Spelling Standard I, Basic Spelling
Lesson 130, Intermediate Vowel Sounds, Part 1
Understanding that in order to learn how to spell words accurately you must pay particular attention to the sound of the vowels
Understanding a vowel can have many sounds; usually a vowel’s sound depends on the consonants around it
Knowing the letter y is special because it can sound like a vowel or a consonant
Understanding it is a consonant in the word yellow, and a vowel in the word heavy
Knowing when y starts a word, it is usually a consonant; when it sounds like the name of the letter e or i, then it is a vowel
Understanding long vowels are vowels which sound the same as the name of the letter (a, mate)
Knowing a vowel is almost always long if it is followed by a consonant plus a silent e (pale, Pete, pile, pole) unless that consonant is an r (care) (R-controlled vowels are always short)
Knowing two vowels together can also make a long vowel sound – Examples include oa, oi, ea, ei, and ie
Knowing these long vowel sounds: long a – fate, bait, tray, freight, grey; long e – Pete, feed, scream, field, bury; long i – dice, fry; long o – pole, boat, soul, show
Understanding that short vowels do not sound the same as the name of the letter (a, mat)
Understanding that the vowel is always short in words that end in a consonant (bet, bed, slid, pot, pull)
Understanding that two vowels together can form a short vowel sound (noun, appoint, tread)
Understanding that vowels followed by r are usually short
Knowing how to spell the days of the week and the months of the year