Teach a Child to Read the Words NO and GO

Previously I posted high frequency word flashcards to print and cut. NO and GO are good words to start teaching. Make each letter sound. Then blend the sounds together. The n sound in no can be stretched. Make the n sound together until a child is ready to make the o sound. (nnnnnn-ooo) The g sound in go is a quick stop sound. You'll have to make the o sound quickly to make it sound like a word. You may want to use magnetic letters, show the flash cards, or write the words. Talk about how each word ends in the same sound. Explain that words with a vowel at the end usually make a long vowel sound. If you are using magnetic letters, mix up the four letters and see if your child can put the words back together.

Now that your child is familiar with the words NO and GO you can share read some books and let your child read these words.

Where's Spot is a fun lift the flaps book. An adult can point under the words in the story and read but stop and let the child read the when the word NO is pointed under.

Go, Dog, Go! is a book children want to read again and again. It was a favorite in my house. An adult can share read this book, pause at the word GO, and let the child know to read the word GO when it is pointed under.

Showing a child to point under words when reading is something that can be done while reading books with simple text to a child. I don't think pointing should be done every time but modeling it every now and then may be helpful. Beginning readers are encouraged to point under words while reading.

Teach a Child to Read the Words NO and GO

Teaching Sight Words in an Organized Way with Phonics

Previously I posted free sight word flashcards with directions to print and cut. Here are these sight words organized by phonics rules.

CVC (a vowel in a syllable or word trapped between consonants is usually short) – big, but, can, did, fun, funny, little, not, red, run, that, this, will, with, yellow, yes


VC (a vowel at the beginning of a syllable or word is usually short) – and, at, in, is, it, on, up

CV (a vowel at the end of a word or syllable is long) – go, I, me, my, no, see, she, so, we

Schwa Sound (any vowel can make the “uh” sound in some words) – a, away, come, pretty, some, the, what

Third Sound of a (an a followed by u, w, lk, ll, or lt usually has a short o sound, an a after a w usually has a short o sound) – walk, want

A Vowel Sound Off – do, to, who, you

Silent e Rule – here, like, make, ride, take

Long a – make, play, take, way

Long e – here, me, see, she, we

Long i – find (grind, mind), like, my, ride

Long o – no, oh, so, yellow

Long u – blue, do, to, too, who, you

R Controlled – are, for, work

OW and OU words – down, how, house, now, out, yellow

OO words – look (took, shook, book) too (boo, moo, moon)

Others – give, have (English words don’t end in a v, so a ve word can be long or short) one (once, none), there (where), thing (ng has a nasal sound)

You can make the flashcards I shared and add your own words. Just cut blank 2" by 4 1/4" cards and write new words on them with marker. The best way to teach new words is to introduce them with known words that follow a similar phonics rule.

I'll be posting more ways to introduce and teach these words soon.

Teaching Sight Words in an Organized Way with Phonics

Make Sight Word Flashcards with Phonics Rules on Back to go with Free Online Stories

Starfall has free fiction and non-fiction books loaded with sight words. These books are available for free online. Many sight words follow phonics rules. I'm not a fan of teaching children to learn words by shape or sight. I prefer to call these words high frequency words. I've created a set of "sight" word flashcards with phonics rules on the back that include words found in Starfall's free fiction and non-fiction books. You can make these flashcards and teach children sight words in an organized way. Children will learn phonics rules and sight words at the same time. I'll be creating more posts soon describing how you can teach phonics with these flash cards.

Printing -
You will want to print the front of the flashcards on heavy 8 1/2" by 11" paper. Then flip the printed papers over and print the back side. Use these links to print. sight word flashcards - front  sight word flashcards - back

Sorry about the focusing problems. I couldn't get my camera to do any better.

Cutting -
Cut 1/2" off each end.

Then cut 2" strips.

Finally cut the strips in half at 4 1/4".

Would you like to find a few more simple ways to teach phonics? Read a lens I wrote at Squidoo.

Teach a Child to Read with Phonics

I hope you found these directions easy. If you have questions or problems, leave me a comment. I'll give you more help if needed.

Make Sight Word Flashcards with Phonics Rules on Back to go with Free Online Stories

Teach Syllables with a Free Online Story - Phonological Awareness Friday

Welcome to Phonological Awareness Friday.

Activity #1 -
Listen and watch the story Birds in a Band. Point under the words as the story is read. Try to keep your finger under more than one syllable words without bouncing your finger. The story goes fast. Skip pointing if it's too hard.

Activity #2 -
Write down the names of the birds or use magnetic letters and separate the syllables. Clap or tap the syllables in each bird name. Explain that syllables are the beat of a word. Have your learner clap or tap the syllables with you. Then see if your learner wants to do it on his or her own.

Activity #3 -
Listen to the story again. When a new bird name in shown push the button to stop the story. Point to the bird name and clap or tap the syllables in the bird name together.

Activity #4 -
Explain that beginning readers usually point under words when reading. Sometimes words with more than one beat or syllable trick readers. Listen to the story again and push the stop button after each page is read. You read the page slowly and point under the words together. Teach your learner to keep his or her finger on more than one syllable words until the next word is read.

Magnetic letters can be used in so many ways to teach a beginning reader. I used these magnetic letters and this Little Red Tool Box magnetic dry-erase white board easel for this post. There are four of each letter in the magnetic letter set I've suggested. If you buy magnetic letters, you may want to check out this post for an idea to organize your letters.

Disclosure: I make a small percentage off anything purchased from Amazon when accessed from my site.

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Teach Syllables with a Free Online Story - Phonological Awareness Friday

Teach Phonics Rules with Magnetic Letters: A Vowel at the End of a Word or Syllable Usually Makes a Long Sound

You can teach phonics rules for words before a child can write letters. Magnetic letters make this possible.

Some work needs to be done with learning letter sounds first. You may be able to teach unknown letter sounds while working with magnetic letters.

The word no is a good first word to teach. The n and o sounds can be stretched out. You can teach the phonics rule: A vowel at the end of a word usually makes a long sound by teaching the words no, so, and go.
Here's a video teaching the words no, go, and so.


Continue to teach a vowel at the end of a word usually has a long sound with the words me, he, we, and she. Be sure to teach the sh diagraph. I'd start with the o and e words first when teaching this rule.

Advanced learners will want to know the long u sound is usually spelled with o or oo (to, do, too), the long a sound is usually spelled ay (day, way, play), and the long i sound is usually spelled with a y (my, try, shy).

This rule works if a vowel is at the end of a syllable. Knowing this rule helps early readers decode words. Here's a video showing how to use this rule when trying to sound out a more than one syllable word.

Teach Phonics Rules with Magnetic Letters: A Vowel at the End of a Word or Syllable Usually Makes a Long Sound

Bee Ready to Read - Phonological Awareness Friday

Welcome to Phonological Awareness Friday. I found a site called Bee Ready to Read with a hierarchy of phonological awareness tasks. Activities are included in links.

Here's the hierarchy.
Preparatory Activities - Develop listening habits. Tune in to print.
Rhyme Awareness Activities - Identify words that rhyme. Produce words that rhyme.
Phoneme Awareness Activities - Identify the beginning sound of a word. Identify the ending sound of a word. Identify the middle sound of a word.
Segmenting Activities - Segment sentences into words. Segment words into syllables. Segment words into sounds.
Blending Activities - Blend syllables into words. Blend sounds into words.
Manipulation Activities - Delete syllables from words. Substitute syllables in words. Delete sounds from words. Substitute sounds in words.

Some of the activities have printable words to cut apart. Magnetic letters would work great for some of these activities. Don't feel like you have to cover every activity with your beginning reader. Even a few activities will help develop phonological awareness. It comes easily to some learners. Others need a little extra teaching. Research indicates that most struggling readers lack phonological awareness.

I've shared some games to teach phonemic awareness in one of my previous posts. Phonemic awareness is one part of phonological awareness.
Here's a segmenting game. A child will learn to segment words into sounds.
Separating Sounds - Ask for things or say some words in everyday conversations with a pause between each sound. For example: “Can you get a (t)…(ow)…(el)? Did you remember your (l)…(u)…(n)…(ch)?”
Here's a manipulating game. A child will learn to substitute sounds in words.
Change Beginning Sounds - Be silly and make a different sound for the beginning sounds of some words while talking to a child. For example: “Let’s take the pog for a walk. Can you hand me that fencil, so I can make a grocery list? If the child doesn't notice, tell the child you said one word wrong. Repeat the sentence and see if the child can correct you.

Bee Ready to Read - Phonological Awareness Friday

Information from Scholastic for Parents Teaching a Child to Read

Here's some information I found at Scholastic I'd like to share with my readers.

Teach with Phonics Skills Chart

Breaking the Code: Primary Grade Reading Skills

Sounding Out Phonics

Look around the site. I'm sure you'll find more helpful information. These were some of my favorites.

Information from Scholastic for Parents Teaching a Child to Read

Songs to Teach Phonological Awareness: Phonological Awareness Friday

Welcome to Phonological Awareness Friday.

Songs for Teaching has free music clips to teach some phonological awareness skills. You may choose to buy from the site, but I thought a person could use the free clips as an introduction to different skills. You don't get the whole song. I think part of a song might be enough to introduce a skill. I'm providing links to my favorite clips and an activity you could try after listening to the clip.

Clapping Syllables
Clap the syllables in other words.

Long and Short Words
Look for long and short words in books you read.

Listen for Rhymes
Listen for rhymes in books you read.

Clap if you hear words that rhyme and shake your head if the words don't rhyme.
Try this with your own word combinations.

Rhyming Words
Make your own lists of rhyming words.

Segmenting Phonemes
Separate the phonemes in other words.

Phoneme Deletion
Another Phoneme Deletion
Take away a sound in other words to make new words.

Phoneme Manipulation
Play with your own words. Magnetic letters might be fun to use.

Songs to Teach Phonological Awareness: Phonological Awareness Friday

Teach Two Common Short Vowel Sound Rules

Many of the easiest words to read have short vowel sounds. There are a number of good phonics books available today for children to practice reading with short vowel sounds. We are not limited to boring phonics books of the past. Starfall has a few free online stories with short vowel sounds.

I like to teach children phonics rules to decide if a word has a short vowel sound:

A vowel at the beginning of a short word will usually have a short sound:
at, an, and, in, is, it, on, up

A vowel all alone in the middle of a word will usually have a short sound:
can, ran, man, red, get, him, hit, hot, mom, run, fun

There are rule breakers for the vowel all alone in the middle rule, but they often follow a spelling pattern.
old - cold, hold, told, mold, sold
ild - wild, child, mild
igh - light, high, sigh
ind - find, grind, wind, rind

I think the human brain is like a computer. I like to teach rules and patterns, so readers can allow their brains to decode words like a computer. I also like to teach rule breakers, so a child can try to follow the rules and change a sound or two in a word to make it make sense while reading.

Beginning readers are just learning the rules to reading. Joanne Meier wrote an article for Reading Rockets called How to Read with a Beginning Reader that is a must read for anyone supporting a beginning reader.

Teach Two Common Short Vowel Sound Rules

Resources From Reading Rockets: Phonological Awareness Friday

Welcome to Phonological Awareness Friday. Phonological awareness is a set of basic skills readers need, but many parents and educators don't teach. Many times a child who struggles learning to read has problems with phonological awareness.

If you want to learn more about phonological awareness and how teach it, check out this page from Reading Rockets.

Resources From Reading Rockets: Phonological Awareness Friday

Two Simple Phonics Rules to Teach a Child When to Use a Short or Long Vowel Sound

Generally when a vowel is at the end of a word or syllable the vowel will have a long sound, and when a vowel is alone between two consonants the vowel will have a short vowel sound. I like to say a vowel is a brave vowel at the end and will say its own name, and when a vowel is hiding between two consonants it is shy and says a short sound. This can be used with the two vowels together rule too. I say when a vowel has a friend it is brave too. The first vowel says its own name.

Here's a video demonstration I created using magnetic letters showing two simple phonics rules. You can purchase the magnetic white board and magnetic letters at my Amazon Store. I make a small percentage from anything purchased from Amazon if you access Amazon from my site.

Two Simple Phonics Rules to Teach a Child When to Use a Short or Long Vowel Sound

Phonogram to sound chart courtesy of the Reading Reform Foundation

Phonogram to sound chart courtesy of the Reading Reform Foundation

I replied to a discussion at We Teach about teaching silent letters and tricky spelling patterns today. There are so many rules and rule breakers in the English language. There are spelling patterns that help a reader decode.

I think these charts are a good resource for a person helping a child figure out spelling patterns that have a unique sound.

One way I try to teach these patterns is find a word a child can read and spell that includes the pattern and try to teach a child to read and spell a few more words with the same pattern. This can be done by writing a list of words with the same pattern and having a child read the list of words. If a child is trying to read a word with a tricky pattern, I sometimes write a known word with the pattern and read the word separating the sounds. Then we go back to the word a child is trying to read. I finger frame the spelling pattern part and make the sound, then I ask the child to read the word from beginning to end.

Phonogram to sound chart courtesy of the Reading Reform Foundation

November 2010 Chapter Book Read Aloud Challenge

I've challenged myself to read at least one chapter book to my children each month. If you have children at home and want to join this challenge, check out this post.

I read The Stupendous Dodgeball Fiasco last month. Here are some highlights:

* I asked my children to pretend to be the main character eleven year old Phillip.
* When Phillip had a decision to make I'd ask my children to say what they would do. Then we'd read to find out what Phillip decided to do.
* I asked my children how they would feel when things happened to Phillip.
* I loved the language and descriptions the author used to help us make pictures in our heads, smell things, and understand how characters felt. We took time to reread some good descriptions. My kids took turns telling how a picture or feeling became clear. Sometimes I shared how the words helped me think, feel, or see something better.
* We tried to figure out meanings of some difficult words. Sometimes I'd show my children how the author gives clues to the meanings. Sometimes I'd tell them the meanings. Sometimes they made a good guess at the meaning of a word. My favorite word was menacing. (B.B. gave Phillip a menacing wink.) One of my kids said, "Oh, like Dennis the Menace!" We were able to figure out the menacing meant something bad was about to happen.

The book I plan to read for November is A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla.

Please share in a comment about the book you read last month and let us know what book you'll be reading this month. By sharing with others you can make a good intention become a reality. The challenge is helping me make reading an entire book a priority with my busy family. The biggest benefit I saw last month was my seven year old son is enjoying reading chapter books on his own at his level. He says he's able to make pictures in his head now. He still reads picture books too. I read an article recently about making sure children continue to read picture books and not just chapter books. I wanted to share the link here, but I couldn't find it. If anyone knows the article and has the link, please share it in a comment.

November 2010 Chapter Book Read Aloud Challenge