Consonants and Vowels Make up the Letters of the Alphabet.
Consonants can be divided into 3 categories.
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Single Consonants
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Consonant Blends
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Consonant Digraphs
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Single Consonants – are all the letters in the alphabet except a, e, i, o, and u which are
vowels.
Y is sometimes a vowel and w acts like a vowel when combined with
another vowel.
Consonant Blends – are 2 or 3 consonants next to each other in the same syllable, which
keep their individual sounds.
You hear each letter’s sound.
bl, dr, st, tw, mp, spr, cl, fl, sl, pl, cr, sp, spl, fr, ft, lk,
sk, nd, lt, xt, nt, lp, pr, str, br, gr, sm, sn, gl, scr, pt, ct
Consonant Digraphs – are 2 consonants next to each other in the same syllable, which have one sound, which is usually different from the sound of either letter.
You hear a different sound.
ch, sh, th, wh
Vowels can be divided into 3 different categories.
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Short/Long Vowels
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-r & -l controlled Vowels
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Vowel Digraphs
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Short Vowel Sounds – when vowels are in a closed position (a vowel followed by a
consonant in a syllable) they have a short sound.
cat, men, kid, mop, hut
Long Vowel Sounds – when a vowel is at the end of a syllable it has a long sound
(Says its name).
ho/bo, va/ca/tion, o/pen
- when a word has a vowel-consonant-e pattern the first vowel is long
(Says its name) and the e says nothing.
made, Pete, time, hope, cute
-r & -l controlled Vowels – these vowels usually do not have a long or short vowel sound
when the vowel is followed by an r or an l.
They have their own sound.
ar in car or hard er in her or fern or in for or north
ur in turn or hurt ir in girl or shirt
all in tall or wall al in walk or halter
Vowel Digraphs – are 2 vowels next to each other in the same syllable, which have one
sound, which is usually different from the sound of either vowel. Y and W
also act as vowels when they follow another vowel.
You hear a different sound.
ai, ee, oi, oa, au, ue, eu, ay, oy, aw, ew
pain, see, boil, boat, haul, glue, feud, play, boy, law, few
What are homophones?
Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different spellings and meanings, e.g.flower and flour.
You need to learn these words as there are no spelling rules to help you remember them.
Here is a list of common homophones.
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Homophones
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Examples
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allowed
aloud
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You are not allowed to drive until you are 16.
She spoke her thoughts aloud (to say something so it can be heard).
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bear
bare
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A bear is a large furry animal.
She walked on the beach with bare feet.
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bored
board
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To be bored is to have lost interest in something.
A board is a flat piece of wood.
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break
brake
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If you break something you damage it.
When you brake the car slows down.
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caught
court
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He caught a large fish.
You play tennis on a tennis court.
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check
cheque
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Did you check that the door is locked?
You can write a cheque to pay your bills.
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find
fined
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I can't find my socks.
She was fined $40 for driving too fast on the highway.
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flower
flour
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A daffodil or a rose is a flower.
You need some flour to make the birthday cake.
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hair
hare
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She has really long hair.
A hare is an animal like a rabbit.
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