Home Early Learning Play School (HELPS) 4

Home Early Learning Play School (HELPS) 4 - Learning the Secret Codes of the first spelling rules from the list. Discussing ‘platypus words’ again; English vs. American pronunciations; local accents. ‘consonant+h’ sounds of sh, th, ch, ph, and other blends. Phonics Charts 17a-17b, 18. Rules 6 – 10.

Spy Game – The Secret Codes:
                Spy Mission 4: Uncover the secret world of the first spelling codes, starting with ‘consonant+h’ blends.
                You (child) are the world-famous spy, Cody Breaker! Your fourth mission is to find words of consonants blended with the letter h. You will crack the code of the magic “h”, (ch, gh, kh, ph, rh, sh, th, wh). You will decipher how the letter “h” changes the other consonants, especially at the beginning of a word (some, like gh, may sound different at the end of a word).

                Use the Phonics charts 17a – 117b, & 18 in the appendix. Learn how to de-code new words by sounding out each ‘consonant+h’ blend as one sound, joining them together. Have the Spy Chief (parent) demonstrate how to do this with you. Have him explain the meaning of the words, if needed.

                Look for ‘consonant+h’ blends in the signs, books, and the world around you. Report to the Spy Chief regularly about what you have found. Your next Spy assignment is to practice the sounds often:

·         Try ch-ch-ch-ch for a choo choo train. Pretend to be a train while saying the sound, walking around saying, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch -choo-choo, and pretending to pull the train whistle cord down as you say the ending choo-choo. Repeat.

·         Or sh-sh-sh-sh for “shush (be quiet).” Put your finger to your mouth while saying it (be sure to have your teeth shut first).

·         Or ph-ph-ph-ph for the sound an elephant makes when it is spraying water from its trunk. Pretend you’re the elephant (with your arm in front of you, spraying like a trunk) while saying this sound.

·         Or soft th-th-th-th for thunder (wind during a thunder storm). Run around the room with your arms out, like thunder clouds blowing around th-th-th-th.

·         Or hard th-th-th-th for the sound that the Wright Brothers’ airplane made (stress all the hard th sounds in that description). Run around the room with your arms out like an airplane while sounding like the plane’s engine th-th-th-th.

Spy Tools:
                Spy Chief, use phonics charts, found in the appendix, with your child. You can start introducing the corresponding words as you present each concept with the Spy Code Rules 6-10 below, so that s/he understands how these consonant blends are put together. You might not want to do all of them in one sitting. Have your little Spy search for new examples in books, signs, etc. Practice. Again, introduce how to use the dictionary. Also show him/her an online dictionary to search. Be creative! Have joyous fun with it!

The Spy Code Rules: (just do one or two at a time)

Spy Code Rule 6: The sh rule: sh usually says ‘sh’ (ship).

Spy Code Rule 7: The th rule: th can say a soft ‘th’ (thin) or a hard ‘th’ (this).

Spy Code Rule 8: The ph rule: ph usually says ‘f’ (phone).

Spy Code Rule 9: The ch rule: ch usually says ‘ch’ (chat), but can say ‘k’ (choir) or ‘sh’ (chiffon).

Spy Code Rule 10: The wh rule: wh usually says ‘w’ (when), but can say ‘h’ (who).

Spy Code Book:
                The Spy Code Book is the charts and rules found below in the appendix. The Spy Chief must follow them for vital mission success.

Spy Reporting:
                Show your Spy (child), Cody Breaker, how to report what s/he has found by writing down the words s/he has found so far. And/or practice a few from Chart 17a in the appendix. To truly understand the code, s/he must master writing the code him/herself. Practice two or three words each session, or more if the child desires. Use the Century Gothic font (lower-case) as your letter-shape guideline. For example, a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z is the easiest style to learn to write. Remember to print each letter in its left-to-right sequence, and in its proper bottom-to-top or top-to-bottom orientation, like cursive does, as explained in the Chapter 1 HELPS.

                Help your little Spy enjoy making and looking for the blended sounds in words. Keep It Simple For Success (KISS your child). Keep it happy!

APPENDix

HELPS – Action plans – Spy Code Rules

Phonics Charts 17a-17b, 18, 13.

Chart 17a: ‘consonant+h’ ~ ch, gh, kh, ph, rh, sh, th, wh

ch blends	sh blends	th 2 - soft
chad	shabby	thatch
chaff	shack	theater
chaff	shad	thebe
champ	shaft	theme
chant	shag	theory
chap	shall	thesis
chapter	sham	thick
char	shanty	thief
charm	shard	thieves
chart	shark	thimble
chat	sharp	thin
cheap	Shasta	thing
cheat	she	think
cheats	sheaf	third
cheek	shear	thirst
cheep	sheath	thirty
cheer	sheen	thistle
cheese	sheep	thither
cheetah	sheer	thongs
chick	sheet	thud
chief	sheik	thug
chili	shield	thumb
chill	shift	thump
chimney	shill	thunder
chimp	shim	thrash
chin	shin	three
chink	shingle	thrift
chintz	ship	thrill
chip	shirt	throb
chirp	shiver	thrum
chisel	shock	thrush
chomp	shod	thrust
chop	shop	wh blends
chub	shot	whack
chubby	shuck	wham
chuck	shucks	whammy
chug	shudder	whap
chum	shuffle	wheat
chump	shun	whee
chunk	shunt	wheedle
chutney	shut	wheel
much	shirk	wheeze
gh, kh blends	shriek	which
ghastly	shrill	whiff
khaki	shrimp	whim
ph blends	shrink	whinny
phantom	shrivel	whip
phenol	shrub	whir
phlox	shrug	whirl
Phillip	th 1 - hard	whisk
philosophy	than	whisper
phoenix	that	whist
phonics	thē	whistle
pamphlet	thee (you)	whit
rh blends	these	whiz
rhesus	this	whopper
rhombus	thus	whump

Chart 17b: Consonant blends ~ found at beginnings and/or ends of words. Most can be found in middles of words, too.

Consonant Blends &
Blend:	Word-location:	Examples:
ck	end	back, luck
ght	end	right, ought
ks	end	ranks, forks
lb	end, middle	bulb, album
lc	end, middle	talc, falcon
ld	end	gold, bald
lf	end	elf, shelf
lk	end	milk, bulk
lm	end	calm, film
lp	end	scalp, pulp
ls	end	fills, boils
lt	end	colt, fault
mb	end	comb, lamb
mn	end	column, hymn
nd	end	sand, kind
nt	end	bent, pant
rb	end	curb, suburb
rc	end	arc
rd	end	yard, bird
rf	end	surf, turf
rg	end	iceberg, burg
rk	end	cork, park
rl	end	curl, snarl
rm	end	worm, farm
rn	end	horn, yarn
rp	end	harp, burp
rs	end	cars, hers
rt	end	fort, part
ts	end	bats, hits
bl	start	blend, black
br	start	broom, brave
cl	start	close, clever
cr	start	crop, crumb
dr	start	drip, dram
dw	start	dwell, dwarf
fl	start	flop, flame
fr	start	fruit, fresh
gl	start	glad, glory
gr	start	grow, great
kl	start	klutz, Klondike
kr	start	krylon, krill
pl	start	place, plot
pr	start	proud, prince
rh	start	rhyme, rhythm
sc	start	scat, scare
sl	start	slip, slack
sn	start	snack, snore
sp	start	spine, sport
squ	start	squeal, squeeze
str	start	strap, strong
sv	start	svelte, Svengali
sw	start	swell, swift
tr	start	truth, trip
tw	start	twelve, twins
wh	start	whale, which
wr	start	wrong, write
ch	start/end	chat, such
gh	start/end	ghost, tough
ly	start/end	lyrics, truly
ph	start/end	phone, graph
sh	start/end	short, mash
sk	start/end	skill, risk
sm	start/end	smile, chasm
st	start/end	stop, most
th	start/end	thin, with
sr	start	sro, Sri Lanka
tch	end	match, notch
spl	start	splash, split

Have your Spy look for more examples of each of these blends. For more great word ideas, get the book, “A Handbook for Reading – The New Blue-Backed Speller,” by A Beka Book Publications.

Chart 18: Games to play with picture-letter cards and small-words cards

Games to play with picture-letter cards:

·         Memory – Find the Letter Matches (requires 2 sets of picture-letter cards)

·         What Else starts with this Sound?

·         Find the Vowels

·         Make & Bake Letter Cookies

·         Spell Your Name with Picture-Letters (picture-letter stickers also available)

·         Matching lower-case letters to their capitals (see A Nutty Man Was Uncle Upton capital-letter phonics cards)

Games to play with small-words cards:

·         Memory – Find the Rhyming Matches (or use 2 sets of small-word cards)

·         Make a Silly Sentence (ad-libs with parts of speech)

·         What Else Rhymes with this Word?

·         Find the Silent Letters in the Words

·         Make & Bake Word Cookies

·         Memory - Find the Homonym Matches

Make anagrams of your name on Brendan's On-Line Anagram Generator- http://www.mbhs.edu/~bconnell/cgi-bin/anagram.cgi?

Platypus words reminder from Chapter 3~

Phonics Chart 13: Common Platypus Words – How to Handle a Few Common Sight Words
Say the words phonetically (how they look), then say them the platypus (traditional) way. This helps children remember.

ā     again    are   been   both   brother   come   do  done  father     from    give    gone

have   Ī    is     live      love    mother   none   once   one              said  says     some  thē

thought   their   there   to   two     want   was     were   what   when  where   who why

you     your    ton      eye     of

                We’ve all heard an English accent. What’s different about English vs. American pronunciations? It’s the vowel sounds. In the U.K., “been” sounds like “bean”, not “ben”. It’s the same for local U.S. accents, such as the difference between West Coast, East Coast, Southern, and Midwest accents – it’s in the vowels.

                And don’t forget the influence of immigrants and other languages. The Scandinavian vowel pronunciations have helped shape Wisconsin and other northern accents. German, French, Italian, Polish, Hispanic, Jewish - Yiddish, Japanese, Chinese, Latin, and African languages, to name a few, have all had some bearing on different American localities.

                We can all understand each other, even with different accents. To opponents who argue that English is not phonetic, I say hogwash. They just have a shallow understanding of language. We’ve taken English and Americanized it, relaxing many of the vowel sounds and making it our own. Once the roots become familiar, it all makes sense, even the exceptions.

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