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When you’re thinking about spelling a word with OI or OY, location is everything. In some ways, the /oy/ sound is one of the more straightforward vowel teams and spelling generalizations that your students learn during their Orton-Gillingham lessons. The /oy/ sound really only has 2 spellings: oi and oy and the letters oi and…
Some spelling considerations are less about clear rules to follow than frequency and expectations. Such is the case for spelling the long o sound. O-e is the most common spelling for the long o sound in the middle of a word, but oa isn’t far behind. Ow is the most common way to spell the…
Not all spelling generalizations are as neat and tidy as you might like them to be. Just as the spelling generalizations for the floss rule, ck, and tch build on each other, the same is true for the vowel spelling generalizations. By the time your students are introduced to ou as in ouch and ow…
When Y is a Vowel As part of the spelling generalization blog series, this next post is going to give you the low down on Y as a vowel. Most of us remember learning the vowels as children: A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y. For a long time before I became trained in…
Does it start with c or k? A simple spelling generalization that students find very empowering regards the spelling of the initial /k/ sound or when the /k/ sound is part of an initial blend. Students are usually aware that ck is not found at the beginning of a syllable, but they often aren’t aware…
Is it ai or ay? Decisions, decisions. As students expand their knowledge of vowel teams, the number of spelling choices increases. Often, students need some tools for determining which spelling to use. In reading, we generally teach the possible sounds that a letter or combination of letters can make and teach students about the frequency…
Is it CH or TCH? It isn’t about hearing the /t/. The third of the short vowel spelling generalizations has to do with whether to use -ch or -tch at the end of a word. This generalization states that when you hear the /ch/ sound at the end of a syllable AND it is immediately preceded…
There are a variety of reasons why students struggle to develop reading and writing skills, and many of these students need explicit instruction in foundational skills such as phonics for decoding and spelling, automatic fluent reading skills, and basic text structures. However, the ultimate goal of reading is to comprehend, which is why teachers can’t…
K or CK? Is there a rhyme or reason? After introducing the FLOSS rule, the next spelling generalization that is usually taught is the K/CK spelling generalization. This is an incredibly useful and freeing spelling generalization that allows students to spell many words using standard spelling. This generalization applies to the END of words and…