LESSONS - WHAT'S NEXT?
LONG-VOWELS
After the short-vowel lessons are completed, say, “These letters we’ve just studied make long-vowel sounds as well. The long-vowel sound says the name of the letter. There are several ways to spell the long-vowel sound.”
As you teach the long-vowel sounds, follow the same procedure as with the short-vowel sounds, including having the student first identify words as you say them, read words you print, then write words as you say them. Continue with sentences also, having the student read, then write them. Use words with both short-vowel and long-vowel sounds in these sentences.
MAGIC "E"
One way to spell each long-vowel sound is to have e working on another vowel. The e is silent, but it makes the other vowel say its own name, as in the word make. Show the flash card with the words can and cane, and explain that the magic e at the end makes the earlier vowel, a, say its name. Some other examples:
hat, hate
pal, pale
mat, mate
fat, fate
Go through the magic e word list with the student, since it includes many pairs of words that illustrate the point.
THE TWO-VOWEL COMBINATION
ea—as ineat, neat, real, treat, meal
ee—as in feet, feel, see, bee, heel
ie—as in pie, lie, die
Use many examples of this combination, so the student learns this point well.
SAME SPELLING, DIFFERENT SOUND
Besides the short-vowel and long-vowel sounds, some letter combinations are said in special ways. Follow the same procedures with these by having the student identify words, read words, and write words. Then dictate sentences using these words for the student to write.
oo spelling can be said:
as in dew or crew
as in new or few
ew spelling can be said:
as in boot, goofy, food, or spool
as in book, foot, good, or wool
THE IGH FAMILY
One spelling of the long I sound is igh. Examples are: flight, night, right, high, light.
THE OR SOUND
This sound can be spelled in several different ways:
or—as in Oreo, Ford, torn
oor—as in door, floor
ore as in board, roar, soar
THE EIGH SPELLING OF A
The long A sound can be spelled eigh, as in eight or weigh.
SPECIAL SOUNDS
Some letter combinations make a sound different from the sounds made by individual letters:
oi—as in oil, join, point
oy—as in boy, joy, royal
aw—as in saw, raw, awful
all—as in ball, wall, tall
er, ir, ur (and sometimes or)—as in herd, bird, fur, work
ng—as in bang, wing, long, rung
nk—as in bank, ink, honk, junk
THE ED ENDING
At the end of words, ed is pronounced in several different ways,
sometimes as ed (as in the man’s name Ed): rooted, weeded, pointed
sometimes as d—ruled, bugged, turned
sometimes as t—kissed, puffed
THE Y ENDING
At the end of a short word of one syllable, it’s pronounced like i: cry, my, fly.
At the end of a longer word of more than one syllable, it’s pronounced like e: baby, likely, worry.
THE LE ENDING
When a word ends in le, the ending is pronounced le: little, simple, candle
CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Some consonants make a different sound when combined:
sh—as in ship, shut, shout
th—pronounced two ways:
soft sound, as in that, this, the, then
hard sound, as in think, thump
ph—sounds like f: phone, elephant
qu—sounds like kw): quit, queen
The letter q is always followed by u. If the student is a child, this can be called the crybaby q (because it always needs u with it).
DOUBLE CONSONANTS
When a consonant is doubled, it has just the one sound:
ss—kiss, miss, less, fuss
ll—will, bell, pull
tt—butt, mutt, mitten
ff—cuff, fluff, puff
SILENT CONSONANTS
When the k and g precede the letter n, they are silent, g preceding h and the h is silent:
Know (pronounced no)
Gnat (pronounced nat)
Ghost (pronounced gost)
THE LETTER G
The letter g is usually said with a hard sound: get, gun.
But in some words, it has a softer sound (like the j sound): gelatin, gentle.
PARTS OF SPEECH
Words are classified as certain parts of speech, depending on the way they are used in a sentence. The eight parts of speech are: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The tutor can introduce these terms at any point after beginning to have the student read and write sentences, depending on the student’s apparent interest in how sentences are put together.
A noun is the name of a person, a place, a thing, or an idea: Jack, Durant, hat, truth.
Some nouns are proper (naming a person or a specific place, for example) and so begin with a capital letter: Sammy, Durant, Oklahoma.
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun, and usually refers back to a noun: “Jack sat on his hat.”
A verb expresses
an action: “Jack sat on his hat.”
or a state of being: “Jack is glad his hat is okay.”
An adjective is a word used to describe, or modify, a noun or pronoun:
“Jack’s old hat fell off.”
An adverb is a word used to modify
Quality adverbs:
to modify a verb: “I can run fast.”
or modify an adjective: “Be very good today.”
or modify another adverb: “Jack is the most helpful person I know.”
Description adverbs: use words with ly:
” I quickly raised my hand.”
” I slowly moved to the front.”
A preposition is a word that connects other words to show a relationship between those other words:
If a mouse can go there it’s probably a preposition (inside, outside, to, with, up, down…)
“Jack went to my house today.”
“Jack is sitting inside my house.”
“Sam is with Jack in my house.”
A conjunction is a word that joins words or groups of words:
“Jack and Sam are at my house.”
“Jack likes Sam, but Sam does not like Jack.”
“I will vote for Sam for president.”
An acronym for remembering conjunctions is FANBOYS
For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
An interjection is a word used to express surprise or emotion: Wow!
Some words can be either a noun or a verb, depending on how they are used in a sentence:
“I will use blue paint on my car.” (noun)
“I will paint my car blue.” (verb)
The lessons here are basic for teaching a student to read. Advanced lessons will be added later, to present information on reading and writing more complex sentences.