spelling Archives - Pure Joy Teaching

How to Teach the Schwa Heart Words

Do you need help understanding how to teach the SCHWA Spelling pattern?

Surprise! There are a few tricks to this spelling pattern that can make it easier to teach and fun for students to learn.

Do you need help understanding how to teach the SCHWA Spelling pattern?

Surprise! There are a few tricks to this spelling pattern that can make it easier to teach and fun for students to learn.

Kids love to play games. This Schwa UNO-style game has a very predictable sound pattern. All the words have at least one short /u/ sound. It is not just the final letter /a/ that can make the schwa sound as in: pizza, tuna, and comma.

The truth is any of the vowels can make the schwa sound. So be on the lookout and listen for all the vowel patterns in this game. Vowels: a, e, i, & o, might be making the short /u/ sound.

Letter a

was
what
grandma
about

The vowel /a/ might make the schwa sound, it can be in any position in a word. It may depend on your country, region, or dialect of English. It is often called the lazy /a/ sound. The open-mouth schwa sound is easier to say.

Letter e

The vowel /e/ may be the first schwa sound word that trips up the young student decoder. Letters /th/ are a digraph that they might know, but then the letter /e/ changes and is now making the schwa sound. In the game, there are both capital and lowercase cards for /the/.

Letter o

love
other
done
some
of

The vowel /o/ makes the schwa sound more often than you might think. There is a very predictable spelling pattern for some of the words. When the vowel letter /o/ is followed by: v, m, n, or th, it might make the schwa sound.

v, m, n, th

Examples are these words: oven, love, glove, and shovel.

some, come, done, none, money, other, mother, bother.

The word /of/ is a true heart word. The letters: /o/ and /f/ are both making a different sound.

Get your game on TPT

Blending Board Letter Storage Idea

The magazine file holders are a perfect fit for my shelf. They are within reach of my reading table. The boards slide right in. They are big enough to fit smaller cookie sheets too.

A Magazine Storage File, Makes a Great Divider on My Literacy Shelf.

Easy Way to Store the Different Letter Boards

There are many reasons why I took the time to create extra blending broads. Then, I needed a way to store all the extra boards. The magazine file holders are a perfect fit for my shelf. They are within reach of my reading table. The boards slide right in. They are big enough to fit smaller cookie sheets too.

Clear L-Pocket Covers

Each whiteboard is covered with a clear plastic L pocket before it is put on the shelf. We call it the clear blanket. The younger kids say, “Time for the letters to go night-night”. After they put all the letters back in place, they slip each whiteboard into the pocket. Making sure the open end is at the top and the folder end is at the bottom. So, no letter tiles will escape.

The cookies nest together very nicely, we usually don’t cover them.

Leveled Letter Groups

UFli is great. They have wide range of free things in the toolbox. The Satpim order is not taught in the UFLi scope and sequence, but the decodable books that were available at my school were the Satpim style. So, I adapted some of my blending boards to have less letters. This was helpful for a few reasons.

Fewer letters to start with.
Less to clean up or lose.
Less distraction on the blending board.
Costs less – fewer magnets needed.
Sorted pre-made boards for differentiated invention groups.

Blending Without Tears

Some students can’t handle all 26 letters at once. One boy started to cry. He was new to group and he did not have all his sounds yet. When we switched to less letters it was easier for him to keep up.

The result was more organized system that flowed will with the scope and sequence of each group.

Lines Under the Letters

I also added lines under the letters. To help aid the students with the letter reversal issues. b, d, p, q, n, u, m, w. All these letters were creating problems. Some students said things like, “I have two m’s.” I had to admit without the bottom line as reference it did look like she had two letter m’s.

Extra Letters

It has proven to be helpful to have a box of extra letters near by. With out fail some how the letters get misplaced. This large shorting box has been very handy.

Vowel Importance – Red Letters

Sometimes we need to do a little extra vowel pratice. These cvc word builder sheets let student put the missing vowel sound in the word next to the picture. The self-checking flap help it to feel more like a game.

Mnemonic Letter Tiles

Some struggling reader need little bit of extra phonemic support with the letter sounds. It is another way to scafold the learning.

CVC Uno game for Emergent Readers

Heart Words Display Frame

The Sound Wall Frame and Heart Words were a big hit with my students. We focused on the short /o/ sound, as in “all.” One of my students drew two L’s hugging each other, the letter /a/ is thought it was so cute, and she made the /o/ sound, “ŏ.”

You can use letter pictures to teach sounds and spelling patterns.

Sound Wall Frame and Heart Words were a big hit. Skill was Short /o/ as in all.

I created a simple and versatile sound wall to display on my classroom wall, right next to my reading table. As part of my reading intervention lessons, students are encouraged to create visual images to help them remember the skills we are working on.

Sound Wall Frame for Intervention

Add some silliness to the sight words. I have a collection of sight words that have a silly snake image. I tell the students that it is a sleepy snake. He falls asleep and starts to snore. He makes the “zzzzz.” sound.

This snoring snake would be a cute one to draw for the Sound Wall Frame.

Words in this list include- is, his, was, has.

Other Ways to Play with Heart Words

Tic Tac Toe Board with Electrical Tape

Sound Wall Frame for Intervention

A Simple Black Frame Has Inspired Students to Draw Decodable Sounds.

Sound Wall frame . Letter g Pure Joy Teaching — Sound Wall Frame. Letter g Pure Joy Teaching

Art has always been my first love, and it is a great way for students to make sound connections to letters, digraphs, spelling patterns, and heart words.

Any space can easily be used for this type of visual-sound encouragement.

I used a lightweight plastic frame with no glass and painted it black. I also colored the tacks black with a large permanent marker so that they were hidden. Now, the focus is on the art and the sounds.

Easy Step to Create a Sound Wall

Cut the background fabric a little larger than the frame opening.
Pin or staple the fabric to the wall.
Place large black tacks in the corner of the frame opening. Let the frame hang on the tacks inside the top two corners.
Let students draw pictures inside the letters to help them make sound connections. (Try to encourage using the letter shapes to make sound links to relatable words. Example /ee/ bee – might be two bumble bees.)
Extra tacks are there for students to hang their art.
Or display the main skill that you are working on for the day.

Lowercase letter g for girl, with braided long hair hanging down.

Some of my younger ESL students were confusing the hard and soft letter g sounds. This is actually very common because of the letter name influence.

The name of the letter G, does have a soft “j” sound and they can instantly relate the name and sound together. I like to correct them by reminding them that they are correct. Sometimes the letter G, does make the “j” sound but it also has a tricky first sound and that is the hard /g/ as in girl.

I created a sample drawing for them, where my girl had brown braided hair flowing down in the shape of a lowercase “g.” The other girls wanted to draw their own versions, adding colored hair, flowers, and crowns. We kept the pictures displayed for a while, and it actually helped some of the other intervention groups who were facing the same difficulty with the “g” sound.

If you don’t want to hand draw all the letters for the students you can print them out. It is very handy to have them ready ahead of time and add a word list on the back to inspire the art. This is my set for Long E.

These pre-made cards can be used to inspire the students with images that relate to the sounds that the letters make.

ch, wh, sh, Teaching Trick Digraphs

What to do with the pictures after they draw them?

After the lesson is over, I leave the pictures up for a while. Sometimes I have to take them down for the next group and replace them the next day. It depends on your classroom situation. I teach reading invention, in seven different groups a day.

Some of the groups began creating a sound notebook, gluing the pictures into it. This was a great way to keep the images and lessons organized together. If you think this would be helpful, I have a link to that resource.

two sounds of long u — vowel team digraph cards

Find this on TPT mnemonic images for sounds and spelling patterns.

Schwa Bundle

The schwa sound can be challenging to teach and learn. While there are some tricky words, there are also predictable spelling patterns. These games and lessons can be helpful in mastering it.

Following the scope and sequence, some of the first words students may encounter are in the first lesson. These include words like: the, was, what, of, some, come, and from.

Learning the Schwa Spelling Pattern is Easier with Games and Posters.

Looking for a way to introduce and practice the schwa sound?

How to explain the schwa sound — Explain the schwa sound to emergent readings

The schwa sound is more than just the letter /a/ making the /u/ sound in words like banana, grandma, and pizza.

Students may first encounter the sound in the words the, was, what, and the word of. As well as the words come, some, from, and love. The bundle below has my favorite tools for introducing the schwa sound and spelling patterns to students of many levels and skills.

schwa spelling bundle educational games — Schwa spelling bundle

The schwa sound can be challenging to teach and learn. While there are some tricky words, there are also predictable spelling patterns. These games and lessons can be helpful in mastering it.

Following the scope and sequence, some of the first words students may encounter are in the first lesson. These include words like: the, was, what, of, some, come, and from.

The first poster set includes them. The warning sign theme helps reinforce the visual reminder that some words have tricky vowel sounds that we will call schwa.

schwa warning signs — schwa words of, the, was, what, warning signs. Pure Joy Teaching

The schwa sound is typically the short /u/ sound. What makes it more challenging to teach is that any of the vowel letters can represent the schwa sound.

You may choose to group the spelling patterns together to help students better remember them.

One option is to introduce the letter /o/ as a schwa sound, with a predictable pattern that students may encounter.

schwa love, dove, glove, oven — schwa love, dove, glove, Pure Joy Teaching

This schwa sound UNO-style game is excellent for helping students master words that feature the schwa sound.

Fast pasted fun educational game students will love to play.

The Letter U has Many Sounds

More than just schwa…………….

The letter “u” sound can be quite confusing, but this fun mnemonic sentence and image of the letter “u” pushing a super unicorn can serve as a memorable spelling aid.

Letter u has many sounds — letter u has many sounds Pure joy Teaching

Many Sounds of the Letter u.

Have Pure Joy Teaching

pure Joy teaching

I Spy Worksheets

Blending two-letter words can be easier for students when the second letter is a stop sound. Teaching students to blend two sounds is a good start for emergent readers are they build up to CVC words.

For Letters and words

I hear with my little ear, I spy with my little eye…….

This is a great way to make learning fun. Capital I and lowercase /i/.
Words ‘it’ and ‘It’
is and Is
Letters a, A
Letters b, B
h, n
h, b
Fall letters g, p, y
Words that make ‘z’ sounds is, his,
Sounds of b, d,

Handwriting Sheets for

h,b,
r, n,
n, p,
c, a,
a, d,
a, g,

Games

Tic-Tac-Toe

Worksheets here on TPT

Vowel Consonant Blending

Blending is hard for some students. They may know all the letter sounds insolation but struggle to blend them in CVC words. This resource is designed to help those struggling blenders. VC blending is just two letters. Vowel + Consonant with picture mnemonics to help students succeed.

CVC builder Hot dogs dramatic play easy booklet

Videos

Spelling Pattern Videos

YouTube ©Pure Joy Teaching

Long a – Game show style spelling test for the spelling patterns of :

a-e, ai, ay, ei

Twenty spelling words, with images. Four at a time with a countdown clock. Students can write their answer and then check their answers at the end of the test.

©Pure Joy Teaching

Tic Tac Toe Board with Electrical Tape

Students like to play this game. I choose skills or words that they need to practice. Great for handwriting practice, cvc words, sight words, or tricky vowel sounds.

Create a reusable whiteboard to practice handwriting and spelling.

Tic-Tac-Toe was one of the first games I learned to use as a tool, to help teach my preschool students. Simple x’s & o’s, and the spatial awareness of drawing the lines. The kids think of it as a game and are more willing to pick up a pencil or crayon if it feels fun.

White Board with Tape Lines.

Using electrical tape has created something reusable. I was surprised at how much the kids loved erasing the words, and the lines stayed. It was like magic to them. They wipe the letters off and rush to play again. Hooray!

Adding the lines has given new life to this old scratched-up whiteboard.

Cutting the Tape

The original thickness of the electrical tape is wide. Making the lines thinner, by cutting with scissors was too hard. Using an Xacto made it easier to cut.

Carefully cut away from yourself.

Cutting a straight line without a guide was too hard. Don’t try it! I found a plastic milk cap that was a nice thickness. With the electrical tape flat on the table, I could keep the Xacto knife flat on the cap. Rotate the tape slowly and cut the tape with a little bit of pressure to cut the tape. Be sure to cut away from your body.

Pure Joy Teaching

Try CVC words.

CVC words are great for this game. After we play the Uno CVC game, I will choose some words they need to practice writing.

Using the tic-tac-toe game is great for practicing sight words. Try capital letters and lowercase letters. Especially in words like the letter /i/ (It, If, Is, In) Those are good words to work on. Remind the students to sound out the word as they write it.

Sometimes we practice just the letters b, and d. This helps with letter reversals.

Hu bu hu bu Handwriting – Helps with b d reversals

Have Pure Joy Teaching

Ed Said, “d, id, t.” Suffix Game

Have you heard students struggling to decode words with the suffix -ed? I have! The suffix -ed has 3 different sounds. This game is a fun way to learn them.

Spelling Patterns for the -ed Sounds

Have you heard students struggling to decode words with the suffix -ed? I have!

The suffix -ed, can be tricky

Trying to explain the different sounds, spelling patterns, and irregular verb tenses can be overwhelming sometimes. This war-style card game can be used to tackle all those things in three different ways. Ed said, Ed says, and Ed spells are 3 fun, engaging ways to play with suffixes, and tenses while learning at the same time.

The word hopped can be very hard for students sometimes.

Ed the elephant can not say this name, but he can make 3 different sounds “d, id, t.”

The suffix -ed has some very predictable patterns and those patterns each have a different point value in the game. The irregular verbs like run and ran are so tricky so I have added them into another game called Ed Says? The irregular verbs have the highest number of points in this game.

The third game is called Ed Spells. This game has point values for the many different spelling patterns of the word that have the suffix -ed added to them.

Suffix -ed spelling patterns are +ed, double consonant, drop e, & change the y to /i/ +ed.

This is also a great game for ESL students.

Have Pure Joy Teaching.

Final /K/ Sound Games

Which to use ck, ke, or k for the final k sound?
These visuals are another way to remind students to look and listen for the vowel sounds and names.

Which to use ck, ke, or k for the final k sound?

Emergent readers often struggle with final k sounds and spellings, and rightly so. There is a lot to unpack here with these spelling rules and patterns.

They may start off well with phonics and individual letter sounds, they may transition to decoding CVC words, and then the rules seem to change overnight when they get to the final letter k sounds. They are often confused with the fact that ck, can make one sound. While other words can use only the letter k by itself, without the letter c. Then you add in the words that end with ke, for example the word: like, with a silent e. Bingo-bango we now have a student who is confused.

Final k sounds with a silent e

Yes, this does not happen every time but it did happen the other day on a spelling test in my class. One student started adding /cke/ to the end of the words. I think she was trying to cover all the possibilities for the final /k/ sound. I have seen this before with students who do not understand all the reasons for final silent e.

To help speed up this process, I have created a few games that I can play with the students that will help them practice some repeated reading of words that have the final /k/ sound. Grouping words together with similar spelling patterns often makes it easier for them to decode new words that they did not know they could read.

War-style educational games

They love these war-style games. To get extra use out of the game cards, I added beginning k sounds too. This is a bonus with hard c words all in the same resource.

It’s important to teach students that the really vowels matter a lot. Listening for the vowel sound or the vowel name can be the key to helping decide which final /k/ spelling to use.

If you hear the vowel sound before the final /k/ sound then use /ck/.
If you hear the vowel name before the final /k/ sound then it could be /ke/ or /k/.

Here are a few example words:

-ck ending: back, peck, dock, luck
-ke ending: bake, hike, coke, puke
-k ending: bank, pink, soak, park

The letters /ck/usually follow a very predictable pattern. It is sometimes called a short vowel pointer. Meaning it points backwards to the vowel that is making its short sounds, and the vowel is not saying its long name.

To help the students learn this skill of listening for the short vowel pointer, I also added some sound sorting cards to this game. These cards can be used as wildcards in the war game or used for sound sorting during a tutoring lesson.

Beginning c pattern: a, o, u. Beginning k pattern i, e, y.

These visuals are another way to remind students to look and listen for the vowel sounds and names.

Have Pure Joy Teaching