Video of How to use The Phonics Guide by Cheryl Paton

This blog explains how to use the book, The Phonics Guide: A Guide to Reading and Spelling Patterns, by Cheryl Paton.

What is The Phonics Guide?

The Phonics Guide is a book that lists common spelling patterns used in the English language, along with information about each individual letter of the alphabet. The chapters are arranged alphabetically for ease of locating the information.

How do I use The Phonics Guide?
If you want to look up information about any letter, you would go to the chapter labeled with that letter. There you will find information about the letter itself, as well as common letter patterns in which the letter is used.

For instance, if you go to the chapter on the letter c, you will find out that C is a consonant and that it represents two main sounds and can also be silent. C is used in the cl blend. Examples of words using the cl blend are shown, and sometimes a pictorial drawing is included to demonstrate the general sound. You can also go to the chapter on L, and see that the letter l is used with a variety of letters to represent various L blends.

Here is a video that I made that explains it a bit more.

If you have any questions or comments, the best place to ask and or comment is on my Literacy Ideas page on Facebook.

The Phonics Guide: A Guide to Reading and Spelling Patterns, is purchased on Amazon, which is where the previous text link will take you.

Blessings to you.

Cheryl Paton

As an Amazon affiliate, Cheryl Paton, earns income from qualifying purchases made through her links.

What are some different ways of spelling the long sound of A?

There are several ways of spelling the long sound of A.

The letter A is a vowel. A by itself can be pronounced as long a, such as, I will go on a hike. The letter a is also a word. The only other letter that is also a vowel and a word, is the letter i.

AI
A common letter pattern for long a, is the letter a, followed by a consonant, followed by a silent e; such as cake, made, grapes, and mate.

The letter pattern AI is also another common spelling for long A; such as train, aim, paid, and grain.

The AI pattern is found in the middle of the syllable or single syllable word.

An exception for the sound is found in the word said, the AI pattern represents the sound of short E in the word said.

Keep in mind that when the AI pattern is immediately followed by the letter R, that the sound is R-controlled. The pattern AIR is also a word when used by itself. It also represents the same sound when used as part of other AIR words, as in hair and fair.

AY
AY is another long A pattern, as in lay, play, stay. and gray.

AY is used mainly at the end of the word or syllable. An exception to this is the word crayon where the A is actually at the end of the first syllable and the Y is the first letter of the next syllable.

EA
EA represents a variety of sounds, one of them is long A, as in break, steak, and great. The EA pattern for long A is found in the middle of the syllable.

EI
The letters EI also represent the sound of long A, as in vein, weigh, weight, and neighbor.

The EI pattern is found in the middle of the syllable

EY
EY can also represent the sound of long A, as in prey and they. EY also represents long E, as in the word, key.

The EY pattern for long A is found at the end of the word or syllable.

You can find this type of information, and more, in The Phonics Guide. If you have found this information helpful, or know someone who would, then you and/or they would probably benefit from reading The Phonics Guide: A guide to reading and spelling patterns. The text link will take you to Amazon where you can order it.

It is not a lesson book, but a reference book, guide, that one can refer to, to look up common spelling patterns, alphabetically.

Cheryl Paton

Cheryl Paton was a literacy tutor for over 12 years. She wrote The Phonics Guide based on the types of questions her adult literacy students were asking her. Cheryl receives income for qualifying items purchased through links on this page.