English Language Arts

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Academic Words (alphabetized)

a, I, the, said

to, too, two, do, does, into, onto

one, once, none, son, won

have, is, are, was, were

who, what, when, where, why, whose

could, should, would, put

use, you, your, youth, they, four

rich, much, such, which

of, off, way, always

child, mild, find, kind, pint, mind, old, post, most, both, toll, wind (wind)

want, come, goes, gone

some, from, many, any

give, pretty

here, there, their, they’re

only, was, were, word, world, work, together

other, mother, brother, another, water

very, great, sometimes, write, right, wrong

though, thought, through, been, again

people

school

enough

often

“Kind old”" English words end in: -old, -oll, -ost, -ind, -ild

<ch> =/k/

Sounds & letters:  

Teach how to produce the specific consonants and the vowel listed at this level. Teach the association of each of these speech sounds with their letter symbols. 

If the client has trouble remembering a sound – letter association, use a mental picture or story to connect them (e.g., Say: <m> says /m/.  See how it looks like mad eye brows?). Funny, gross or scary mental imagery “sticks” best. 

Speech sounds are of two types: vowels & consonants.

A vowel speech sound is made by shaping the mouth but without restricting or stopping the air flow. It is an open sound because the mouth is open 

A consonant speech sound is made by stopping or restricting the air flow at some place in the vocal tract (i.e., the place of articulation).   It is a closed sound because the mouth is closed at the place of articulation. 

You can yell a vowel but you can not yell a consonant.  

A syllable is a unit of speech that has one and only one vowel sound. The vowel’s energy is what makes the syllable beat or pulse. 

The syllable type is determined by what comes after the vowel and this helps us know how to pronounce the vowel. The most common syllable type in English is the closed syllable type in which the vowel is followed by one or more consonants.  This pattern signals the “short” sound of the vowel (e.g., The “short” <a> is the sound in apple).

A suffix attaches to the end of a word to add a bit of information to the word. 

The plural suffix can be added to nouns to mean more that one. It is usually spelled <s>, but it can sound like /s/ or /z/, depending on the sound it attaches to. If it attaches to a voiced sound like /m/ or /b/ it will be voiced and sound like /z/ in tabs. If it attaches to a voiceless sound like /c/ or /t/ it will be voiceless and sound like /s/ in mats. 

Sounds & letters:  

Teach how to produce the specific consonants and the vowel listed at this level. Teach the association of each of these speech sounds with their letter symbols. 

If the client has trouble associating a sound with its letter symbol use a mental picture or story to connect them.

The “short” <e> is the sound in egg.  The “short” <i> is the sound in itch. These two sounds are very similar so a way to discriminate them needs to be taught. Use multisensory cues for jaw position. The jaw is slightly more open for /ɛ/ than for /ɪ/. 

See Tips for the previous level.

Sounds & letters:  

Teach how to produce the specific consonants and the vowel listed at this level. Teach the association of each of these speech sounds with their letter symbols. 

If the client has trouble associating a sound with its letter symbol use a mental picture or story to connect them. The “short” <u> is the sound in up. Imagine the letter <u> as two arms raised “up.”   

A digraph is a grapheme in which two letters represent one sound. (e.g., <ck> = /k/ occurs at the end of a one syllable word) 

The plural suffix can be added to nouns to mean more that one. It is usually spelled <s>. If the plural attaches to a /s/ sound or an s-like sound (such as sh, ch, z) it will sound like /uhz/ and be spelled <es> as in busses.  (The <es> spelling pattern is addressed at Level 6 and beyond.)

Third person verbs must have endings that “agree with” their nouns. We say:  “I sit.” but “He sits.”  The agreement ending on the verb can sound like /s/ or /z/, depending on the sound it attaches to. If it attaches to a voiced sound like /g/ or /n/ it will be voiced and sound like /z/, as in “He tags the kid.”  If it attached to a voiceless sound like /p/ it will sound like /s/ as in “He tags the kid.”  

See Tips for previous levels.

Sounds & letters:  

Teach how to produce the specific consonants and the vowel listed at this level. Teach the association of each of these speech sounds with their letter symbols. 

If the client has trouble associating a sound with its letter symbol use a mental picture or story to connect them. The “short” <o> is the sound in ah and doctor. 

The possessive is spelled <’s> and the plural possessive is spelled <s’ >. Use mental imagery to help the client remember this convention. 

See Tips for previous Levels.

Sounds & letters:  

Teach how to produce the specific consonant and the vowel sounds listed at this level. Teach the association of each of these speech sounds with their letter symbols. If the client has trouble associating a sound with its letter symbol use a mental picture or story to connect them.

See Tips for previous Levels.

The past tense suffix is added to verbs to signify past action. It is always spelled <ed>, but it can sound like /t/, /d/ or /əd/, depending on the sound it attaches to. If it attaches to a voiced sound like /m/ or /b/ it will be voiced and sound like /d/, as in tabbed. If it attaches to a voiceless sound like /t/ it will be voiceless and sound like /t/ as in matted.  If it attaches to a word that ends with /t/ or /d/ a “spacer” sound must be added so it sounds like /əd/ as in padded.   

The present progressive verb suffix:  <-ing> has two sounds: /i + ŋ/.

Sounds & letters:  

Teach how to produce the specific consonants and the vowel listed at this level. Teach the association of each of these speech sounds with their letter symbols. 

If the client has trouble associating a sound with its letter symbol use a mental picture or story to connect them. The sound-letter associations at this level are especially tricky because there is not 1:1 correspondence between the sounds and the letter(s).

<qu-> = /kw/ as in quit (4 sounds)

<-x> = /ks/ as in tax (4 sounds)

The plural suffix is spelled <-es> in words that end with a /s/ or s-like sound (e.g., taxes, buses).

See Tips for previous Levels.

Sounds & letters- Teach that in words with short vowel sounds ending in f, l, s, or z the last letter is doubled:  –ff, -ll, -ss, –zz.  This is sometimes nick-named the “floszy” pattern. This doubling pattern occurs less consistently with other consonants.

See Tips for previous Levels.

The possessive is spelled <’s> and the plural possessive is spelled <s’>.  

If the possessive attaches to a /s/ sound or an s-like sound (such as /z/, / ʃ/ or /ʧ/) it will sound like /əz/ (e.g., Buzz’s).

Sounds & letters:  

Teach how to produce the specific consonants and the vowel listed at this level. Teach the association of each of these speech sounds with their letter symbols. 

If the client has trouble associating a sound with its letter symbol use a mental picture or story to connect them. The sound-letter associations at this level are especially tricky because there is not perfect 1:1 correspondence between the sounds and the letter(s): 

<ng> = /ŋ/   as in sing (3 sounds)

<nk> = /ŋk/ as in sink (4 sounds)

See Tips for previous Levels.

Sounds & letters- Teach how to produce the specific consonants at this level. Teach the association of each of these speech sounds with the letter symbols listed at this level.  If the client has trouble associating a sound with its letter symbol use a mental picture or story to connect them. All the new consonants at this level are digraphs.  It may help reinforce the concept to teach this term: 

    digraph: two letters that represent one sound

    e.g., <sh> = / ʃ/ as in shop  (3 sounds)

The plural suffix is spelled <es > when added to words ending with / ʃ, ʧ/.  

See Tips for previous levels.

Sounds & letters- Teach how to produce the specific consonants at this level. Teach the association of each of these speech sounds with the letter symbols listed at this level.  The two consonants at this level are trigraphs that occur at the end of words with short vowel sounds.  It may help reinforce the concept to teach this term:

 trigraph is a grapheme in which three letters represent one sound.

                 e.g., <tch> = / ʧ/ as in match  (3 sounds)

                         <dge> = /ʤ/ as in judge  (3 sounds)

The plural suffix is spelled <es > when added to words ending with / ʃ, ʧ/. 

See Tips for previous Levels.

Sounds & letters- Teach the concept of a consonant blend: 

A consonant blend is two or more adjacent consonant sounds in one syllable (e.g., spot). Consonant blends practiced at this level are word-initial consonant blends.

See Tips for previous Levels

Sounds & letters- Reinforce the concept, consonant blend.

A consonants blend is two or more adjacent consonant sounds in one syllable (e.g., past). Consonant blends practiced at this level are word-final consonant blends.

See Tips for previous Levels.

Sounds & letters- Reinforce the concept, consonant blends.

A consonants blend is two or more adjacent consonant sounds in one syllable (e.g., blend). Consonant blends practiced at this level are word-initial and word-final consonant blends.

Adjectives can be comparative or superlative. The superlative is formed by adding the suffix <-est> (e.g., fastest).

See Tips for previous Levels.

Stressed syllables have vowels that maintain their distinctiveness and that have relatively more power and emphasis. 

Schwa is a vowel in an unstressed syllable that has no distinctiveness and sounds like /ə/.  It may help to teach this concept with a bit of drama:  “It is like the weak vowel doesn’t know what to say, so it just says ‘uh.’”

See Tips for previous Levels.

The syllable’s type is determined by what comes after the vowel and this helps us know how to pronounce the vowel. In the r-controlled syllable type the vowel is followed by an <r> that changes (controls) the sound of the vowel. The r-controlled syllable type has three sounds.

/ar/ = <ar>   (e.g., car).

/ɔr/ =< or> (e.g., sort).

/ɝ/ = <er, ir, ur> (e.g., pert, fir, fur).

The three spellings for the /ɝ/ sound must be learned using symbol imagery. Consider using a picture or story to reinforce the orthographic image.

Adjectives can be comparative or superlative. The comparative is formed by adding the suffix <-er> (e.g., faster).

See Tips for previous Levels.

The syllable’s type is determined by what comes after the vowel and this helps us know how to pronounce the vowel. In the open syllable type the vowel is the last sound in the syllable. This pattern signals the “long” sound of the vowel. (e.g., so, he)

The plural suffix on words ending with <o> is usually spelled <es> (e.g., potatoes) unless the word is of foreign origin.  

See Tips for previous Levels.

The syllable’s type is determined by what comes after the vowel and this helps us know how to pronounce the vowel. In the silent -e syllable type the vowel is followed by a consonant and then an –e. The -e has no sound of its own but that signals the vowel to have a “long” sound. (e.g., made)   

In some words an extra sound can be caused by the tongue’s movement from front to back. (e.g., onion sounds like un-yun & cute sounds like kyuet)

See Tips for previous Levels.

The syllable’s type is determined by what comes after the vowel and this helps us know how to pronounce the vowel. In the vowel team syllable type the vowel represented by two or more vowel letters. Most of these vowel sounds have a “long” vowel sound. (e.g., meat) but a few have “short” vowel sounds (e.g., bread).  It is often helpful to practice all the vowel team spellings for one vowel sound before moving on to the next vowel sound. (e.g., Start by addressing the five vowel team spellings for ā:  <ai> ,<ay>, <ey>, <ei> ,<ea>.)

Consider dividing this level in to segments with cumulative review. In each REVIEW section practice sorting words by vowel sound, as well as spelling words in a white board spelling procedure. 

“long” –a- vowel teams

“long” –e- vowel teams

 REVIEW:  “long” –a- & –e- vowel teams

 “long” –o- vowel teams

 REVIEW:  “long” –a- , –e- & –o- vowel teams

 “long” –u- vowel teams

 REVIEW:  “long” –a- , –e-, –o- & –u- vowel teams

 “short” –e- vowel teams

 REVIEW:   all words with vowel teams  

See Tips for previous Levels.

The syllable’s type is determined by what comes after the vowel and this helps us know how to pronounce the vowel. The consonant +le syllable type occurs only in non-initial syllables that begin with a consonant followed by <le> that sounds like /əl/ (e.g., cradle, saddle).

A prefix attaches to the beginning of a word to add a bit of information to the word (e.g., return).

A chameleon prefix changes its last letter-sound to match the first letter-sound of the root to which it attaches (e.g., important).

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.   

See Tips for previous Levels.

Schwa is a vowel in an unstressed syllable that has no distinctiveness and sounds like /ə/ or sometime like /ɪ/.  See the Level 14 Tips.

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.   

See Tips for previous Levels.

Sounds & letters- Teach the three vowel sounds associated with <y>. Review the consonant sound of <y>. Practice sorting words with <y> by the four sounds of <y>. 

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.   

See Tips for previous Levels.

Diphthongs are vowels that glide from one position in the mouth to another. They are a vowel team syllable type.  

The /oi/ diphthong has two spellings: <oi> , <oy>

The /æu/ diphthong has two spellings: <ou>, <ow> 

Clients may need to have their attention directed toward the sound-letter structure of this word: diph-thong, with the explanation that the Greek spelling for the /f/ sound is <ph>.  (The <ph> for /f/ grapheme-phoneme pair will be practiced, along with other Greek spelling patterns, at Level 28.)

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.   

See Tips for previous Levels.

The <oo> grapheme can represent two phonemes: /ʊ/ (look) & /u/ (loot). Practice sorting word with the <oo> grapheme by their vowel sound.  

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.

See Tips for previous Levels.   

English words that end with a /s/ sound are often spelled <se> or <ce> so the word will not appear to be plural (e.g., purse).

English words that end with a /v/ sound are spelled <ve> (e.g., have).

If you haven’t already done so, this may be a good time to teach that the orthographic symbol for a speech sound or phoneme is called a grapheme. Point out that memory hooks for these terms are included in each word:

phone is something your hear whereas graph is something you see. The last part of these words, eme, means “a little bit or piece.”  So, a phoneme means a little piece of sound. 

The /ʤ/ sound can be spelled <g> at the beginning of a word (e.g., gem) and <ge> at the end of a word (e.g., charge). 

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix. 

See Tips for previous Levels.  

When <w> comes before <a> it changes the vowel’s sound from /æ/ to /ɑ/ (e.g., at to watt).  Practice hearing the vowel sound shift by adding and removing <w> to asp, art, ant.  

The vowels in these phonetically irregular patterns <-old, -oll, -ost, -ind, -ild> reflect the way English used to be pronounced. Referring to this group of words as “kind old” English words can help clients remember them.    

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.  

See Tips for previous Levels. 

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix. 

See Tips for previous Levels.  

Many silent letters represent latent phonemes that are realized in other derivations of the word (e.g., sign – signal; autumn – autumnal). 

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.   

See Tips for previous Levels.

These are Greek spelling patterns.

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix. 

See Tips for previous Levels.  

These are more Greek spelling patterns.

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.  

See Tips for previous Levels. 

These are more Greek spelling patterns.

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.   

See Tips for previous Levels.

Use cumulative methods for practicing the five sets of rhotic (r-controlled) diphthongs (similar to the cumulative practice of the vowel teams at Level 18).

Learn the meaning of each prefix at this level. Practice sorting words by their prefix.   

See Tips for previous Levels.

The academic words at Level 32 can be selected for practice based on the child’s needs.