In English, we have voiced and unvoiced sounds. A voiced sound elicits vibration of the vocal cords. Unvoiced sounds do not. Instead, there is only air.

WHY IT MATTERS

Understanding the difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds can be especially helpful in identifying and differentiating between phoneme pairs that share the same mouth position but have different sounds when the voice is either turned on or turned off. For example, the sounds /b/ and /p/ are pairs; however, while /b/ is voiced, /p/ is not.

WHICH PHONEMES ARE VOICED, AND WHICH ARE UNVOICED?

All vowel sounds are voiced.

The consonant phonemes, on the other hand, fall into different categories: stops, affricates, nasals, fricatives, liquids, and glides. Many phonemes are pairs that have the same mouth position but differ in that one is unvoiced while the other is voiced.

The STOPS include these unvoiced/ voiced pairs:

/p/ and /b/ as in pig and bus
/t/ and /d/ as in top and dog
/k/ and /g/ as in cat and gate

The AFFRICATES include this unvoiced/ voiced pair:

/ch/ and /j/ as in chair and jam

The FRICATIVES include these unvoiced/ voiced pairs:

/f/ and /v/ as in fan and van
/th/ and /TH/ as in thumb and feather
/sh/ and /zh/ as in share and treasure
/s/ and /z/ as in sun and zip
/h/ (this phoneme has no pair, and is unvoiced) as in hat

The NASALS include all voiced phonemes:

/m/ as in map
/n/ as in net
/ng/ as in ring

The LIQUIDS include two voiced phonemes:

/r/ as in rain
/l/ as in lock

The GLIDES include this unvoiced/ voiced pair:

/wh/ and /w/ as in whale and /wind/ AND
/y/ (an unpaired voiced phoneme) as in yarn

HOW TO TEACH STUDENTS TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE

One of the best ways to teach the differences between unvoiced and voiced phonemes is by doing the “voice box check” trick. Take the phonemes /s/ and /z/ phonemes. /s/ is unvoiced. If you put your hand gently on your throat where the voice box is, and say the voiceless /s/ sound, there will be no vibration, just air. Try this again but with the voiced /z/ sound. There will be a noticeable vibration from the vocal cords. Give it a try and watch the kids get really into discovering the voiced and unvoiced phonemes!

FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM

SHOP RESOURCES

We know that the long e sound says its name. But how many ways are there to spell this long vowel sound? There are NINE different ways to spell the long e sound. Knowing these different spelling patterns for this one sound is vital in developing phonemic awareness that will support students on their journey of becoming strong, confident, and fluent independent readers. As students move from picture-heavy readers to more text-heavy books, they need to be equipped to confidently tackle words without guessing or using pictures. Targeted phonics instruction will not only help students decode more fluently, but students who have strong decoding and fluency skills also comprehend what they read more efficiently. In this post, I list each of the eight spelling patterns as well as when each spelling pattern is most likely to be used.

e

Can spell the long e sound at the end of a syllable. Ex: equal; we

e_e

Can spell the long e sound when the silent final e makes the e say its name. Ex: athlete

ea

Can spell the long e sound at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a word. Ex: eat; dream; tea

ee

Can spell the long e sound at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a word. Ex: eel; feed; bee

ei

Can spell the long e sound the beginning or in the middle of a word. Ex: either (dependent on geographic location); receive

ey

Can spell the long e sound, often at the end of a word. Ex: honey

i

Can spell the long e sound when followed by a consonant and silent final e, at the end of a syllable followed by a vowel, or at the end of foreign words. Ex: submarine; radio; spaghetti

ie

Can spell the long e sound in the middle or at the end of a word. Ex: piece; movie

y

Can spell the long e sound at the end of a multisyllabic word. Ex: jelly

For targeted practice with the different spelling patterns of the long e sound, check out this decodable reading resource in my shop.

STAY CONNECTED