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