If you’ve ever felt frustrated watching students guess at heart words during reading, spell said as “sed,” or struggle with the same irregular words week after week, you’re not alone. For years, I assessed heart words the same way most teachers do: flash cards. A student either read the word correctly or they didn’t. If…
What This Pattern Means In English, words do not end in the letters I, U, V, or J. That means: To make these spellings work, English often adds a silent final e or uses another spelling pattern that fits our writing system. What About the Sounds at the End of Words? Students often assume this…
What Is a Syllable? A syllable is an uninterrupted segment of sound formed by opening and closing the mouth to create a vowel sound. Every syllable must include a vowel sound, because vowels are what make the “beats” in words.Some syllables have two vowel letters that work together to make one sound, such as ea…
What Is the C or CK Rule? After students master short vowels, they’re ready to learn when to use c and when to use ck at the end of words. The rule says:CK is used only after a single vowel which says its short sound. In kid-friendly terms: “If a short vowel word ends in…
Teaching phonics doesn’t have to feel like memorizing a giant list of exceptions. The rules of English spelling follow clear patterns, and once you know them, you can help students decode and spell with confidence. This page is designed to be a teacher’s reference hub. You’ll find the rules: Before you scroll, grab the Free…
Do you wonder why some words are spelled with a double consonant at the end, like miss, and others aren’t (like rob)? There is actually a reason this happens, and it’s called The Floss Rule. The Floss Rule is one of the first spelling rules students learn after short vowels.. In this blog post, we’ll…
Reading groups can feel overwhelming. You have students who need very different things, but you’re often expected to sort them by level and hope for the best. But what if we stopped grouping by reading level altogether? Skill-based grouping is a better way to meet your students where they actually are. Instead of lumping students…
Summer is the perfect time to brush up on your teaching skills and learn about any new or updated teaching strategies. I’m sharing my top recommendations for professional development books for reading and phonics. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I love a good book on the latest research and recommendations for educators,…
Phonics practice doesn’t have to be flashy to be effective. If you’ve ever watched your students read “tap” as “pat” or write “slip” when they meant “flip,” you already know that hearing and working with sounds is one of the hardest things for early readers to master. That’s exactly why word chains and ladders belong…