14 Phonics Rules for Reading and Spelling

By Ginny Osewalt

Phonicsinstructionteachestheconnectionbetweenwordsoundsandwrittenletters.Itsakeypartoflearning
toread.Butphonicsinstructionalsoteachesspellingpatterns.Forsuccessinbothreadingandspelling,here
aresomeimportantphonicsrulestoknow.

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Shortandlongvowels
Whenavowelisfollowedbyoneconsonant,thatvowelisusuallyshort.Avowelis
usuallyshortwhenthereisonlyonevowelinawordorsyllableasinon,redand
fantastic.

Avowelislongwhenitsaysitsownname.Whenasinglevowelisattheendofa
wordorsyllable,itusuallymakesthelongvowelsound,asingoandpaper.

Vowelsalsohavelongsoundswhentheyrepairedwithasilenteorwhentheyare
voweldigraphs(twovowelspairedtogether).

2 of14
Vowelsinsyllables
Everysyllableofeverywordmusthaveatleastonevowel.Avowelcanstandalone
inasyllable,asinunitandanimal.Itcanalsobesurroundedbyconsonants,asinjet,
shutandfantastic.

3 of14
Silente
Wheneisthelastletterinaword,andtheresonlyoneothervowelinthatword,the
firstvowelusuallysaysitsownnameandtheeissilent,asincake.
4 of14
Consonantdigraphsandblends
Inaconsonantdigraph,twoconsonantsworktogethertoformonesoundthatisnt
likeeitherofthelettersitsmadefrom.Examplesincludechap,ship,thinkand
photo.

Consonantblendsaregroupsoftwoorthreeconsonantswhoseindividualsounds
canbeheardastheyblendtogether.Examplesofthatareclam,scrubandgrasp.

5 of14
Voweldigraphsanddiphthongs
Inavoweldigraph,whentwovowelsarepairedtogether,thefirstoneislongandthe
otherissilent,asinboat,paintandbeach.

Inadiphthong,anewspeechsoundisformedwhentwovowelsarepairedtogether,
asincloudorboil.

6 of14
Rcontrolledvowels
Whenavowelisfollowedbyanrinthesamesyllable,thatvowelisrcontrolledand
isnolongershort.Sometimeswerefertotherasbossyrbecausetherbosses
thevoweltomakeanewsound,asinspark,cork,germ,birthdayandburn.

7 of14
Theschwasound
Anyvowelcanmaketheschwasounditsoundslikeuh.Wordslikebanana,vitamin,
item,andanotherhavetheschwasound.

Theschwaisonlyfoundinwordswithmorethanonesyllable,butneverinthe
accentedsyllable.TheschwaisthemostcommonsoundintheEnglishlanguage!
8 of14
Softcandhardcandsoftgandhardg
Whenthelettercisfollowedbythevowelse,iory,itusuallymakesitssoftsound.
Examplesofthatarecent,circusandcytoplasm.Thelettercalsomakesahard
sound,asincatandcocoa.

Whenthelettergisfollowedbythevowelse,iory,itusuallymakesitssoftsound.
Examplesofthataregel,giantandgym.Thelettergalsomakesahardsound,asin
gas,gorillaandyogurt.

9 of14
Thefszl(fizzle)rule
Whenf,s,zandlfollowavowelattheendofaonesyllableword,theyreusually
doubled,asinstuff,grass,fuzzandshell.

10 of14
Usingkorck
Weuseckattheendofonesyllablewordwhenitfollowsashortvowel,asinduck
andtrick.Weusekwhentheresanotherconsonantimmediatelyfollowingthevowel,
asintaskanddrink.

11 of14
The/j/soundandthe/ch/sound
Whenthe/j/soundfollowsashortvowelinaonesyllableword,itsusuallyspelled
dgeasinbadge,hedge,bridge,dodgeandsmudge.(Thedprotectsthevowelfrom
magice.)

Whenthe/ch/soundfollowsashortvowelinaonesyllableword,itsusuallyspelled
tchasincatch,fetch,stitch,blotchandclutch.Commonexceptionsarethewords
such,much,richandwhich.
12 of14
Doubling
Whenaddingedoringtoaword,wedoubletheconsonantifthevowelbeforethat
consonantisshort.Examplesofthataregrippedandwinning.Wedontdoublethe
consonantwhenthevowelislong.

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Pluralnouns
Whenapluralnounendswiths,ss,sh,ch,xorz,weaddestomakeitplural,asin
classes,brushesandfoxes.Otherwise,wejustadds,asincats.

Whenapluralnounendswithyanditfollowsaconsonant,asinpony,familyand
baby,weusuallychangetheytoibeforeaddingestomakeitplural:ponies,families
andbabies.

14 of14
Brokenrules
IntheEnglishlanguage,phonicsrulesareoftenbroken.Yourchildwillfrequently
comeacrossexceptionstotherule.Butyourchildsteacherorreadingspecialistwill
teachthose,too!

12TipstoHelpKidsWithDyslexiaLearn Viewthetipsagain
SightWords
Kidswithdyslexiacanhaveextradifficultylearningsightwords.
Someofthesewordsdontfollowstandardspellingrules,sotheyre
notdecodable.Othersappearsooftenthatkidshavetorecognize
themquicklytobefluentreaders.Thesetipscanmakelearningsight
wordseasier.

6TermstoKnowIfYourChildHas
SensoryProcessingIssues
Youmightcomeacrossthesetermsasyoulearnmoreabout
sensoryprocessingissues(sometimescalledsensoryprocessing
disorder).Understandingterminologycanmakeiteasiertotalkto
teachers,doctorsandspecialistsaboutsensoryprocessingissues.
About the Author
GinnyOsewaltiscertifiedinelementaryandspecialeducation,withexperiencein
inclusion,resourceroomandselfcontainedsettings.

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