These are some phonics rules to help you with reading and spelling.

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Jared Mitchell
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1 These are some phonics rules to help you with reading and spelling. *Not all words in the English language follow these rules. Many words in the English language are derived from another language and they won't follow the rules. A vowel in a closed syllable is short; code it with a breve. A breve looks like a smile placed over the short vowel ( ). log (lŏg) cat (kăt) sit (sĭt) tug (tŭg) wet (wĕt) v Rule A vowel in an open, accented syllable is long; code it with a macron. A macron is a line ( ) placed over the long vowel. no (nō) me (mē) so (sō) we (wē) go (gō) hi (hī) Twin Consonants When twin consonants stand side by side, one is silent cross it out. To code a word with twin consonants cross out the second letter of the pair. ball class stuff Consonant Digraphs A digraph is two letters that come together that make one sound. This is different from a blend. In a blend the two sounds can be distinguished.

2 Example Digraphs: ck- code this by underlining and crossing out the c ng - code this by underlining the digraph th The digraph th has a voiced and unvoiced sound. To determine if th is unvoiced or voiced, place three fingers over your throat and say the word. If you feel vibrations when pronouncing the th, then the th is voiced. To code this digraph underline th and then draw a voice line through th. A voice line is simply a line drawn across the middle of the digraph. sh ch Vowel Digraphs A vowel digraph is two letters with the first letter making a long sound and the second letter is silent. We call this: "first one does the talking, the second keeps on walking." Example Vowel Digraphs: ee ay ai oo The digraph oo has two sounds. One is the sound heard in hook. Code the digraph for this sound with a breve over it. Example: foot ( ) The other sound is the sound heard in tooth. Code the digraph for this sound with a macron over it. Example: moon ( ) ue au aw vccv Rule When a word contains more than one vowel, it could follow the vccv or vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel pattern. The first step is to mark the vowels by writing a v under each vowel. Then mark the consonants by writing a c under them. Next divide the word into syllables by drawing a line between the two consonants. Code the vowels and decided which syllable receives the accent (').

3 napkin (năpˈkĭn) picnic (pĭkˈnĭk) rabbit (răbˈĭt) K and C Rules There are two ways to spell the /k/ sound. Spell the /k/ sound with k if the sound comes before e, i, or y. keg (kĕg) kid (kĭd) milky (mĭlˈkē) skip (skĭp) Spell the /k/ sound with c if the sound comes before a, o, u, or any consonant. cat (kăt) clip (klĭp) crop (krŏp) cost (kôst) cup (kŭp) Final /k/ Rules Spell the final /k/ sound with digraph ck after a short vowel. black (blăk) lock (lŏk) neck (nĕk) sick (sĭk) duck (dŭk) Spell the final /k/ sound with the letter k after a consonant or a vowel digraph. milk (mĭlk) week (wēk) bank (băngk) book (book) FLOSS Rule When a one syllable word with a short vowel ends in an f,l,or s- the last letter is doubled Examples of rule: fill grass boss v-e Rule A vowel followed by a consonant and "sneaky e" is long; code the vowel with a macron and cross out the "sneaky e." name (nām) hope (hōp) like (līk) Combinations A combination is two letters coming together to make an unexpected sound. These are different from a digraph because you cannot hear any of the letters' normal sounds.

4 Combinations with the "bossy r": ar er ir ur or Other combinations: qu Final /s/ Rules After a short vowel, use ss. Examples are: boss (bŏs) miss (mĭs) grass (grăs) dress (drĕs) After a long vowel, use ce. Examples are: ice (īs) space (spās) After a consonant or a vowel digraph, use se. Examples are: false (fôls) rinse (rĭns) pulse (pŭls) horse (hôrs) Dropping Rule When a word ends with a "silent e" or "sneaky e", drop the e before adding a vowel suffix. Ex: make + ing = making rule + er = ruler Dipthongs A dipthong is two vowel sounds that come together so quickly that they are considered to be only one syllable. Example Dipthongs: oi and oy ou and ow Dipthong oi and ou come in the initial or medial position of a word. Dipthong oy and ow come in the final position of a word. Ex: join (join) boy (boi) mouse (mous) cow (kou) Wild Colt Words Wild Colt words contain either the vowels o or i followed by two consonants. The vowel is long when followed by two consonants.

5 Ex: wild (wīld) colt (kōlt) kind (kīnd) find (fīnd) both (bōth) Ghost Letter Digraphs We call the "g," "k," and "w" in the digraphs gn, kn, and wr ghost letters to help us remember they used to make a sound but now are silent. Ex: knife (nīf) gnaw (nô) wrist (rĭst) Doubling Rule When a vowel suffix is added to a root word that ends with one vowel and one consonant, the final consonant is doubled before adding the suffix. Vowel suffixes are ed, ing and y. Ex: sit + ing = sitting Sit ends with a vowel followed by one consonant. Suffix ing is a vowel suffix. The ending consonant, "t" is doubled before adding the suffix. The Sound, /j/ The sound, /j/ is spelled in three ways: j ge and dge. 1. The letter j is usually used if the sound if followed by an a, o, or u. Examples: just jam jungle job jar jump 2. Since the letter g has the soft sound of /j/ when it is followed by an e, i, or y, it is usually used in this situation: gentle ginger gym 3. If /j/ follows a short vowel sound, it is usually spelled with dge. This is because the letter j, is never doubled in English. Examples: ridge dodge gadget edge judge

In English there are 26 letters which represent 44 phonemes. These phonemes are represented by approximately 140 different letter combinations.

PHONIC RULES/PATTERNS, WHICH MAY BE USEFUL AT EACH PHASE OF LETTERS AND SOUNDS NB: These rules are equally relevant to other synthetic phonics programmes In English there are 26 letters which represent