Information for parents of struggling or reluctant readers...

Tips for reluctant or dyslexic readers

Definitions for Coding and Understanding Phonics:

**Asterisks** indicate we've covered these concepts in class and have been using them on an regular basis since quarter one during our phonics block.

•    **Breve**- a coding mark used to indicate a vowel's short sound coded with an arc above the short vowel

•    **Cedilla**- a coding mark on the letter c to indicate a soft sound (makes a /s/ sound not a regular hard c like /k/ coded with a hook on the bottom of the letter c

•    **Code: to mark a word with symbols to provide information about how to pronounce it

•    **Combination**- two letters that come together to make an unexpected sound (ar, er, ir, or, ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /ur, qu, wh); coded with an arc

•    **Digraph**- two letters that come together to make one new sound (consonant digraphs: ch, ck, ng, ph, sh, th; vowel digraphs: ai, au, aw, ay, ea, ee, ei, ew, ey, ie, oa, oo, ow, ue); underline to code

•    **Diphthong**- two vowel sounds that come together so quickly that they are considered one syllable (oi, ou, ow, oy); code with an arc

•    **Final, stable syllable**: a nonphonetic syllable that occurs in the final position frequently enough to be considered stable (ble, cle, dle, fle, gle, kle, ple, sle, tle, zle, tion); code with a bracket

•    **Ghost Letter Digraphs**:  two letters that make one sound; first sound is silent (gn, kn, wr); silent letters are coded with a diagonal slash (We’ve covered kn and wr in class, not gn yet.

•    These DON’T get coded - High-frequency words: those words that occur most often in written text

•    K-back: a coding mark consisting of a vertical line on the back of a c that makes the /k/ sound

•    **Macron**: a coding mark used to indicate a vowel's long sound; line drawn above a vowel saying its long name

•    Prefix: a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a root word that changes the meaning or usage of the word (dis, pre, un) code by putting a box around the prefix

•    **Root word**: a word with no prefix or suffix added code the root word using the above and below marks

•    **Schwa**: a coding mark resembling an upside-down e placed over a vowel to indicate the short u sound

•    These DON’T get coded - Sight word: a word of which all or part does not follow phonetic rules

•    **Sneaky e**: the e in the vowel rule v-e; it makes the vowel have a long sound (a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e); coded by drawing a diagonal slash through the silent e and a macron drawn above the long vowel

•    **Suffix**: a letter or group of letters added to the end of a root word that changes the meaning or usage of the word (vowel suffix: ed, er, es, est, ing, y; consonant suffix: ful, less, ly, ness, s); suffixes are coded by boxing in the affix added to the root word

•    **Syllable**: a word or part of a word that contains only one vowel sound and is made by one impulse of the voice; syllables are split with a vertical line

•    **Trigraph**: three letters that come together to make one sound (dge, igh, tch); underline trigraphs to code

•    **Twin consonsants**: two identical consonants making only one sound; coded with a diagonal slash for silent letters

•    **Voice line**: a coding mark consisting of a horizontal line through the middle of a letter or letters, representing a voiced sound (s, th)

•    **"Wild Colt" Words**: words that only have one vowel and break the rule by sounding like a long vowel