The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · Nos. 139–140 · Part 8: Special sounds
106. Words in -ize; and ng: characterize, sing, long
Goal: Your child reads -ize words that keep the accent of their shorter word, and starts the lesson on ng.
You'll need
- The book, open to this table
- A slate, small whiteboard, or paper and pencil
What's in the book
No. 139, "Words of four and five syllables, retaining the accent of their primitives": allegorize, characterize, generalize, and more. Sentences: "We should never tyrannize over those weaker than ourselves." No. 140 begins: "The combination ng represents, in some words, a simple elementary sound, as heard in sing, singer, long".
The lesson, step by step
The pattern
No. 139: add -ize to a word and the strong beat stays where it was: CHAR-ac-ter, CHAR-ac-ter-ize; GEN-er-al, GEN-er-al-ize. (The book calls the shorter word the "primitive".)
No. 140: ng is one sound, made at the back of the mouth: sing, long.
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:
allegorize, characterize, generalize
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.
Sayg, e, n, gen; e, r, er; a, l, al; i, z, e, ize; generalize.
Do a column this way while looking, then cover it and spell a few from memory.
Feel ng
Say "sing" and hold the end: "singngng". The tongue is pressed at the back. Say "singer": no g sound is added in the middle.
Read the sentences
Under the table are short reading lessons that use its words. Your child reads them aloud, pointing to each word. Help with any word not yet learned. Two of them:
We should never tyrannize over those weaker than ourselves.
Dictation
Say each word, use it in a short sentence of your own, and say it again. Your child writes it. Try these: characterize, generalize, sing, long.
Check together against the book. Any word that came out wrong goes on a card for tomorrow.