Vowel Sounds Of The Letter Y There are so many phonics rules! Amazingly, most of our little ones are able to break the code and become fluent readers. After students learn the letters and sounds of the alphabet, we kind of rock their world a bit by teaching them that certain letters can have different sounds depending on where they are in the word or by the letters that surround them. The letter “y” is one of those tricky letters. The “y” can be a consonant or a vowel. Consonant or a Vowel? The consonant sound of “y” is /y/ as in the word “yellow.” Typically, “y” at the beginning of the word makes the consonant /y/ sound. The “y”

Our little first graders will soon be introduced to the two sounds of  “c” and “g”.  Those two consonants are a bit tricky as they make different sounds depending upon the letter that follows in the word.  We typically teach students that the “hard” sounds of “c” and “g” occur most often, but they do need to know when these letters make the “soft” sound.  We tell the students that when the letter “c” is followed by the letters i, e or y, the “c” makes the /s/ sound just like in the words “city”, “cent” and “icy”. The letter “g” is similar.  When the “g” is followed by an i, e or y it makes the /j/ sound as

Shortly after students learn the letters and sounds of the alphabet we teach them that the vowels and several consonants actually have two sounds. The consonants “c” and “g” are two of the letters that make different sounds depending on the letters that follow them in the word. The most common sound for the “g” is the “hard” sound as in the word “goat”.  However, if the “g” is followed by an i, e or y it makes the “soft” /j/ sound as in the word “giraffe”.  Word sorting activities are very helpful when introducing a new phonics concept. Using sorting activities, students are able to tell when a certain rule either does and does not apply. Just as the

Just for our little friends learning to read and write words containing the consonant + le syllable type we created this fun winter themed FREEBIE! Just grab a few colored bingo chips and you’ll have everything you need. Great for independent centers! Just click the link to download this freebie: Consonant + le Winter Freebie    

Phonics phones and mirrors are two of the most important items in an early elementary small group instructional area.  Phonics phones amplify the student’s voice helping the student to focus and pay attention to the sounds.  Although you can purchase phonics phones, they are quite easy and inexpensive to make.  View the video for instructions on how to make your own classroom phonics phones. To make phonics phones Purchase a 3/4″ PVC pipe and 3/4″ elbow joints (you will need 2 for each phone) Cut PVC pipe into 3 1/2 inch sections Put an elbow joint on each end of the pipe Colorful duct tape can be wrapped around the center of the pipe for fun. Use phonics phones… 1.

Memory aids are often used to help students remember certain spelling rules. The FLoSS rule is one of the first spelling rules taught to our first and second grade students to help them understand when to double the final “f”, “l” and “s” consonants at the end of certain words.   The word “floss” actually follows the FLoSS rule.  When a /f/, /l/ /s/ (or /z/) is heard after a short vowel at the end of a one-syllable word, it is spelled with a double “ff”, “ll”, “ss” or “zz”.  Okay, you’re probably thinking how did that “z” sneak in there.  Well, there really aren’t too many words that end in “z” so this rule will work for the majority of words your