The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · No. 141 · Part 8: Special sounds
108. Words ending in -ture: capture, creature, feature
Goal: Your child reads and spells words ending in -ture.
You'll need
- The book, open to this table
- A slate, small whiteboard, or paper and pencil
What's in the book
The page begins with the end of No. 140 (monger, stronger, strongest, linger, tangle, tingle). No. 141 explains how d and t are sounded in the ending -ure, with the example "capt'yoor", and lists capture, cincture, creature, vulture, feature, fracture, juncture. Sentences: "The lungs are the organs of respiration."
The lesson, step by step
The pattern
The ending -ture is said "chur" in ordinary speech, and the book describes a careful way: "capt-yoor". Either way it is spelled t-u-r-e.
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:
monger, stronger, linger, tangle
capture, creature, vulture
feature, fracture, juncture
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.
Sayc, r, e, a, crea; t, u, r, e, ture; creature.
Sayc, a, p, cap; t, u, r, e, ture; capture.
Do a column this way while looking, then cover it and spell a few from memory.
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:
The lungs are the organs of respiration.
This cough is an effort of nature to free the lungs.
Dictation
Say each word, use it in a short sentence of your own, and say it again. Your child writes it. Try these: capture, creature, vulture, feature, fracture.
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.