Reading 100
Consonant Rules
- The letter q is always followed by the letter u, and we say /kw/ as in quiet.
- The letter c before e, i, and y says /s/ as in cent, city, and cycle.
- The letter g before e, i, and y says /j/ as in gentle, giant, and gym.
- We often double l, f, and s after a single vowel at the end of a one-syllable word such as ball, off, and miss.
- The two-letter /k/ (ck) is used only after a single vowel such as pack, peck, pick, pock, puck.
- The three-letter /j/ (dge) is used only after a single vowel such as badge, ledge, ridge, lodge, and fudge.
- The letter s never follows the letter x.
- The spellings ti, si, and ci are used to say /sh/ at the beginning of any syllable after the first syllable has been stated such as nation, mansion, and facial.
Important Terms
- Consonants - the letters b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z
- Vowels - the letters a, e, i, o, and u (and sometimes y)
- Digraph - two consonant combined to form only one sound
- Blend - two or more consonants together, each making a separate sound
- Digraph blend - A consonant digraph combined with a third consonant that keeps its own sound
- Trigraph - three letters that stay together to make one sound
- Syllable - a part of a word that can be pushed out in one breath. Letters make sounds; sounds build into syllables and syllables form words. Every syllable must have a vowel.
Vowel Digraph/Diphthong Sounds
Vowel Combination
ai ay ee ey oa oe ue ow ow ou ou oo oo oi oy aw au ea ea ea eu ew ui ie ei ei igh eigh |
Sound
/ā/ /ā/ /ē/ /ē/ /ō/ /ō/ /ū/ /ō/ /ou/ /ou/ /ū/ /u/ /u/ /oi/ /oi/ /o/ /o/ /ē/ /ě/ /ā/ /ū/ /ū/ /u/ /ē/ /ē/ /ā/ /ī/ /ā/ |
Example Word
bait play jeep valley boat toe cue snow cow out soup school book coin boy saw autumn eat bread steak feud few suit piece ceiling vein light eight |
The Rules of Syllable Division
- With 2 consonants, divide between consonants. hap/pen cat/nip
- With 2 consonants, keep digraphs together. rock/et bath/tub
- With 3 consonants, keep digraphs together. eth/nic bath/tub
- With 3 consonants, if a word is a compound word, split between the two words. hand/bag chest/nut
- With 4 consonants, watch for digraphs, blends, and welded sounds and divide between them. wing/span sling/shot
- With 1 consonant, use one consonant to "close in" the first syllable. rel/ish ton/ic
- With 1 consonant, one consonant usually goes with the second syllable. lo/cate pro/test
Syllable Rules
Rule #1 - Closed Syllable
- This syllable only has one vowel.
- The vowel is followed by one or more consonants (the vowels "close it in").
- The vowel sound will be SHORT.
- Examples: com/bat hap/pen cup it pest stump
Rule #2 - Vowel-Consonant-E or "Silent E" Syllable
- This syllable has a vowel, then a consonant, then an e.
- The first vowel sound is LONG.
- The e is silent.
- Examples: mile late hope safe Pete pine home mule type
Rule #3 - Open Syllable
- This syllable has only one vowel and it is the last letter in the syllable.
- The vowel sound is LONG.
- Examples: hi no she sty flu
SCHWA
- Schwa affects the sound of a and i sometimes in an open syllable.
- The sound of Schwa is similar to a short u sound.
- Schwa happens in an unstressed open syllable
- For the letter a, it usually happens in the first or last syllable of a word
- Examples: ex/tra A/las/ka a/lone a/maze/ment
- For the letter i, it usually happens in the middle of a word, and makes either a short u or short i sound.
- Example: com/pli/ment
Rule #4 - Consonant-le Syllable
- This syllable has only three letters: a consonant, l then e.
- The e is the only vowel, but it is SILENT.
- The consonant and l are sounded like a blend.
- This syllable must be at the end of a multisyllable word.
- Examples: ta/ble lit/tle ri/fle
Rule #5 - R-Controlled Syllable
- This syllable has one vowel followed by an r.
- The vowel is not long or short
- Examples: car her bird horn burn
- Treat words with a vowel-R-E (spare, fire) as vowel-consonant-e instead of R-controlled.
Rule #6 - Vowel Digraph/Diphthong "D" Syllable
- This syllable has a vowel digraph or diphthong.
- Vowel Digraph: two vowels together that represent one sound (ee).
- Vowel Diphthong: a sound that begins with one vowel sound and glides into another (oi).
- Examples: plain toe boil
Long Vowel Sounds
a ate
e eat
i ice
o open
u use
e eat
i ice
o open
u use
Short Vowel Sounds
a at
e egg
i it
o on
u up
e egg
i it
o on
u up
Rules of Word Stress
- There can only be one stress in a word.
- We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
- Most 2-syllable nouns: PRES/ent EX/port CHI/na TA/ble
- Most 2-syllable adjectives: PRES/ent SLEN/der CLEV/er
- Most 2-syllable verbs: to pre/SENT to ex/PORT to de/CIDE to be/GIN
- Words ending in -ic (stress second syllable from the end): GRAPH/ic geo/GRAPH/ic geo/LOG/ic
- Words ending in -sion and -tion (stress second syllable from the end): tele/VI/sion reve/LA/tion
- Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy, and -gy (stress third syllable from the end): de/MO/crac/y de/pend/a/BIL/it/y pho/TO/graph/y ge/OL/o/gy
- Words ending in -al (stress third syllable from the end): CRI/ti/cal geo/LOG/i/cal
- For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part: BLACK/bird GREEN/house
- For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part: bad/TEM/pered old/FASH/ioned
- For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part: to under/STAND to over/FLOW
Sound Options for the letter Y
- Remember: Y can sometimes be a vowel!
- Y in an open syllable in a one-syllable word has a long sound i: try cry
- Y in an open syllable at the end of a multi-syllable word usually says long e: baby penny
- Y has a short i sound in a closed syllable: gym
- Y has a long i sound in silent-e syllables: type