Every year during conference time, parents ask me to provide them a list of phonics rules
that I teach their children. To succeed in reading, children need to apply these to decode text.
Below are several important rules that are taught during the school year. Use them to teach your
children at home, but remember…there are exceptions to every rule!
Note: It’s important that children distinguish between CVC and CVCe words. You may need to spend
additional time on these two rules since young children confuse the long sound and short sound of
vowels.
1) CVC Words- These words are formed with a
Consonant-Vowel-Consonant. The rule is… in a CVC word, the vowel makes a short sound as in bat,
get, hid, mom, and cup.
2) CVCe Words- These words are formed with a
Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Silent “e.” The rule is… in a
CVCe word, the “silent e” makes the other vowel say its
name (long sound) such as game, wide, note, and cute.
3) CV- These words are formed with a Consonant-Vowel. The rule is… when a vowel follows a
consonant, the vowel makes a long sound. This is seen in words like be, me, hi, no, and go.
4) Digraphs- A digraph is two consonants that come together to make a single sound. Some
examples of digraphs are th, sh, ch, wh, ph, and ck.
5) Blends- A blend is two consonants that come together to make two sounds. Some examples
of blends are bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr, pl, pr, sl, st, sw, and tr.
6) Bossy R’s/R-Controlled- A “bossy r” is when a vowel is paired with the letter “r.” The
“r” makes a sound but doesn’t let the vowel speak. The vowel is silent. All “bossy r’s” do not
make the same sound. The “bossy r’s” are… ar (far), er (her), ir (sir), or (for), and ur (fur).
7) Vowel Pairs/ Vowel Teams- A vowel pair/vowel team is two vowels that come together. The
rule is… the first vowel says its name (long sound) and the second vowel is silent. In class we
say, “The first vowel does the talking and the second vowel does the walking.” Some examples of
vowel pairs/vowel teams in words are meal, pail, meet, gray and boat.