: three letters that come together to make one sound (dge, igh, tch); underline trigraphs to code
  • Twin consonsants: two identical consonants making only one sound; coded with a diagonal slash for silent letters

Other Rules or Codes:

  • ai is often followed by n, l, or d
  • oa is often found in one-syllable words
  • v and x are never doubled
  • x is never followed by an s
  • no words in English end in v
  • igh, ough, and augh are usually followed by a t
  • add es to nouns ending in s, x, z, ch, tch, and sh to make them plural
 

 

 

Weekly Spelling Words (Tested on Friday) 

Your student's spelling test is made up of two parts.

1. The write the word spoken to them by itself and then in a sentence. 

2. Write correctly using a capital letter, spaces and punctuation with simple sentences dictated to them. 

This is to make sure the student can take that word and read it in context. 

You can always use the free website below to practice spelling words.

www.spellingcity.com

 

 

Weekly Sight Words

Please chekc their planner and dojo for what our words are for the week. 

These words for the whole year are located in their daily planner.  I will test them every Friday.