These are the basics. Yet, it is surprising that many students, and adults, have missed the basics - the five phonetic skills that unlock the power of reading. Memorizing and using these five skills is an indispensable tool and reading strategy used to decode, pronounce, and spell new words.
The Five Phonetic Skills are:
- Phonetic Skill #1: When one guardian consonant — and nothing more — follows the vowel, the vowel will be short.
- Phonetic Skill #2: When the vowel is followed by two guardian consonants and nothing more, the vowel will be short.
- Phonetic Skill #3: When a vowel stands alone, it will be long.
- Phonetic Skill #4: Silent E makes the first vowel long.
- Phonetic Skill #5: When vowels are adjacent, the second vowel is silent, and the first vowel is long.
Cover these basics with your students and they will be able to decode, pronounce, and spell new words... even the super-sized variety.
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