[Vowel combinations are usually called vowel digraphs. Some have "straight" sounds, and others, called diphthongs, have gliding or sliding sounds: oi, oy, ou, and ow. For simplicity we will call all of them "throater pairs." At this stage we will not cover all of the alternative spellings.

Throater pair words can be decoded by onset and rime, but the learner must remember that there exceptions to the throater sound. The goal is to quickly learn the words as sight words.

Repeat the writing steps enough times to master the tasks.

You will need "My Word Book" with the Basic Keywords, tablet, pencils, highlighter, "word hat," and Shaprie. ]

You learned to write the /oh/ sound with the single letter "o" in "go." Now you will learn to write the /oh/ sound in a few words with two letters as in "goat." You will also learn to write other throater sounds with a pair of letters.

Script for Challenges 1 through 8 Point to and say the words with me as I read the sentence. [Read aloud any explanatory note.] Say the keyword and say and write the onset and rime. [E.g., "day" /d-d-d/ /ay/] Say and write the plus words as I dictate them. Highlight in your Basic Keywords the throater pair in the keyword studied. [Celebrate by writing the new word on his Word Hat.] Review the Words in Challenge Say each of the keywords as I point to it. Say and write each of the keywords as I dictate it. You have met the challenge, let's celebrate!"




CHALLENGE 1: Two other ways of writing the open /ay/ sound.

day: He said, "Make my day." + play, spray, stray [The rime is "-ay.]"
---The throater ends the word. Remember that y is a part of a throater pair when it comes after a throater letter.

pain: Billy has a pain in his side. + wait, paid, trail [The rime is "-ain.]"
---In the middle of a word the throater is spelled a, i instead of a, y.

hair: Mike has brown hair. + air, chair, fair

CHALLENGE 2: Two other ways of writing the open /ee/ sound.

teeth: You only have to brush the teeth you want to save. + free, bleed, sweet

cheer: We will cheer for our team. + deer [4 legs], jeer, queer

heat: May I turn up the heat? + tea, clean, freak
---"ea" also spells the closed /e/ sound in bread, thread, etc. Here is an interesting sentence: I have read many books because I like to read.

fear: He has a fear of dogs. + hear, ear, tear [in her eye]
---"ear" also spells the /er/ sound (see below) and the /air/ sound as in bear, pear, wear.

CHALLENGE 3: Another way of writing the open /eye/ sound.

pie: Who wants pie for lunch? + tie, lie
---At the end of a word another way to spell this sound is y as in "sky." It may also be spelled igh as in "high" or i_e as in "fine"

CHALLENGE 4: Two other ways of writing the open /oh/ sound.

toe: Don't step on my toe. + hoe, Joe, foe

coat: It is too hot for a coat. + road, soak, loan
---In the middle of a word the throater is spelled oa instead of oe.

roar: Did you hear the lion roar? + boar [pig], board [wood]

CHALLENGE 5: Two other ways of writing the /au/ sound.

fault: It was not my fault that I was late. + haul, cause, sauce

crawl: The baby can crawl. + raw, hawk, drawn
---When w comes after a regular throater letter, think of it as changing from a mouther to a u and being part of a throater pair.

CHALLENGE 6: Three ways of writing the new strong /oo/ sound.

cool: It will be cool at the beach. + zoo, fool, moon
---"oo" also spells the weak sound in good, cook, book, soot, etc.

drew: Mikey drew a dog. + dew, grew, threw

blue: Her eyes are blue. + clue, due, true

CHALLENGE 7: Two ways of writing the new /oy/ sound.

toy: Rick has a toy car. + boy, soy, joy

soil: The soil is deep and black. + boil, join, moist
---In the middle of a word the throater is spelled oi instead of oy.

CHALLENGE 8: Two ways of writing the new /ou/ sound.

down: Billy fell down. + cow, crowd, owl
---"ow" also spells the open /o/ sound in show, snow, blow, etc.

shout: Did you hear a shout? + out, ouch, foul
---"ou" also spells the strong /oo/ sound in soup, group, troup

sour: Don' be an old sour puss. + our, scour, hour
Back to the Beginning

R, L, AND W CONTROL

Here is another tricky thing: The r, l, or w sounds affect the adjoining throater.

Script for Challenges 9 through 11 Point to and say the words with me as I read the sentence. [Read aloud any explanatory note.] Say the keyword and say and write the onset and rime. [E.g., "her" /h--/ "h" /er/ "er". ] Say and write the plus words as I dictate them. Highlight in your Basic Keywords the control letter and the vowel (in red below) in the keyword studied. [Celebrate by writing the new word on his Word Hat.] Review the Words in Challenge Say each of the keywords as I point to it. Say and write each of the keywords as I dictate it. You have met the challenge, let's celebrate!"




CHALLENGE 9: The r rimes.

her /er/: I saw her after she left. + germ, herd, perch

bird /er/: The bird is on its nest. + dirt, shirt, sir

fur /er/: The cat has black fur. + hurt, burn, curl

learn /er/: I will learn the song. + earn, earth, heard, search

---You have just seen four ways to spell /er/.

car: How far is it to the car? + farm, jar, star

born: When was Jack born? + fork, corn, short

CHALLENGE 10: The al rimes.

call: Call off your dog! + ball, tall, hall

bald: Art has a bald spot. + scald

talk /awk/: I will talk to Burt. + chalk, stalk, balk
---The l is silent, but it still changes the sound of the a.

palm /om/: Put the cookie in my palm. + calm, balm, psalm /som/

CHALLENGE 11: The beginning "w" often changes the throater.

wash /osh/: Did you wash your hands at lunch? + want, water, wasp


warm /orm/: It is warm in the sun. + war, warn, wart


word /erd/: Frank had the last word. + worm, work, worst, world

Back to the Beginning

TRICKY CLOSED RIMES

You will now learn some more tricky words. The rimes in these words are closed, but the throaters have the open sound. We can be glad that there aren't many of these words.

Script for Challenges 12 and 13 Point to and say the words with me as I read the sentence. [Also read any explanatory note.] Say and write the keyword. Say and write the plus words as I dictate them. Highlight in your Basic Keywords the tricky rime in the keyword studied. [Celebrate by writing the new keyword on his Word Hat.] Review the Words in Challenge Say each of the keywords as I point to it. Say and write each of the keywords as I dictate it. You have met the challenge, let's celebrate!"


CHALLENGE 12: The tricky open i throater rimes.

mind: What was on his mind? + kind, bind, grind
---Look for the "-ind" rime. "Wind" as in "The wind is blowing." is an exception.

wild: Cats run wild in the park. + mild, child

CHALLENGE 13: The tricky open o throater rimes. In most of them an /l---/ sound follows the o.

cold: Will you have a cold drink? + fold, bold, told

colt: Did you see the little colt? + jolt, bolt, volt

yolk: I don't want the egg yolk. + folk

roll: Pass me a hot roll. + toll, stroll, scroll

most: You have the most cards. + post, host [but not cost or lost]

[Until they are mastered keep reviewing the challenges by dictating the keywords in a challenge and having the learner write them.]

Back to the Beginning

Back to the Beginning