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Learning the basic phonograms of English is key to learning how to read.
There are 74 basic phonograms (“pictures that represent a sound”) in English. The 74 basic phonograms are the most essential because they are the ones needed to spell the most frequently used words in English.
In class, we will start our phonics instruction by reviewing the letters of the alphabet and the sound(s) their letters make. These letters of the alphabet make up 26 of the 74 basic phonograms.
Single-Letter Phonograms:
Single-Letter Phonograms:
The 26 letters of the English alphabet are single-letter phonograms, and they create a total of 44 basic sounds.
Their sounds are listed below and it is important that children know all of the basic sounds that each of these letters make.
**Did you know that A, O, and U each have a broad vowel sound (ä-ö-ü), along with a short (ă-ŏ-ŭ) and a long (ā-ō-ū) vowel sound?
Letters that make only one sound:
Letters that make only one sound:
* Q is always written with a U. Technically, it’s a multi-letter phonogram.
Letters that make two sounds:
Letters that make two sounds:
Letters that make three sounds:
Letters that make three sounds:
Letters that make four sounds:
Letters that make four sounds:
** In many words, long /ū/ drops the first /y/ sound and sounds like /ö/. Compare cute and flute.
The Schwa - /Ə/
The Schwa - /Ə/
The importance of knowing the schwa cannot be understated. It is the most common vowel sound in spoken English and any English vowel may degrade to /Ə/ in an unstressed syllable.
The schwa says /uh/. Imagine UUUUH . . . like when you’re thinking. It sounds very much like the short /ŭ/ sound.
Examples of the schwa include:
what, was, a, away, Canada, zebra, the, family, other, of, love, son, won, onion, action, colour, come, some, oven, album, support
*The schwa is an additional sound that can be made on any vowel that is not stressed.
Phonics and Spelling
Phonics and Spelling
Spelling is the process of hearing a word, breaking it into its individual sounds, and then writing those sounds on paper. When learning to spell, it is important to not just learn the code of the sounds, but to pronounce each word literally. Exaggerating the pronunciation of words (eg. doc-tōr instead of doc-ter) to create an auditory picture is a powerful tool to internalize correct spellings and it helps to eliminate spelling problems that result from the schwa sound, dialects, and other sound distortions that are created when speaking fluently.
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