The Elementary Spelling Book, being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book · Analysis of Sounds · Part 1: The key to the sounds and the alphabet
2. The other vowel marks
Goal: Your child knows the book's marks for the "occasional" vowel sounds: a as in bar and ball, o as in son, u as in full, i as in marine.
You'll need
- The book, open to this table
- A slate, small whiteboard, or paper and pencil
What's in the book
This part of the Analysis explains the vowel sounds that are not simply long or short: a with two dots over it (bar, father), a with two dots under it (ball), o with one dot over it sounding like short u (son, dove), u with a dot under it sounding like short oo (full, pull), i with two dots over it sounding like long e. It also notes which digraphs (two vowels together) say long e.
The lesson, step by step
Review
Write ā, ă, ō, ŏ on the slate. Your child says the sound for each mark.
a has more than two sounds
Say"bar", "father". The a here is open and wide. The book puts two dots over it.
Say"ball", "stall". This a sounds like "aw". The book puts two dots under it.
The book's examples:
bar, father
ball, stall
o that sounds like u
Say"son", "dove". The o sounds like the u in "sun". The book puts one dot over it.
dove, son
u that sounds like oo
Say"full", "pull". The u is short and soft, like the oo in "book". The book puts one dot under it.
full, pull
i that sounds like e
In a few words, such as "marine", i sounds like long e. The book marks it with two dots over it. The page also says that ea, ee, ei and ie, when not marked, have in this book the sound of long e.
Wrap up
Write five words with their marks: bar, ball, son, pull, marine. Your child reads each one and tells you what the mark is telling them.
Tip
Don't expect all of these to stick at once. The key line at the top of every page in the book repeats them, so your child will meet them again and again.