Phonics rules

Our ABC letters each have a basic sound but also work together in special teams. English seems confusing but it has very dependable rules. Kids who learn these patterns are more successful. 

Category one: two-letter consonant / vowel teams, such as, ce in once, centipede. (ce, ci, cy always say the s sound)  And gi in giant, engine. (ge, gi, gy usually say the j sound; about 30 words are exceptions, such as give, get, girl, tiger, eager, gear).   

There are also a handful of consonant / vowel teams to teach as families because they involve tiny word groups, such as ight in light, night, bright    and though, through, thought, thorough (silent gh)  and  caught, taught, thought, fought, bought, brought, daughter    and laugh, enough, cough, rough, tough, slough (gh says the f sound).

Category two: two-letter vowel / vowel teams, such as oi / oy  you hear in boy, noise.  

 And ou / ow in ouch, cow     and though, shadow     and touch, much.

And au / aw / ou in pause, paws, thought.    And oo / ue / ew / ou  as in zoo, blue, chew, you.  And oo / ou as in book, could, should, would. 

And ei / ie  as in eight, neighbor, friend, thief.   (The following ancient rule has been thrown out by many, but not me; it is a great spelling guide:  i before e except after c or when sounds like long a as in neighbor and weigh.  Examples of i before e except after c: receive, ceiling. Just to make you crazy, did you see: ancient? And, science; still, most of the time this rule works.)

Complex vowel teams: ous famous, eous hideous, ious serious, uous continuous, tion, cion, sion, tian, cian, xion, cean action suspicion mission Egyptian politician complexion ocean; tious nutritious cious ferocious; ciate appreciate tiate initiate; tient patient cient efficient. (Practiced in my 4th Grade book. Seach eBay: Instant Reading Help 4th Gr, 5th Gr.)

Category three: two-letter consonant / consonant teams, called digraphs, with sounds that "melt together" such as th in thumb, thorn. The digraphs are: th, sh, wh, ch, ph, gh as silent in the light, night group but gh as the f sound in laugh and enough; also gn because both g and n are spoken  - ignore, ignite - when not at the start or end of a word; at the start and end g is silent as in gnaw, gnat, campaign, reign, foreign. (Ghost is the exception.)

Category four: two and three-letter consonant teams, called blends, in which each letter keeps its standard sound and blends with other consonants, such as st in star, stand. Also, str as in street, streak. There are many two and three-letter consonant blends.

I now use eBay as a website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. My books are brand new, full of lessons you will find no where else. They come with my contact onfo, email or call for help.

Have a great day reading with your child. Mary Maisner

5th Grade reading skills

By 5th Grade, classroom reading lessons focus upon evaluating a reading assignment: is it fact or  opinion,   or is it fact or fiction. 

The difference between non-fiction and fiction: 

Non-fiction is facts, true statements that are not made up. A science text about the life of a buffalo is non-fiction about what they eat, where they roam, their enemies, their diseases. 

Fiction is a made up story. Your child could make up a story about a buffalo named Sam that rescued a lost rabbit - that story would be an example of fiction.

Test-taking: 5th graders are required to answer questions about exactly what a text is telling them. Children make errors by assuming they already know the answer, or what makes sense, or what seems possible. But, the questions are looking for specific, exact phrases.

(Example: Why didn't the girl finish the project? A child might guess the girl ran out of time but the text says Grandmother asked the girl to babysit her brother.) 

Help your child by reading a short story together, then ask your child questions that require exact answers. Or, as you wash dishes, have your child read to you a short story - asking questions about specifics as the child reads, or at the end of the story. (Ten minutes at a time is long enough to make progress. Try to have fun. This is hard for kids.)

Word-changing functions 5th graders need: 1) names of vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y), plus short vowel, long vowel, 

2) adding a prefix, adding a suffix, 3) when and how to change letter y to letter i, 4) complex vowel blocks: tion, cion, sion, tian, sian, xion, ous, eous, ious, uous, tious, cious, tient, cient, tience, cience, tiency, ciency, ciate, tiate. 

 I use eBay as my website, people trust it. Search for Instant Reading Help 4th gr 5th gr - 

or Instant Reading Help change y to i    or Instant Reading Help add ed, ing  

or Instant Reading Help tion, tious, tient, ciate  (this book covers all vowel teams)

All books are brand new, laminated with spiral binding. All tricky phonics teams like ge, gi, gy and tion, cious are in bold print. This is a huge help for learning them.  All books include my contact info, email or call for help. Thank you,  Mary Maisner

child dislikes reading

 

Tip: Quit stopping to sound out. The brain's short-term working memory drops all meaning gathered to the point when you stop. This is the way everyone's brain works. Also, many words cannot be sounded out.

Tell your child to only look for and read the "known" words, skipping the unknown. (The brain likes for things to make sense, so those unknown words will begin to pop into place in your child's mind. Comprehension will improve if you tell your child the unknown words and your child keeps reading onward. Example: canoe cannot be sounded out, but the meaning boat will help.)

Also, at a used bookstore, let your child pick out 3 books of his or her interest: mysteries, adventures, jokes, Ripley's believe it or not, etc. Whatever goes home with you will build skills. 

Children do not want to read if reading is too much work. Often the child is missing some of the tiny lessons that make reading easier. Example, letter teams ce, ci, cy always say the s sound: center,  except, necessary /  city, circle, decide,  / cyclone, bicycle, fancy. Notice c says k when e, i, y are not the next letter: concern. This is a rule worth knowing; it always works.

British boys made up the word soccer to distinguish it from rugby. I look at words all day. Soccer is the only exception, I have been able to find. 

All unhappy readers are missing the same tiny bits, which I call the Usual Suspects. My books teach these rules in stories, and Q & A, with an easy comprehension method.

I now use eBay as my website, people trust it. Search Instant Reading Help, all my books will pop up.  Pick the book at your child's current grade level (no grade levels are marked on any of my books). All books are brand new and include my contact info, email or call for help.     

Best wishes, Mary Maisner