Phonics Information
We use the Reading Horizons Discovery Phonics program.
May/June 2022 "Pigpen" Special Vowel Sounds
April 2022 Rainbow S and Rainbow J
March/April 2022 Other Digraph Sounds
A digraph is two consonants that together make one sound. Our first group of digraphs is explained below in Dec. 2021.
These "Other Digraph" sounds are ph, kn, gn, ck, and wr.
ph says the /f/ sound as in phone
gn says the /n/ sound as in gnat
kn says the /n/ sound as in knee
ck says the /k/ sound as in back
wr says the /r/ sound as in write
To mark the digraph, arc the two letters together. We draw a line down the first consonant to "shush" the sound for pronunciation.
It is helpful to know that the digraph ck always ends a word or syllable and is used with short vowels. When the digraph gn comes at the end of a word and is preceded by i, the sound of the gn is still /n/ and the vowel i will be long.
March 2022 Bossy R Vowels
When a vowel is followed by the letter r, it forms what is called a murmur diphthong. Murmur diphthongs make a new vowel sound. It is not a long or a short vowel sound! It has a new sound. We call this special vowel sound "Bossy R" because it is easy to remember: Bossy R bosses the vowel around to have it make a new sound.
To mark the Bossy R words, mark an "x" under the vowel and arc the vowel and the letter r together.
January/February 2022 The 5 Phonetic Skills
All vowels have more than one sound. Vowels are marked with markings to show the vowel sounds in a word. Vowel markings tell if a vowel is short(the sound of the vowel) or long(the name of the vowel). Vowels are marked this way:
December 2021 Digraphs
When 2 consonants go together and make one sound, they are called a digraph. Here are the first group of digraphs. We like to call them the "H Brothers" because it is an easy way to remember they are different than blends(which are 2 consonants that make 2 sounds together).
They are: th, wh, ch, sh
We mark the digraph by putting an arc under the two consonants.
November 2021 Blends
A blend is 2 or 3 consonant letters standing together. Each consonant keeps its own sound. A blend can start or end a word. In order to be a blend, a consonant blend combination must be able to start a word. For example, the consonant combinations mp, mb, lp, lk, lf, nt, etc. are NOT true blends because they cannot start a word! We are learning the blends in groups to make it easier to remember them.
The first group is called the "l" blends because the second letter of each blend is the consonant l.
They are: bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl
We mark each blend with an arc underneath the blend.
The second group is called the "r" blends because the second letter of each blend is the consonant r.
They are: br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr
We mark each blend with an arc underneath the blend.
The third group is called the "s" blends because the first letter of each blend is the consonant s.
They are: sc, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, sl, sw
We mark each blend with an arc underneath the blend.
The last group is called the "3 letter s blends" group. They all begin with an "s" and have 3 consonant letters. When we mark a 3 letter s blend, we join all 3 letters with an arc.
They are: scr, spr, str, spl, squ
August/September/October 2021
We will begin our first grade year reviewing the sounds of the alphabet. This review includes all consonant and short vowel sounds.
We will begin our first grade year reviewing the sounds of the alphabet. This review includes all consonant and short vowel sounds.