The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · No. 137 · Part 8: Special sounds
104. Words ending in -ic: magic, tragic, alphabetic, energetic
Goal: Your child reads and spells words ending in -ic, and sees where the accent falls in them.
You'll need
- The book, open to this table
- A slate, small whiteboard, or paper and pencil
What's in the book
No. 137 runs over three pages. Words such as lyric, optic, static, tragic, magic, stoic, skeptic, rustic (with a note that they may take -al and then -ly); then "Words of four syllables, accented on the third": academic, paralytic, emblematic, alphabetic, energetic, enigmatic; then "Words of five syllables, accented on the fourth": aristocratic, characteristic, monosyllabic, enthusiastic; then lists of words that rarely, usually or never take -al.
The lesson, step by step
The pattern
A handy pattern: in words ending in -ic, the strong beat is almost always the syllable just before -ic: MAG-ic, al-pha-BET-ic, en-thu-si-AS-tic.
Read the table aloud
Read the table aloud together, a column at a time. You say a word, your child says it back while pointing to it. Then your child reads a column alone. Some of the words:
lyric, optic, static, tragic, magic
academic, alphabetic, energetic
characteristic, enthusiastic
Spell aloud by syllables
Spell each word a syllable at a time, the way Webster's pupils did: spell the first syllable and say it, spell the next and say it, then say the whole word.
Saya, l, al; p, h, a, pha; b, e, t, bet; i, c, ic; alphabetic.
Saym, a, g, mag; i, c, ic; magic.
Do a column this way while looking, then cover it and spell a few from memory.
Read the sentences
Two sentences close the second page:
Thermometrical observations show the temperature of the air in winter and summer.
The mineralogist arranges his specimens in a scientific manner.
Dictation
Say each word, use it in a short sentence of your own, and say it again. Your child writes it. Try these: magic, tragic, rustic, alphabetic, energetic.
Check together against the book. Any word that came out wrong goes on a card for tomorrow.
Review
Finish with the cards from earlier days: your child reads and spells each one. Put a card away after three right days in a row.
Afterwards
This is three pages of words. Take three days: one page a day.
Tip
The lists of words that do or do not take -al are for reference. Read them through once; don't drill them.