GROUNDWORK FOR COLLEGE READING WITH PHONICS Fourth Edition

GROUNDWORK FOR COLLEGE READING WITH PHONICS Fourth Edition John Langan © 2008 Townsend Press

Part I, Chapter One: Phonics I: Consonants THIS CHAPTER IN A NUTSHELL • Twenty-one of the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet are consonants. — Fifteen consonants have only one sound when they appear by themselves: b, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, v, w, y, and z. — Six consonants have more than one sound: c, d, g, q, s, and x. • There are three types of consonant combinations: — Consonant blends are combinations that blend the sounds of single consonants, such as score, splash, broke, and lift. — Consonant digraphs are pairs that combine to make a new sound: phone, their, chip. — Silent consonants are not pronounced in certain combinations: comb, write, know.

PHONICS Phonics tells you • how to break a word into parts called syllables • how to pronounce each syllable

CONSONANTS Twenty-one of the twenty-six letters in the English alphabet are consonants: b k s c l t d m v f n w g p x h q y j r z

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH ONLY ONE SOUND The fifteen consonants below generally have only one sound. b f h j k (bed) (fan) (hog) (jab) (kiss) l (lump) m (mud) n (neck) p (pat) r (rub) t (tub) v (vine) w (web) y (yell) z (zoom)

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN ONE SOUND The six consonants below have more than one sound. c g d q s x

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN ONE SOUND: Sounds of c The letter c can have the soft sound of c, as in: cell city circus C can also have the hard sound, like a k, as in: can actor circus What other words can you think of that are examples of the soft sound of c? of the hard sound of c?

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN ONE SOUND: Sounds of g The letter g can have the soft sound, like a j, as in: gym angel magic G can have the hard sound, as in: game guess pig What other words can you think of that are examples of the soft sound of g? of the hard sound of g?

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN ONE SOUND: Sounds of d The letter d usually sounds like the d in dot, as in: date side bleed Sometimes d can sound like j, as in: educate schedule soldier

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN ONE SOUND: Sounds of q (qu) The letter q is always followed by u in English. Qu usually sounds like kw, as in: queen quilt require Sometimes qu sounds like k, as in: antique plaque mosquito

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN ONE SOUND: Sounds of s The consonant s usually sounds like the s in salt: soup unsafe bus Sometimes s sounds like z, as in the word those. nose reason hers

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN ONE SOUND: Sounds of x The consonant x usually sounds like ks: fox next Mexico When ex is followed by a vowel, it usually sounds like gz. exact exam exist When x begins a word, it sounds like z, as in the word Xerox.

THREE TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS A consonant combination is two or more consonants that work together. There are three kinds of consonant combinations: • Consonant blends: Combinations that blend the sounds of single consonants. Example: screen • Consonant digraphs: Consonant pairs that combine to make a new sound. Example: rough • Silent consonants: Consonants that are silent in certain combinations. Example: lamb

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Consonant Blends Consonant blends are two or more neighboring consonants that keep their own sounds but are spoken together. Example: monster There are four major types of consonant blends: 1 Blends that begin with s 2 Blends that end in l 3 Blends that end in r 4 Other blends in the middle or at the end of a word

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Consonant Blends: Blends that begin with s The consonant blends below begin with s. They are found at the beginning and in the middle of words. scsnst- scrspstr- sksplsw- slspr- smsqu- Three of these blends—sk, sp, st—are also found at the end of words. Examples: scrap smog wasp sprout best

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Consonant Blends: Blends that end in l The consonant blends below end in l. They may be at the beginning or in the middle of a word. bl- cl- fl- gl- pl- clam reflect eagle apply Examples: bless

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Consonant Blends: Blends that end in r The consonant blends below end in r. They may be at the beginning or in the middle of a word. brpr- crtr- dr- fr- gr- increase contract dream afraid greed Examples: broke pray

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Consonant Blends: Other blends Below is a list of other consonant blends that may appear in the middle or at the end of a word. -ft -nk -ld -nt -lt child painting meltdown -mp -nd Examples: softly bankbook lamp hand

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Consonant Digraphs • A consonant digraph is a pair of consonants that combine together to make a new sound that is very different from the sound of either of the two letters. • There are three types of digraphs: 1 Digraphs that sound like f: gh and ph 2 Digraphs with new sounds of their own: sh and th 3 A digraph with three sounds: ch

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Consonant Digraphs: Digraphs that sound like f The diagraphs gh and ph each have the sound of the single consonant f. Examples of words in which gh sounds like f: laughing enough tough Examples of words in which ph sounds like f: phone dolphin graph

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Consonant Digraphs: Digraphs with new sounds The diagraph sh does not sound like any single letter. It has a sound of its own. Examples of words with the digraph sh: show washer fish The diagraph th can have the “voiced th sound” or the “unvoiced th sound. ” Examples of words with the voiced th sound: they there bathe Examples of words with the unvoiced th sound: third thank bath

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Consonant Digraphs: A digraph with three sounds The diagraph ch has three different sounds. Most common is the hard and short ch sound as in the word check. Examples of words with the hard and short ch sound: chip chief ranch Sometimes, ch sounds like sh. Examples of words in which ch sounds like sh: chef chute Michelle Finally, ch sometimes sounds like k. Examples of words in which ch sounds like k: chorus character chronic

TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS Silent Consonants In certain letter combinations, one of the consonants is silent. • b is silent after m: bomb climb • c is silent before k: deck packer • g is silent before n: gnaw sign • h is often silent after w when wh begins a word: whisper white • w is often silent when a word begins with who: whole • k is silent before n: know knife • w is silent before r: wreck unwrap • When two of the same consonant are next to each other, one of them is silent: add narrow

CHAPTER REVIEW In this chapter, you learned the following: • Fifteen consonants have only one sound when they stand alone: b, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, v, w, y, and z. • Six consonants have more than one sound: c, g, d, q, s, and x. c certain, curtain q queen, antique g wage, wag s soup, nose d date, educate x fox, exact, Xerox • There are three types of consonant combinations: — Consonant blends — Consonant digraphs — Silent consonants (Chapter Review continues on next slide)

CHAPTER REVIEW, continued • Types of consonant combinations: — Consonant blends are combinations that blend the sounds of single consonants, such as the following: Blends beginning with s: score, scrap, skate, slam, small, snore, spank, splash, sprout, squeak, steel, street, swear Blends ending with l: bless, clam, flag, glad, play Blends ending with r: broke, crime, dream, free, greed, pray, train Blends at the end of a syllable or word: lift, child, belt, dumpster, windbag, bankbook, wanting (Chapter Review continues on next slide)

CHAPTER REVIEW, continued — Consonant digraphs are pairs of consonants that combine to make a new sound, such as the following: Digraphs that sound like f: gh laughing ph phone Digraphs with sounds of their own: sh fish th(voiced) their A digraph with three sounds—ch: chip chef chorus th(unvoiced) third — Silent consonants are consonants that are not pronounced in certain combinations, including the following: mb comb gn gnaw whose wr write ck deck wh white kn know Two consonants together: bell, narrow, fuss