Long I Spelling Patterns

We know that the long i sound says its name. But how many ways are there to spell this long vowel sound? There are FIVE different ways to spell the long i sound. (I include 6 examples in the chart below because of the two different spelling rules — or generalizations — about the i spelling pattern.) 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 five spelling patterns as well as when each spelling pattern is most likely to be used.

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I

Can spell the long i sound at the end of a syllable or when followed by two consonants. Ex: lion; child

I_E

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

IE

Native English words cannot end in i, and so requires a silent final e to be added. The word pie ends in an ie and makes the long i sound because a silent final e must be added after the i. ie also spells the long i sound when the tense or form of the word is changed. Ex: fry to fries; cry to cried

IGH

Can spell the long i sound in the middle or at the end of a base word. Ex: light; sigh

Y

Can spell the long i sound at the end of mostly  single syllable words. Ex: cry.

* y can also spell the long i sound in the middle or at the end of a few multisyllabic words (ex: cycle; supply; apply), or when the verb suffix fy is added to a word (ex: solidify). This is not to be confused with the adjective suffix fy (ex: goofy; stuffy), which then makes a long e sound. 

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

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Word Building Game

Games are a vital part of learning and can support learning in a myriad of ways. This image below is my screen from a recent Zoom session with one of my rising middle school students. We were ending a session playing the asked-for-over-again word building game.

WHAT IS IT?

This is a word building game I play frequently with my students. They love that they’re playing a game, and I love that they are building their vocabulary, spelling, and organization skills.

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HOW DO YOU PLAY?

It’s pretty simple. Choose a word and create 4 columns: one column each for 2-letter, 3-letter, 4-letter, and 5+ letter words. When playing virtually, I create a chart like this on my screen, and my students either a) creates a similar chart on paper or b) creates a document on their devices that they can screen share with me. Once the word is revealed and the grid is created, it’s go time. I allot approximately three minutes for students to build as many words as possible using the letters in the given word. Letters cannot be used more than once, but they can be used in any order.

You’ll notice that I have a FOCUS ON section. I do not use this with every student, but I will if my goal is to target particular spelling patterns, or if I have a student who has particular difficulty with task initiation and / or finding words, particular more complex ones.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE A WORD?

When choosing a word, I typically choose one that is seasonal, relevant to a current events issue, or related to a student’s interest. The word in this example above is from a recent session after Hurricane Isais wrecked havoc through our area and knocked out power, resulting in weeklong (and longer) power outages for many. My family is thankful that when we bought our house, there was already a generator installed. Unfortunately, the generator broke down after day 4 of working as back up. Hence, generator seemed like an appropriate word for many reasons that week: it was relevant, it targeted vocabulary and parts of speech (i.e. What are other forms of the word?: generate, generation, generated, etc…), and it honed particular spelling skills I wanted to focus on with this specific student.

This game can be differentiated for many different learning levels and needs. For extension work, ask students to pick a word to use in a well-written and descriptive sentence.

Happy Playing!

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April is National Poetry Month

Poetry was always a part of every classroom I’ve taught in. It was integrated into lesson plans with students I tutored. I made sure it had a place in my students’ learning, regardless of their age or learning level. Once during independent reading time, a first grader approached me and said, “I’m reading this book. It takes place at a school, and in this chapter one kid wrote a poem. I wanted to read you the poem he wrote because I know you like poetry.” I do like poetry, but more so, I like sharing poetry with my students, and I was THRILLED that this kid had picked up on that.

Here’s why:

  1. Poetry lends itself well to teaching students about rhythm and rhyme.

  2. Poetry is a great way to introduce and work with figurative language and literary devices.

  3. Poetry encourages self-expression while honing verbal skills. (You can read more here about why I especially love teaching cinquain writing.)

  4. Poetry introduces students to a form of art and entertainment — slam poetry, anyone?

  5. Poetry fosters social and emotional learning.

  6. Poetry allows for flexibility, and students enjoy exploring the ways they can “break the rules.” When writing poetry, it is often perfectly acceptable to abandon certain writing conventions that are expected in written prose.

  7. Unless we’re talking lengthy works like the Odyssey, poems can be used as snapshots of bigger stories, life events, or teaching points to introduce students to a myriad of topics.

With April being National Poetry Month, it is the perfect opportunity to expose students to various forms of poetry and different poets; to engage students creatively and challenge them as they create pieces of their own. At the end of the month (this year: April 30) it is Poem in Your Pocket Day. A few years ago I created this poetry craft activity so that students can cut out paper pockets and sized to fit paper to carry around their poetry and share with others. The finished product also makes an attractive bulletin board display (for when we’re back in the classroom).

How do you bring poetry into your young writers’ lives? I’d love to hear!

Fall Words from A to Z

Fall is in the air, and I am LOVING it. There is almost nothing that I don’t love about this time of year.

This post is a compilation of fall words. Here are a few ideas on how to use them:

  1. Choose several words to alphabetize. This is a skill that ALWAYS needs some practice. For younger students that need extra support, choose only a few words that begin with different letters. With students that need less support and are up for more of a challenge, choose words that begin with the same letter, encouraging students to alphabetize by second and third letters.

  2. Choose a few nouns from the list and ask students to list as many adjectives as they can think of to describe each noun.

  3. Pick 8-10 words and ask student to write a short autumn story using all of the chosen words. For students needing more support, they can write a descriptive sentence for each word.

  4. Choose several words and write each one on a separate scrap of paper. Fold the papers and put them into a bag or container. Students take turns choosing a paper and describing the word on the paper for others to guess.

  5. What words may students not know? Choose a handful of words that might be new. Discuss the meaning of the word and have them use it in a sentence, and illustrate it. Have them discuss with a partner how each word relates to fall.

A: acorns; amber; apples; applesauce; aroma; autumn

B: bale (of hay); ballot; blanket; boots; bounty; bushel

C: candidate; carve; change; chestnuts; chipmunk; cider; cinnamon; clouds; cloves; colonial; colors; cool; corduroys; corn; corn maze; cornstalk; cornucopia; costume; cozy; cranberries; crisp; crow

D: Daylight Savings; December; deciduous; decorative

E: election; Election Day; equinox

F: fall; family; feast; fireplace; firewood; flannel; fleece; fog; foliage; football; frost

G: ginger; gourds; guest; gusty

H: Halloween; harvest; haunted; hayride; heat; hood; horn of plenty; hibernate

I: inspirational; inspiring

J: Jack O’lanter; jacket;

K: kitchen; knitting

L: leaves; logs; lunchbox

M: migrate; moon

N: November; nutmeg

O: October; orange; orchard

P: pear; persimmon; pie; pinecones; pumpkins

Q: quiche; quilt

R: raincoat; rake; red; Rosh Hashanah; russet; rustling

S: scarecrow; scarf; scarlet; scenic; September; slippers; sneeze; socks; soup; spices; spider; squash; squirrels; Sukkot; sunflower; sweater

T: tea; teapot; thankful; Thanksgiving; tractor; traditions; treats; tricks; turkey

U: umbrella

V: Veteran’s Day; vibrant; vote

W: wind; windbreaker; World Series; wool

X: eXtra layer

Y: yam; yellow; Yom Kippur

Z: zipper

Are there any other fall-related words that you would add to this list? I’d love to hear!

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