Rules and tools literacy

How do we know which to use? Then to add to the confusion we have commas, apostrophes, colons, question marks The Alphabet There are 26 letters in the English alphabet. There are 5 vowels and the rest of the letters are called consonants. When we speak a word we use a combination of capital and small alphabet sounds. Throughout this book, capital letter sounds are known as long sounds and small alphabet letters are known as short sounds.

The Technophonics chart opposite will help you to understand the different short sounds in the alphabet. Long vowels and short vowels There may be only 5 of them but the vowels are the most important letters in the alphabet. Every single word in the English language contains either a vowel or a vowel sound so make sure you understand them. When writing or spelling a word, just remember that if the last vowel is a long vowel sound then it will most likely have an e at the end.

The rest of the letters only use small alphabet sounds. When adding a suffix to a root word that ends in an e, there are some rules in order to get the spelling right: If the suffix begins with a vowel then the e is dropped: Hope — hoping Love — loving Celebrate — celebration. If the suffix begins with a consonant then the e stays: Bare — barely Woe — woeful Refine — refinement Care — careless Exceptions to the rule: argue — argument.

There are some exceptions : a comes before words that sound like consonants, even if it begins with a vowel: a union a useful gadget.

The u sounds like a small y. This is because the first sound you make when saying the word is a vowel sound and an goes before a vowel or a vowel sound: an heir an honour If you pronounce the h then use a. Is it their or there? The word their is used to indicate that something belongs to someone or something.

Remember, page 26 tells us that an ei combination sounds like an A sound. The word their has an A sound The word there is mainly used to indicates a place. It is also used to draw attention to something: There is a spider on the ceiling There is going to be a storm. There are only three people left in the competition. There was a heatwave last month. Long Vowel sounds On Page 15 we found out that the five vowels can be pronounced as short vowels and also as long vowels. On the next few pages you will learn how to use different letter combinations to create a long vowel sound.

Remember that we have thousands of words and almost every word needs to have a vowel so we need to use different letter combinations so that each word has its own unique spelling.

Spelling e ee. If you see these letter combinations when reading, say the sound as you would say a long A sound. If you are unsure when spelling a word with this sound then try the different letter combinations until you get it right.

Introduction to Punctuation Punctuation is a standardized form of marks, dots, dashes, squiqqles and shapes that give us more information about the text and help to keep it in an understandable format. Imagine reading an article that just goes on and on and on……. Punctuation expresses the words to suggest the meaning. Punctuation is the voice of the text. It helps you to understand how the writer wants you to hear it.

Just try to get a feel for the more common punctuation marks and you will see immediately how much of a difference it makes to your writing and how much more enjoyable reading can be.

Programmes Title of books Name of a magazine The word I is always written as a capital letter. When reading, look out for capital letters as this will help you to remember where to use them.

The Comma , The comma is the most frequently misused punctuation mark. The following pages give you the two main rules for using commas. This means the rules are more likely to be remembered. They then need to be intermittently revised to ensure they are stored in your child's long-term memory. Get them to search for words which have a similar pattern to the rule being taught.

Other ways are to dictate sentences which include words with the pattern or rule being learned. Once one rule is learned, many other words will be able to be read and written by following the same pattern. Remain calm. Go at the learner's pace, give them time and they WILL learn. Do you feel frustrated because when trying to help your child they are less cooperative? Many of us find that. Even as a teacher, I experienced it with my own children.

The reason is that most of us, without realising it, feel anxious about our children's progress and project our anxiety on to them. They then take on that anxiety, and respond, often negatively, because of it. Here is a great way around that problem. While you are working with your child, imagine instead that you are teaching a friend's child. It will make you less emotionally involved and more effective as a teacher.

Your child will probably progress faster and I guarantee will be very much more relaxed. Try it! It works! Learn these rules and those I discuss in my article on Spelling Problems and your child will read and be able to spell hundreds of words with only a little effort.

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The webinar also helps participants take a systematic look at interpreting both formal and informal assessment data to improve students' reading outcomes by understanding common reading profiles, grouping students based on areas of instructional need, and differentiating instructional practices to ensure that students continuously improve their reading skills.

Participants will also engage in activities from The Writing Revolution that can be implemented across all grade levels and content areas. Please begin by reading the facilitator notes to understand more about this self-facilitated module.

Natalie discusses the importance of using a High-Quality Curriculum that builds background knowledge and aligns with the Science of Reading. She discusses the characteristics and strategies of effective instruction to improve academic achievement to narrow the knowledge gap.

Watch this webinar in which Dr. Holly Lane and Valentina Contesse describe the University of Florida Literacy Institute's free tools and resources to assist teachers in teaching foundational reading skills including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, encoding, and morphology using technology. Share Print. RI Model Science Curriculum. Need assistance?