ch sound quiz

           Say baby chicks and chicken.            
Do you hear that ch sound
at the start of chicks and chickens? You do not
hear the ch sound anywhere in the word rooster.

Chair and cheese use the most common sound for ch. Ch can also use the k sound you hear in anchor and echo. A few ch words use the sh sound as in Chicago and charade.

Early readers need to start with ch as chair since it is the most often seen by them. Letters c and h drop their standard sounds and melt together to make a special sound.

Ask your student to point to each word as you read it; your student can repeat the word after you. Tell each other sentences using each word:

chair        chin        cheek         cherry

chain       chili         cheer         chick

chase      chirp       cheese      chicken


When you are reading stories together, look for ch at the start, middle, and end of words.
Do not assume your child sees something if you do not bring it to his attention - ask him to point to the ch word and try to read the ch word. Tell him the word after two tries.

Let's look at words that use ch at the end. Ask your child to point as you read, let your child repeat the word with you. Notice this is a rhyming word family:

each        reach     beach      speech

peach      teach     bleach     leech

Let's try:
match    patch     catch        latch

batch     hatch     scratch     attach

Let your child try this quiz. He should tell you yes if the word will have a ch sound; no, if not:

1. chat              yes    or   no
2. chimney       yes  or   no
3. chipmunk     yes   or   no
4. check     yes   or    no
5. each       yes   or   no
6. pinch      yes   or   no
7. shell       yes   or   no
8. pitcher   yes   or   no

You may want to look through the list of lessons on the right side of this blog. You may also like to see the books I have to strengthen your reader.  I now use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you to consider.

You may have seen the recently published test results showing that less than 50% of our children are successfully connecting vocabulary to comprehension. All of my books, from Kindergarten forward, focus upon this essential part of the reading puzzle by teaching my own easy, special method.

Answers: 1. yes, 2. yes, 3. yes, 4. yes, 5. yes, 6. yes, 7. no, sh as in shell, ship, 8. yes - if your child correctly thought pitcher used the ch sound - celebrate and give him a treat!! If he correctly said the word, pitcher; ask him how he did it!

Remember to watch for ch words as you read stories together! Mary Maisner

sh wh th ch digraphs

Say fish. Can you hear the sh sound at the end of fish?
Can you think of a letter in the ABCs that makes
that sh sound? No, so a special team had to be created.

There are many consonant blends. Each letter keeps its own sound and blends with other consonants: bl black, br brick, cl clock, cr crack, sn sneeze, sm small, etc.

There are only six digraph teams. The letters drop their standard sounds and melt together to make a special sound. Sh shoe, wh what,  th thorn, ch cheese, ph photo, gh laugh. 

Let's try sh. Ask your student to point to each word as you read the list. Say the words together. Ask your child to point to the letters that make the sh sound. Ask your student to read the words to you and use each word in a sentence.

she         shell        shack       shadow       shoe        shimmer        shiver

Now, try those same steps with words that end with sh:

fish                wish               bash            cash            dash           mash        splash 

   
dish            squish               rash            crash           lash           smash        trash

Let's try wh with the same steps:

whale     whip     whistle   whisper    what     when   where     whether  which   why    

Rule: when o comes after wh, the w is silent: who, who's,  whose, whom, whole

Let's try th words with the same steps:

thorn    thimble   thread   the    there    these   those   them   them   this   that   thin  thick

And, at the end:    tooth      teeth   

Let's try ch with the same steps:

cheese    chip     chipmunk     chill      chili   child   children    chase     choose (zoo)    chose

 

at the end: peach     beach      reach    teach    inch     pinch   trench   gulch    search

_________ 3rd Grade lessons: 

Ph always says f: photograph   graph     phone     telephone    triumph

Gh says f: laugh  enough   cough   tough   rough   slough (A snake sloughs its skin.)  

Gh is a silent team: bright, delight, fight, flight, fright, height, knight, night, light, might, right, sight, slight, tight.

Also: bought, brought, caught, fought, sought, taught, thought // though, although, thorough  

 

Realize that children are learning these lessons at the same time they are also learning to control the tiny muscles in their tongues. Expect that learning to read these special teams sh, wh, th, ch, and consonant blends will take repetition.

I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all of my books will pop up for you.
My books blend the tricky phonics with sight words and a special comprehension method, all come with my contact info; email or call me.

Write with any questions, Have a great day, Mary Maisner

tient cient say shunt

Tient, cient say shunt as in patient, sufficient. 
Only a handful of words use these letter teams, however this set of words are seen often; so, learning them makes reading much easier.

Is it a waste of your energy to stumble over words you are going to see over and over?

Yes, it is a waste of your energy. It is much more efficient to be smart with tient, cient.

Since tient, cient are long letter blocks, once you know that they say shunt - you have sounded out most of the word. Try:

patient     impatient          efficient    inefficient        deficient           sufficient    

Knowing what a word means can help you remember the word, and might help you learn to spell it. Which would you suppose is the meaning of efficient:  good effect   or   ever shiny

Now that you know it means good effect, spelling it will be easy; add the eff  to  icient. Tell yourself three sentences using the word efficient. Can you spell it?

What does inefficient mean?   Let these examples help you,  indirect: not direct;

incorrect: not correct;    invisible: not visible.

Now, make a choice about the meaning of inefficient:  not available   or  not the best effect

Try this sentence: A plump, sweet seal will probably be sufficient to remove the polar bear's hunger. 

What would be a good choice for the meaning of sufficient?   sharp   or   enough to satisfy

Sufficient has a short word, suffice, say su fis, meaning to be enough to satisfy the need. How would you use the word suffice to help you spell sufficient? _______________

Now, the meaning of insufficient should be easy for you. Which would you choose: 
not soft enough     or    not enough to satisfy the need

Is it easier than you thought to become an efficient reader?    yes    no

Answers: efficient: good effect; inefficient: not a good effect;  sufficient: enough to satisfy, from the word suffice;   insufficient: not enough to meet the need, not enough to satisfy the need

I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help tion, tious.  Or Instant Reading Help plus your child's grade level.

All books teach an easy comprehension method and the tricky phonics are in bold print: ge, gi, gy, tion, tious, tience, etc. Tons of special lessons, plus all complex vowel combinations.

Help your reader feel powerful with words! Mary Maisner

ciate tiate

Ciate, tiate both say she ate (long e, and long a). Ciate, tiate are blocks of letters that always say the same sound.

The rest of the word is pretty easy once you know that ciate and tiate always say she ate

Try to read:  asso ciate and differen tiate

Look at differentiate. What does it mean?
difficult     or     able to tell the difference

Remember, ciate and tiate always say she ate.
Let the rest of the sentence help you determine the meaning of the "big" word.

1. Can these monkeys differentiate between a cobra and a grass snake?
2. Can you differentiate between a monkey and a bird?

3. What are two differentiating features between a monkey and a bird?
4. What are two differentiating features between a cobra and a grass snake?

5. Do you suppose the monkeys appreciate a sweet banana when they find one?
6. Does the littlest monkey look like it would appreciate a ride on the back of one of those birds?

7. Would you appreciate a ride on the back of one of those birds?   yes   no  

8. Adam wrote a report about these monkeys. He had to include facts to substantiate what he was saying about how the monkeys live.

9. Have you ever had to give facts to substantiate statements you were making?
10. Do police detectives have to substantiate their reports with evidence?

Just for fun: did you notice that the monkeys can grasp a branch with their tails?   yes   no

A tail that can grasp something is called a prehensile tail. The word prehensile starts with the pre of the words prey and predator because prehensile comes from these words. The words prey, predator, and prehensile mean to grasp, to seize: a lion is a predator that hunts for meat to feed its cubs. 

Does it surprise you that prehensile is related to prey and predator?  yes  no

I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help 4th grade 5th grade 6th grade. No grade level on any of my books.  

Also Instant Reading Help tion, tious, tient, ciate - covers all complex vowel teams.

All my books also teach a special comprehension method which will boost the star reader and struggling reader. Be ready for the challenge of the upper grades.

Write with questions or comments. Have fun with words, Mary Maisner

cial tial special, initial

My cat is a very special animal.
   The initial of his first name is R.   

Cial, tial are letter blocks which use the shal sound you hear in special and initial. The word initial means the beginning of a thing, the start of a thing. The initial step to brushing your teeth would be, picking up your toothbrush. Right?

What are the initials of your first, middle, and last names? If you have more than three names, do you have more than three initials?  yes  no  indubitably

I hope you said yes. By the way, indubitably means without any doubt, say: in doo bi ta ble.

My cat believes he is the official ruler of all the mice in the world. He alone decides good things and bad things for the soft gray creatures that come searching inside our cupboards for nibbles of cereal.

My cat has the potential to pounce in a flash. And, my cat does not play favorites, he is an impartial judge. He is just as happy to pounce on a tiny mouse, as a big one. Yesterday, I saw him playing tag with a huge mouse, a substantial mouse, easily the size of a squirrel.

Superficially, my cat is different from a mouse. My cat is of a much more substantial size. However, both cats and mice have four legs, whiskers, sniffing noses, and long twitching tails.

So, would you say that cats and mice are alike in their essential aspects? yes   no  indubitably
Of course, you do need to allow for the substantial size differential between the cat and the mouse, right?   yes   no   indubitably

I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you.

I hope you are having an especially great day!!  Have fun with words, Mary Maisner

tious cious xious



The mother mouse felt very anxious about her babies when
 she looked up to see a shaggy head and big teeth.

Tious, cious, xious all say shus, as in ferocious. Think of these letter blocks as Lego blocks which do not come apart for sounding out.

In the category called complex vowels, these three blocks are in hundreds of words. 

Look at: ferocious. 

Ferocious looks long, but after you see the cious, you need only sound out fero, say fe ro shus.

Look at: delicious. After you see cious, you need only sound out deli, say de li shus, short i.

Try: precious. After you see cious, you need only sound out pre, say pra shus; short a.

Look at: nutritious. You need only sound out nutri, say nu tri shus. short i sound.

Do you think a small mouse would be a nutritious meal for a big, hungry cougar cat? 
yes   no    absolutely    I doubt it

Now, think about xious. Xious also says shus but because x says ks - say box, fox - hear that kshus?   I hope you did.   Anxious, means to be filled with nervousness, also called anxiety, say an ks i a te - did you hear yourself say ks for the x?  yes    no

Look at: anxious. You need only sound out an ( x says ks), say an kshus.  Would you feel anxious if you looked up into the friendly golden eyes of this cougar?   yes  no  absolutely   I doubt it

Quiz: you tell me whether or not each word is going to have the shus sound. Ans. at bottom.

1. suspicious    yes  or  no

2. malicious      yes or no

3. viscous         yes or no

4. noxious        yes or no

5. toxic     yes or no

It is important that all the letters of the block be included: tious, cious, xious - nothing else is going to give you that shus sound.

Viscous refers to the ability of something to flow or to resist flow; compare the viscousness of water against the viscousness of pancake syrup. Another word for viscousness is viscosity; compare the viscosity of water with that of chocolate sauce.

The words toxic and noxious have to do with things that are not good for a person's well-being. Toxic: say, tak sik, from the Greek and Latin languages, originally referred to poison in which an arrow had been dipped. Toxikos means for a bow; later, toxic came to mean poisonous to living creatures.

Noxious: say, nak shus, from Latin necro, meaning harmful to one's health. 
Answers: 1. yes, 2. yes, 3. no, 4. yes, 5. no

I use eBay as my website, people trust it. Search Instant Reading Help plus your child's grade level   or Instant Reading Help tion, tious, tient, ciate  This book cover all complex vowel blocks: ous, ious, eous / uous / tion, sion, sian, cion, etc / tious, cious, xious / tial, cial / ciate, tiate/ tient, cient / tiency, ciency.   No grade level printed on any of my books.

Have fun with words! Mary Maisner

tion tian cian cean cion sion sian

There is a superstition that if a
black cat walks in front of you, bad luck
is on the way. I do not believe that, do you?

Tion, tian, cian, cean, cion, sion, sian all say the shun sound you hear in fashion. See if you hear the shun sound at the end of these words:

action         Dalmatian       musician       ocean

mention      Martian           electrician     crustacean

And:
suspicion       mission            Asian

coercion        permission       Persian

Count how many ways there are to spell shun:________

I hope you counted seven. Now, add shion, as in fashion and cushion. Eight ways to write the shun sound.

These shun letter blocks are like plastic Lego blocks; they do not come apart. You cannot break these letter blocks apart to sound them out; you have see them / know them. They all say shun.

Four of the words on the list start with a capital letter: Dalmatian, Martian, Asian, Persian.   Why do those words have a capital letter and the others do not? 

Remember the rule that people and places (proper nouns) must have a capital letter; boy is a category noun not a proper noun. Adam is a proper noun, so Adam must start with capital A.

The word region is a category noun; the word Dalmatia is a proper noun for the region of Dalmatia on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Therefore, Dalmatia and the puppies from Dalmatia, called Dalmatians, need a capital letter.  (say Dal ma sha)

The word Asian refers to someone or something from the region of Asia. 

Persian refers to the region of the world called Persia. Persia is a vast area on the world map where you now see Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. 

A Martian does not come from a region or place on any world map. Where to you think a Martian comes from?    the middle of a marshmallow    or   the planet, Mars

Answer: the planet, Mars. Would you like to meet a Martian?  yes   no

Even good readers cannot get enough practice at school to really learn these tricky letter blocks.

I now use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help 4th gr 5th gr 6th grade.  

 Also Instant Reading Help tion, tious, tient, ciate - covers all complex vowel blocks: tion, tian, cion, etc tious, cious, tient, cient, tiency, ciency, ciate, tiate, cial, tial, ous, uous, ious, eous.      Have a great day, Mary Maisner

compound words quiz

If our polar bear jumps into the water, will there be a splashdown?

Splashdown is a compound word because it is made of two whole words. What are the two words?

Did you say: splash and down

Can you think of other compound words which use the word, down?

Did you think of: sundown, rundown; also, downtown, downstairs, downpour, downstream, downriver, and downturn? 

Yes, a compound word can include more than two whole words. Notice: together; an Old English word which came to us from the Old German, "togaedere," gaedere, meaning gather. What are the three whole words in together: _______________   Answer: to and get and her.

Quiz: Look at each word and tell me if it is a compound word or not.

1. snowdrift            yes or no

2. whirlpool            yes or no

3. lifeboat              yes or no

4. lively                  yes or no

5. thunderstorm    yes or no

6. shipwreck          yes or no

7. moonlight          yes or no

8. predator            yes or no

9. nevertheless     yes or no

10. furthermore    yes or no

A predator is looking for prey: a lioness is a predator when she is looking for prey to feed her cubs. Is predator a compound word?   yes   no

Answers: 1. yes, 2.yes, 3.yes, 4. no, 5. yes, 6. yes, 7.yes, 8. no, 9. yes, 10. yes

I now use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All my books are new and include my contact info; email or call for help.

All my books teach the tricky lessons plus a special comprehension method. None of my lessons are dumbed-down. Everyone's life is more fun when your child is a great reader.

Have a great day, Mary Maisner

compound words

Jack and Shadow are sitting in the sunshine.

Hilltop is a compound word because it is made of two whole words that can be used separately. What two whole words are in hilltop: hill and top. 

The word hill is short. The word top is short. But, if you hook hill to top, it makes a long word: hilltop. Look at bed and room. If you hook bed to room, it makes a long word: bedroom. Can you see the word bed, and the word room inside the compound word, bedroom?
yes   no

When you see a long word, you can look to see if the long word has more than one word it in. This can make it easier to read long words. Try it, can you see two whole words in this long word: sidewalk?

What two words did you see? ______ and ________

I hope you said, side and walk.  Try: doorway
Did you see door and way?  yes    no
See if you can choose the correct word for each of these questions:

1. Look at this picture of Jack and his dog, Shadow. Are Jack and Shadow sitting on a hilltop or in Jack's bedroom?  1. ______________

2. Would you say the time of day is afternoon or nighttime? 2. ___________

3. Would you say Jack and Shadow are sitting in a snowstorm or the sunshine? 3.________

4. Do you think Jack would like to eat jellybeans or a dragonfly? 4.___________

5. Are Jack and Shadow sitting inside of a house or outside of a house? 5. ___________

6. Would Shadow like to chase a rattlesnake or a bullfrog?  6. ____________

7. Can seeing how compound words work help you be a smarter reader?  yes   no

You might like to look through the list of other lessons on the right side of this page. You may also like to see the books I have for your reader. I use eBay. Search Instant Reading Help, all my books will pop up.  All of my books teach a special comprehension method: immediate and powerful. All are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.

Answers: 1. hilltop, 2. afternoon, 3. sunshine, 4. jellybeans, 5. outside, 6. bullfrog, 7. let your reader tell you his thinking with this question

Have fun reading, Mary Maisner

compound word quiz

Jack and his dog, Shadow

Cupcake is a compound word because it is made of two whole words: cup and cake. Look at the picture of the boy, Jack. Is Jack eating a cupcake?  No. Jack is eating a sandwich.

We have a word, witch, meaning a lady who can fly on a broom.  Look at sandwich. Does it end with all of the letters in witch?   No. Which letter is missing? Letter t.  Can you see a t in the wich part of sandwich?   yes  or  no

No. sandwich is the whole word, sand + the word-part, wich. Since sandwich is not two whole words, can sandwich be a compound word?

I hope you said no. Look at the picture. Do think there could be bugs in the grass? Could there be a ladybug in the grass?  Can the word ladybug be a compound word? Are there two whole words in ladybug?   yes   or  no 

Yes, lady and bug. Could there be a dragonfly in the grass?  Can the word dragonfly be a compound word?   yes  or   no

Yes, dragon and fly.  Look at each word below. You decide if it is a compound word, or not. You will need to choose, yes or no.
1. hilltop           yes or no
2. inside          yes or no
3. outside        yes or no
4. picture         yes or no
5. because     yes or no
6. after            yes or no
7. afternoon    yes or no
8. every           yes or no
9. everyone     yes or no
10. everything  yes or no

Ask your child to tell you the two words in each compound word and use the two words in sentences. Answers:1. yes, 2. yes, 3. outside, 4. no, 5. yes, 6. no, 7. yes, 8. no, 9. yes, 10. yes

On the right side of this page, there is a list of the other lessons on this blog. Also, you may like to look at the books I have for your child. I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All books teach a special comprehension method: easy, fast, and powerful. All books include my contact info; email or call for help.

Write with questions. Have a great day, Mary Maisner

compound word story Barefoot Jack

Barefoot Jack and his dog, Shadow

Barefoot is called a compound word because it is made of two whole words that can be used separately. What two whole words are in barefoot?  bare and foot.

Look at this picture of the boy, Jack. Is Jack wearing a hat? No. Is he wearing a cap? No. Jack's head is bare. Bare means nothing is there.

Look at Jack's feet.  Is Jack wearing shoes? No.  Is Jack wearing socks? No.  Are Jack's feet bare?  Yes. We use the word barefoot, to say that Jack's feet are bare. Are you barefoot? If you are wearing something on your feet, you are not barefoot.

Jack's dog is named, Shadow. Are there two words in Shadow that can be used separately? No. Shadow has two parts when you say it, but it is not two whole words.

Rule: the two words in a compound word have to be whole words that you can use without adding anything to them: bare and foot,   today is to and day,   doorknob is door and knob.

Look: Shadow isn't a cat.  Isn't stands for two words: is and not. If you separate the word isn't into two parts, you see: is n't; n't is a word-part that stands for not. The word isn't is the whole word is + the word-part n't. 

Can the word isn't  be a compound word?    yes    no
I hope you said no. The word isn't stands for two words but it is not written with two whole words. When words are pushed together and some letters are removed, it is called a contraction: isn't, can't, won't are contractions. I'll, you're, he's are contractions.

Read this story just for fun, then read it again to see how many compound words you can find.  

A story about Barefoot Jack

Jack's grandmother likes to call Jack, Barefoot Jack because he does not like to wear shoes. Barefoot Jack likes to walk around on his tiptoes. Tonight, Barefoot Jack is outside with Shadow. Jack and Shadow are outside in the starlight looking for toads. Toads like to come out after sunset. After sunset, the air gets cool. When the air gets cool, a special water called dew starts to come. Dewdrops gather on the grass. Toads like the wet grass.

Jack and Shadow like to watch the toads jump around in the dewdrops. Tonight, Jack and Shadow also saw an airplane. Jack's grandmother said it was good luck to see special things in the sky at the same time you could see special things in the grass. Jack's grandmother said it was time to come inside. Jack's grandmother had a cupcake and hot cocoa treat for him.
Jack had a tiny surprise in his pocket for his grandmother. What do you think it was?

Did you find these compound words:
1. grandmother,  2. barefoot,  3. because,  4. tiptoes,  5. tonight,  6. outside,  7. starlight,  8.sunset,  9. dewdrops,  10. airplane,  11. inside,  12. cupcake.   What two words are in, because: be and cause. Compound words are long and look scary to young readers. You will need to help. Becoming a good reader is not instant, it takes many, many reviews.

For more fun stories, you might like to look at my books. All books teach a special comprehension method you and your child will love. I use eBay as my website. Search: Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. Being a skillful reader is great fun.

Have a wonderful day! Thank you, Mary Maisner 

tion cian sion quiz



Does this deer see some motion in the woods?

Letter blocks tion, cian, sion all say the shun sound you hear in fashion.   It is best to learn to see it / say it. 

Tion, cian, sion are in the category of complex vowel teams that need to be memorized. They do not break up into parts that can be sounded out.

Try these words. Tell each other sentences using the words.

motion                beautician        mission

commotion         electrician        invasion

Spell for me the letter block that said the shun sound in motion and commotion.________

Spell for me the letter block that said the shun sound in beautician and electrician. ________

Spell for me the letter block that said the shun sound in mission and invasion. ___________

Look carefully at each word. If it has the shun sound, tell me yes. If it does not say the shun sound, tell me no.  Answers at the very bottom.

1. question        yes    or   no

2. attention        yes    or   no

3. fascination    yes   or   no

4. mountain       yes   or   no

5. subtraction    yes   or   no

6. vegetarian    yes   or   no


You may like to look at the other lessons listed on the right side of this page. Also, use my blog's search box - top left corner - to find lessons you need.

If you want a book, I now use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help. All my books will pop up for you. They teach a special comprehension method which will change the way your child looks at reading. Full of color pictures, story-reading, skills exercises, etc. None have a grade level printed on the book. All come with my info so you can call me.

Answers: 1. yes, 2. yes, 3. yes, 4. no, 5. yes, 6. no

A mountain is a very tall hill. 
A vegetarian is someone who would rather eat vegetables than meat, say, vaj a tar e an

Write with questions. Have a great day, Mary Maisner

tion, tian

The mice better use caution when a cat is on the prowl.

Letter teams tion, tian always say shun as in action.

Tion, tian are letter blocks that do not come apart for sounding out.

 
When you see the tian letter block, it tells you that the word is describing a living being, usually coming from a region in the world.

A Dalmatian puppy is from Dalmatia, a region on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, across from the coast of Italy.

 

A  being from the planet Mars, is a Martian. A person from Egypt is an Egyptian. Try to read:

Dalmatian    Martian    Egyptian    Christian  

The tion letter block often tells the reader that an action word is being made into a thing, a noun: Adam organized his bedroom drawers. He put socks in a sock drawer and shirts in a shirt drawer. Organization made getting dressed much faster when Adam was in a hurry.

   
Look at these action words (called verbs): organize, act, add, subtract, invent, create, direct, imagine.

Now, try those action words with the tion letter block added at the end:

organization        addition           invention      direction

action                 subtraction       creation       imagination

The letter blocks tion, tian say the same shun sound as cian, cean, cion. You might like to look at the right side of this page to find those lessons.

You may also like to see the books I have for your child that practice all of these lessons with stories, skills pages, color pictures, and a special comprehension method. Look for the books at your child's grade-level.

I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help. All my books will pop up for you.  All books are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help. 

Have a great day, Mary Maisner

cian cean cion quiz

Is our brave fish using a sword to drive away this cobra?
Yes, our brave fish is using coercion on this cobra.
Japanese artist, Kuniyoshi Kitagawa (1797-1862).

Cian, cean, cion are letter teams that always say the shun sound you hear in fashion.

These letters work in a block that does not come apart for sounding out.

Ask your child to point to each word as you say it, then repeat the words together. 

ocean              physician       musician

crustacean       optician         magician

What does an optician do?
Answer: studies eyes and looks for eye troubles.

What is a crustacean? A creature that has a crusty shell and usually breathes through gills, as do the shrimp, lobster, and crab.

Now look through the word list below. Write the numbers 1 - 8. Look carefully at word number one. If word number one will have the shun sound, you write yes next to your number one. 

If the word does not have the shun sound, you write no.  Have fun!
 
1. mathematician      yes    or    no

2. coercion          yes   or   no

3. amphibian       yes   or   no

4. pedestrian      yes   or   no

5. pediatrician    yes   or   no

6. suspicion        yes   or   no

7. electrician       yes   or   no

8. beautician      yes    or   no

An amphibian, say am fib e an, such as a frog, starts its life with gills and lives in the water, but later develops lungs and is able to breathe air. An amphibian has a two-world life; ambi means two. 

The word pedestrian comes from the word-part, ped, which means foot. The bicycle pedal come from ped. A pedestrian is someone who is walking, traveling on foot. 

The word, pediatrician means a doctor for children. Maybe this word for a children's doctor developed because children get injured when they are running around on foot.

Quiz answers: 1. yes, 2. yes, 3. no, 4. no, 5. yes, 6. yes, 7. yes, 8. yes

You may like to see the books I have for your child which provide instruction with all of the various, and crazy, letters team of our English language.  I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help. All of my books will pop up. All are new, none have a grade level printed on them. Lots of color pictures, lessons are taught through story passages, letter skills pages, and a wonderful comprehension method.  Thank you, Mary Maisner

cian cean cion shun

Do the fish have a suspicion this cat is up to no good?
This is woodblock art carved by Kuniyoshi Kitagawa.

Cian, cean, cion are letter teams that always say the shun sound you say in fashion.

Say these words and listen for the shun sound.
Let the repeated letter patterns help you.
These are hard words, but knowing how to read them and getting an idea of their meanings will give you special thinking tools in your mind:

suspicion      magician       physician

coercion       musician        optician

Op is an ancient German word for eye; an optician is skilled in diagnosing eye trouble. Coercion refers to forcing someone, coercing someone to do a thing.



Watch for the trician letter pattern in the last four words:
clinician       patrician           electrician

Galacian     pediatrician      obstetrician

A Galacian is a person from the region of the world called Galacia.
Patrician comes from ancient Latin and French words and means to be a member of one of the oldest families in one's community.
A pediatrician is a doctor for children. An obstetrician is a doctor for women expecting babies.

Quiz. After looking at each word, decide if it will have the shun sound.   yes  or  no

1. mathematician    yes   or   no  

           
2. cosmetician        yes   or   no

3. leprechaun          yes   or   no

4. diagnostician      yes   or   no 

5. tactician             yes   or   no

6. Vulcan               yes    or   no

What is a leprechaun? An ancient Irish fairytale character, a little old man, who could tell you where a pot of gold is hidden.
Vulcan is a name from the ancient Roman myths explaining how the world works; Vulcan was the god of fire in the Roman myths.

Quiz answers: 1. yes, 2. yes, 3. no. 4. yes, 5. yes, 6. no

You may like to look at my new books on eBay. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help. All books teach a special comprehension method which will make an immediate change your child's reading power.

Thank you, Mary Maisner

cian cean cion

A beautiful ocean scene

Letter blocks cian, cean, cion always say the shun sound you say in fashion, mission, action.

As you work through each section on this page, let your child point to each word as you say it. Ask your child to repeat the word after you.

Then, start over with the words, asking your child to point to each word, and try to read the word without your help. These letter blocks cannot be sounded out. A child has to learn to see it / say it.

Three minute practice sessions are good. Get used books your child can write in. Ask your child to find and circle words using these blocks. Trying saying four of his circled words each session.

musician         polician                magician            ocean                   suspicion  

beautician       physician             electrician          crustacean           coercion

technician      diagnostician  

    

Remember, ph is a team that always says f; a physician is a doctor who takes care of your physical illnesses and injuries.

Remember, gi is a team that very often says j, as in magician, a person who performs magic.

A crustacean is a creature with a crusty shell. The creature usually breathes through gills like shrimp, crayfish, crabs, lobsters, and barnacles. Turtles do have a crusty shell but scientists do not put them in the crustacean group.

Say, di ag nos ti shun; a diagnostician diagnoses problems. For example, a speech diagnostician diagnoses why a person has trouble saying words and speaking.

Suspicion means to suspect something, as in, Adam had a suspicion his brother drank all of the orange juice.

Coercion means to force someone to do a thing, to coerce them to do a thing, as in:
Jane suspected her cat had used coercion to get the mouse family to move to Mrs. Smith's house. Fear is a strong force for coercion.

Thank you for visiting my blog. You may be interested in the reading lessons found on the right side of this blog.      Also, you may like to look at my book which provides lots of practice with all the vowel teams. 

I now use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help - all of my books will pop up.
All are brand new, none have a grade level printed on them. They teach a special comprehension method which will rapidly change your child's reading power. Be sure your child is ready for the challenge of the upper grades.

Most of my fabulous blog graphics are from Corel clipart, originally drawn by the talented Micrografx people. They have given me permission to use their graphics in my books. Have a great day, Mary Maisner

cce cci success, accident

A cat can have an accident.

Rule: When ce and ci are together they always say the s sound: cents, cider.

Look: accept, do you see the ce team? Yes. So, ce is going to say s. Rule: ce  always says s. 

Do you see the letters cce in accept?  

What letter comes after the 1st c? Another c.

Can the 1st c say s?

What is your answer:   yes      no                       

No, the 1st c must say k because e or i does not come next. Say each letter sound in the word accept one by one: a k s e p t.  (short e)

Look at succeed. Do you see the ce team?    yes     no    Rule: ce is going to say s. What letter comes after the 1st c ? _____     Is that an e or i?   yes     no

The 1st c must say k.     Say each letter sound in succeed one by one: s u k s e d. (long e)

This is the rule for words that have cce and cci. Now that you have practiced the rule in the words accept and succeed, tell me the rule. I will wait and listen while you tell me the rule. ____
Did you say, when a word has cce and cci, the 1st c says k, the 2nd c says s because the rule is ce and ci  always say s ?      yes      no
Try to sound out:

accident                  succeed               success             vaccine              accept

accidentally            succeeded           successful          vaccinated         accepted

Vaccine means a bit of medicine given as protection, as in, we give my dog the rabies vaccine so my dog won't get rabies.

Let's try accelerate which means to speed up. As in, the mouse accelerated its running when it saw the cat behind it. Did you see the cce letters in accelerated?  yes   no   

Does the word accelerated have the ce team?  yes   no    What does the ce team always say?

_______   So, accelerated does have the ce team which always says s.

Say each letter in accelerated: a k s e l e r a t d.   Make up four sentences using the word accelerate, or accelerated, accelerating. Have fun with the words on this page.

Do not be confused by the slang word soccer. Both c's say k but soccer is a slang word made up by British boys. Sometimes slang words follow the phonics rules; sometimes they don't.

My blog has 160 lessons but you might like to look at my books. I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All are new, no grade level printed on them, include my contact info; email or call for help. All teach the tricky lessons like ce, ci, cy and everything else through story passages. And, a special comprehension method proven to rapidly change your child's reading power.  

Have fun reading with your child, Thank you, Mary Maisner