December 14, 2009
Consonant Pairs ng, nk, ph, wh
-Some words have two consonants that blend together: among, think. Some
words have two consonants that are said as one sound: graph, wheel. The
sound of each letter is heard in a consonant blend. In a consonant digraph,
the consonant pair stands for a new sound.
Thanksgiving
among
think
blank
graph
young
wheel
nephew
belong
whiskers
whisper
elephant
white
shrink
wharf
trunk
strong
blink
chunk
skunk
**Challenge Words**
strengthen
bankrupt
phantom
whimsical
whatever
December 7, 2009
Words with ar, or
-The vowel sound arm is often spelled ar: start. The vowel sound in for is
often spelled or: morning. The vowels a and o have a slightly different
sound when they are followed by r. Vowels followed by r are called
controlled vowels.
morning
forest
garbage
form
alarm
corner
story
argue
backyard
start
partner
storm
Florida
apartment
sport
force
forward
sharp
garden
Arkansas
**Challenge Words**
departure
margarine
informative
snorkel
carnation
November 16, 2009
Adding s and es
-Add -s to words ending in a vowel and y and to most words: monkeys,
friends. Change y to i and add -es to words ending in a consonant and y:
supplies. Add -es to words ending in sh, ch, s, ss, x: taxes. Words that
end in -s, -es, or -ies are often plural.
monkeys
friends
plays
supplies
taxes
holidays
months
companies
costumes
sandwiches
hobbies
daisies
delays
scratches
counties
teammates
memories
bunches
batteries
donkeys
**Challenge Words**
eyelashes
ambulances
trophies
secretaries
inventories
November 9, 2009
Long u
-Long u has two sounds and several spellings, u-consonant e, ew, oo, ui, and
u: escuse, threw, mood, cruise, pupil. The letter patterns u-consonant e,
ew, oo, ui, and u can stand for the long u sound.
usual
huge
flute
mood
smooth
threw
afternoon
scooter
juice
cruise
truth
bruise
cruel
excuse
pupil
groove
confuse
humor
duty
curfew
**Challenge Words**
influence
aluminum
nutrition
accumulate
igloo
November 2, 2009
Long e
-Long e at the end of a word can be spelled ie, ey and y: calorie, money,
happy. When the letters ie, ey, and y come at the end of a word, they can
stand for the long e sound.
prairie
calorie
honey
valley
money
finally
movie
country
empty
city
rookie
hockey
collie
breezy
jury
balcony
steady
alley
trolley
misty
**Challenge Words**
frequency
parsley
journey
chimney
attorney
October 19, 2009
Long a and i
-Long a is sometimes spelled ai, eigh, or ay: braid, weigh, spray. Long i is
sometimes spelled igh: sigh. The letter combinations ai, eight, and ay
usually stand for the long a sound. The letter combination igh usually
stands for the long i sound.
sigh
right
weigh
eight
detail
height
spray
braid
bait
grain
slight
thigh
tight
raisin
trait
highway
frighten
dismay
freight
sleigh
**Challenge Words**
eighteen
mayonnaise
campaign
daylight
twilight
September 21, 2009
Short vowel words with the VCCV pattern
-Short a, e, i, o, and u are usually spelled a: admire, e: method, i: finger,
o: soccer, and u: custom. A single vowel that comes before two consonants
usually has a short sound.-
admire
magnet
contest
method
custom
rally
soccer
engine
sudden
finger
accident
mitten
intend
fabric
flatten
rascal
gutter
mammal
happen
cannon
**Challenge Words**
dungeon
magnify
festival
thunderstorm
injury