Phonics instruction also teaches spelling patterns and spelling rules.
It teaches about parts of words called syllables. Learning common syllable
patterns can help people become better readers and spellers.
To thrive in spelling, here are 15 important rules to
know.
1. Vowels in syllables
Every syllable of every word must have at least one vowel sound. A vowel
can stand alone in a syllable, as in u●nit and an●i●mal. It can also be
surrounded by consonants, as in jet, nap●kin, and fan●tas●tic.
2. Short and long vowels
Vowels can make different sounds. The sounds they make depend on where
they are in a word. For example, is the vowel followed by a consonant? This
helps determine if the vowel makes its short or long sound: go vs. got, she vs.
shed, hi vs. him.
When there’s only one vowel in a syllable and it is followed by at least
one consonant, the vowel usually makes its short sound. Examples
include on, itch, mas●cot, and Wis●con●sin. This pattern is called a
“closed syllable” because the consonant “closes in” the short vowel sound.
When there is only one vowel and it is at the end of a syllable, the
vowel makes its long sound, as in he and ban●jo. This pattern is called an
“open syllable.”
3. Silent e
When e is the last letter in a word, and there’s only
one other vowel in that syllable, the first vowel in that syllable is usually
long and the e is silent, as in sale and in●side. This
syllable pattern is called “vowel-consonant-e.”
Some teachers call this the “silent e” rule. Some call it
the “magic e” rule. The e gives all its power to the other vowel
and makes that vowel use its long sound (“say its name”).
4. Consonant blends and digraphs
A digraph is a fancy word for two letters that
represent one sound. In a digraph made of consonants, the two consonants work
together to form a new sound. Examples include chap, ship, thin, whiz,
and photo. Consonant blends are different. These groups of two or
more consonants work together. But unlike digraphs, their individual sounds can
still be heard as they’re blended together. Examples include clam, grasp,
and scrub.
5. Vowel digraphs
In a vowel digraph, two vowels are side by side. The first vowel is long
and says its name. The second vowel is silent, as in boat, paint,
and beach.
Sometimes, two vowels work together to form a new sound. This is called
a diphthong. Examples include cloud and boil.
6. R-controlled vowels
When a syllable has a vowel that is followed by r, the vowel
is “controlled” by the r and makes a new sound. Examples
include car, bird, germ, form, and hurt. This rule is sometimes
called “bossy r” because the r “bosses” the
vowel to make a new sound.
7. The “schwa” sound
Any vowel can make the schwa sound; it sounds like a weak uh or ih.
Words like from and final have the schwa sound. Some words have
more than one schwa sound, like apartment and banana.
It’s the most common sound in the English language.
8. Soft c and hard c,
and soft g and hard g
When the letter c is followed by the vowels e, i,
or y, it usually makes its soft sound. Examples of that are cent, circus,
and cyclone. With other vowels, the letter c makes
a hard sound, as in cat and cot.
Likewise, when the letter g is followed by the
vowels e, i, or y, it usually makes its
soft sound. Examples of that are gel, giant, and gym.
With other vowels, the letter g makes a hard sound, as
in gas, gorilla, and yoghurt.
9. The “fszl” (fizzle) rule
The letters f, s, z, and l are
usually doubled at the end of a one-syllable word immediately following a short
vowel. Examples include stuff, grass, fuzz, and shell.
Exceptions include quiz and bus.
10. Ending in k or ck
When a one-syllable word ends with the /k/ sound immediately following a
short vowel, it’s usually spelt with ck, as in duck and
trick. When the /k/ sound follows a consonant, long vowel sound, or
diphthong, it’s usually spelt with k, as in task, cake,
soak, and hawk.
11. The /j/ sound and the /ch/ sound
In a one-syllable word, when a /j/ sound immediately follows a short
vowel, it’s spelt dge as in badge, hedge, bridge,
dodge, and smudge. (The d “protects” the vowel
from the “magic e” rule.)
In a one-syllable word, when a /ch/ sound immediately follows a short
vowel, it’s usually spelt tch as in catch, fetch,
stitch, blotch, and clutch. The exceptions to this rule
are such, much, rich, and which.
12. Drop the e with -ing
When words end with a silent e, drop the e before
adding -ing. Examples: bike/biking, give/giving, and dodge/dodging. This
rule also applies to other suffixes that start with vowels, like -ed, -er,
-able, and -ous. Examples: grieve/grievous, excite/excitable, and
hope/hoped.
13. Doubling
In a one-syllable word like win where one short vowel
is followed by one consonant, double the consonant before adding a suffix that
starts with a vowel. Examples: winner, winning, winnable.
14. Plurals
For most words, add s to make them plural, as in
cat/cats. But when a singular word ends with s, sh, ch, x, or z,
add es to make it plural, as in classes, brushes, and
foxes.
15. Y rules
To make plural a word that ends in a vowel immediately followed by y,
just add s, as in toy/toys. When y immediately
follows a consonant, change the y to i and
add es. Examples: family/families, pony/ponies, and
treaty/treaties.
Suffixes follow a similar set of y rules. When there’s
a vowel right before y, keep the y and simply add
the suffix. Examples include play/playing and annoy/annoying.
When a word ends with a consonant followed immediately by y,
change the y to i before adding suffixes like
-ed and -est. Examples include carry/carried and
happy/happiest.
But when the suffix begins with i, keep the y and
simply add the suffix, as in fly/flying and baby/babyish.
Exceptions to the Rules
Most words in the English language follow phonics rules. But any
exceptions to these rules need to be taught and memorized for reading and
spelling.
