Those Tricky Vowels
When your child is reading to you and they get stuck on a word, it may be helpful to use the same prompts we use at school. There are a couple phrases I use every single day, that help kids think about how to figure out a word, instead of just being told the word. I can almost guarantee that if you start to say one of these lines and then pause, they will finish it for you! Below are the visuals I made for those tricky vowel patterns! They are also available in PDF form under the "resources" tab.
Silent e:
The biggest reminder I give with this prompt is that the "e" can only jump over ONE consonant. If there are two consonants between a vowel and an "e" then it doesn't work.
When your child is reading to you and they get stuck on a word, it may be helpful to use the same prompts we use at school. There are a couple phrases I use every single day, that help kids think about how to figure out a word, instead of just being told the word. I can almost guarantee that if you start to say one of these lines and then pause, they will finish it for you! Below are the visuals I made for those tricky vowel patterns! They are also available in PDF form under the "resources" tab.
Silent e:
The biggest reminder I give with this prompt is that the "e" can only jump over ONE consonant. If there are two consonants between a vowel and an "e" then it doesn't work.
Two vowels:
This only works for the three vowel combinations listed on the visual. These are extremely common vowel pairings, so it does help students often. However, we teach kids that other vowel combinations have different rules. For example, "oo" says either the sound in "cook" or "boot." "Au" says the sound in "saucer." "Ou" says the sound in "house." We teach all of these things in first grade, so students have got a lot to keep straight. But they can do it!