Category: Consonants

Voiced and Unvoiced TH

The consonant digraph TH can make a voiced or unvoiced sound. Notice TH in this sentence: whip the filling in a dish with this whisk. Voiced sounds are made with vibration that can be felt in the throat. Unvoiced sounds are made with a push of air, and there is no vibration. Which of these words do you think have a voiced th?

TH is voiced in: this, that, there, and these.

TH is unvoiced in: the, with, throat, and think.

TH

Download a handout with Voiced and Unvoiced TH words and sentences.

Watch videos and play games to practice these words. Find an online word sort and a wordsearch.

Double Middle Letters

In English, sometimes we see double! In some words, there are two of the same consonant letters together. This can be seen in some one syllable short vowel words that end with a f, l, s, or z and are called Flossy words: Turn the drill off in class or it will buzz.

This can happen more often in words with more than one syllable.

Rabbit Lesson

RabbitRobin

When the first syllable of a two syllable word is short, sometimes the middle consonant doubles, like in RABBIT. But not always! In some words like ROBIN, there is a single middle consonant. Try the Rabbit or Robin online word sort. (Sometimes the word divides before a single middle consonant, leaving the first vowel open and long, like in TIGER) See Tigers and Robins and Camels, oh my! for more of these words.

More rabbit words…

Notice that the second syllable of some of these words have a Bossy R or a Schwa sound: happen, lesson, kitten, rotten, muffin.

Cattle – Turtle

CattleTurtle

When the first syllable of a two syllable word is short, and the second syllable is a consonant -le ending syllable type, the middle consonant letters often double, like in CATTLE. But they do not double in words like CANDLE, or words with a different vowel sound in the first syllable like BEAGLE, POODLE, or TURTLE. Try the Cattle or Turtle online word sort. The Rabbit or Cattle online word sort has lots of words with double middle consonant letters!

A Silly Fluffy Bunny – Tricky Y

When the first syllable of a two syllable word is short, and the second syllable is a y that sounds like a long e, the middle consonant letters often double. hăppy, pĕnny,  sĭlly, mŏmmy, flŭffy, băggy, smĕlly, mĕssy, slŏppy, mŭddy.

The funny yellow kitten in the middle is bigger – Adding a Suffix

When the first syllable of a two syllable word is short and ends with a single consonant, and a suffix that begins with a vowel is added, the consonant before the suffix is often doubled. săddest, bĕgging, bĭgger, rŏtten, hŭgged.

WATCH videos and play games at the Rabbit Lesson Wakelet.

Remember! – You may see middle double consonant letters in some two syllable words with a short vowel in the first syllable.

The Skunk Drank a Pink Drink

ending blend -nk

Some final or ending consonant blends are easier to learn as a chunk, and are sometimes called glued or welded. The skunk drank a pink drink.

Ending Blend NK

Practice these words with:

More Online

PLAY Practice with -ank, -ink, -onk & -unk word paths from 3 dinosaurs.

WATCH -ink turn and learn from Super Simple ABCs and NK word families from 4 minute phonics.

The consonant digraph (two letters make one sound) -ng can also be considered glued or welded.

c before e will often soft /s/ be

Two special word families with a Silent e demonstrate how the letter c can make a soft /s/ sound. C before e will often soft /s/ be in the ace and ice word families. In some words like base, case, vase, and chase, s = /s/. A wise reader also knows the letter s can make the sound of /z/ as in nose when you smell a rose. These Silent e variations are included in the Phonics Pow Toolkit as it follows a logical sequence for learning reading. (III.a) The prize for the race is a nice rose in a vase.

Play a wordsearch with the ace and ice word families. Watch a video from Super Simple ABCs on the -ice word family.

You will also see that c is often soft /s/ in words that start with c before e: cent, cell, center, cement, certain.

A printable word sort is included in the free word sort games set. There is also an online word sort with Silent e words with soft c, s=/s/ or /z/ & z=/z/.

Learn more about Consonants that vary.

g before e will often soft /j/ be

The letter g often (but not always) has the soft sound of /j/ before an e. 

A large stāgecoach plunged over the brĭdge.

The g in words that end in -ge or -dge is often soft. Silent e makes the vowel long in words like “pāge,” but Defender d can stop the vowel from being long in “ĕdge” and more words.

Play a wordsearch game with words that are long or short and the g is soft.

hinge

Some words that end with -nge also have a soft g. Many have a short vowel, except: range, change, and strange, & sponge and orange with the schwa sound. A couple more words with a soft g are bilge and bulge.

GbeforeEother

power-cable-us-md

In some words with a Bossy R vowel followed by ge like “charge,” the g is also soft.

GbeforeEBossyR

Play a wordsearch game with these words. 

GEwords

G also has the soft /j/ sound in some words that begin with ge: gem, gel, gentle, gerbil, geography. But there are quite a few exceptions to this guideline in words that begin with ge, and some have the hard /g/ sound: get, gecko, gear, geek, geese.

G before e will often soft /j/ be is introduced as one of the ways that Silent e can vary in the Phonics Pow Toolkit with worksheets, a boardgame, and spot & dot sentences. Hard or soft c and g are one of the ways that consonants can vary.

Catch the Pitch: spelling the final /ch/ sound

Catch a pitch or scratch an itch, the tch is not a glitch! Pinch an inch or catch a pitch, how to know which is which? The /ch/ consonant digraph sound is often spelled -tch immediately after a short vowel in one syllable words. As you might expect, there are some exceptions: such, much, rich, and which.

Eat a peach for lunch on a bench and you may have a hunch: after a consonant or vowel combinations it changes a bunch.

bench

The /ch/ sound is NOT spelled -tch when it comes after a consonant, as in branch, clinch, munch or stench.

wrench artwork copyrighted by Mark A. Hicks, illustrator, http://www.MARKiX.net.

It is just ch with mulch or a wrench, also with a bossy r on a porch.

beach

The /ch/ sound is NOT spelled -tch when it comes after diphthongs and vowel teams: pouch, pooch, coach, or reach. If you sit on a couch or lay on a beach, the ch spelling will be found in each.

Now -ch or -tch spelling will be a cinch to teach!

pouch

This guideline is learned after learning about consonant digraphs (IV.a)

Play an online wordsearch with words that end in -tch.

Practice words with a set of free word sort games for the Phonics Pow Toolkit that include -ch or -tch words. The Catch the Pitch set includes a word list, worksheet, and a board game. Find it at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Voiced and Unvoiced Consonants

Some consonants are voiced; they are formed with vibration in the vocal chords, and no push of air. Voiced consonants are: /b/ /d/ /g/ /j/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /r/ /v/ /w/ /y/ and /z/. All vowels are voiced too.

Some consonants are unvoiced; they make no vibration in the vocal chords, but there is a push of air. Unvoiced consonants are: /f/ /h/ /k/ /p/ /s/ /t/ /x/ /qu/ and digraphs /ch/ /sh/. The digraph /th/ can be voiced as in “that” or unvoiced as in “thing.”

Some word pairs compare voiced and unvoiced consonants (at the beginning) that are made with the same mouth placement of tongue, lips, and teeth. Try putting a hand on the throat to feel the difference while saying these words: bat/pat, dip/tip, gab/cab, van/fan, zip/sip, and jug/chug.

Also try these that are not made with the same mouth placement, but one word begins with a voiced consonant and the other is unvoiced: jog/hog, lit/kit, mat/hat, nut/hut, and rat/pat.

Learn more about Voiced and Voiceless Sounds at Literacy Learn.

It is easier to learn consonants that are voiced, but understanding the difference becomes especially important in the following two instances.

The letter s can make different sounds, depending on whether it follows a voiced or unvoiced consonant. After an unvoiced consonant, often s = /s/. After a voiced consonant, often s = /z/.

The suffix -ed can make different sounds, depending on whether it follows a voiced or unvoiced consonant. After a voiced consonant, it often makes the sound of /d/ as in “jailed.” After an unvoiced consonant, it often makes the sound of /t/ as in “walked.” A third sound, /id/ is made after the voiced consonant d as in “needed” and the unvoiced consonant t as in “wanted.”

Can you hear the three different sounds made by the suffix -ed in the following sentence?

The sheriff needed his gun. He jailed the wanted man and then he walked home.

A set of resources for with handouts and worksheets for voiced and unvoiced consonants is available at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Learn more about the Phonics Pow Toolkit, how to get free word sort games and more free resources.

Smooth Beach

After learning about Consonant Digraphs with short vowels at the end of the SOUND OUT WORDS section (II.c), and about Diphthongs (III.c) and Vowel Teams (III.d), it is time to learn about words that combine these patterns! Words like…

SMOOTH BEACH!

Download a free set of activities that includes a worksheet, a word search, and a word sort. The words can be sorted two ways: by digraphs or by diphthongs/vowel teams. The SMOOTH BEACH freebie is available to download at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers. Also available is a free wordlist and set of bookmarks with consonant digraphs and vowel patterns.

Play the Smooth Beach wordsearch online.

Learn more about Word Sorts and get the free set of word sort games for the Phonics Pow Toolkit.

Fall For Phonics: the sound of /f/

The sound of /f/ can be spelled different ways. This is one of the ways that consonants can vary. The sound of /f/ can be spelled many ways indeed, more than three! In the following sentence, how many ways do you see?

The dolphin swam fast in the rough sea by the cliff

(f as in fast, ff as in cliff, ph as in dolphin, and gh as in rough.) The word fall belongs to the special flossy word family -all, where the letter a makes the sound of a short o before double letters -ll. In the word phonics, the ph makes the sound of /f/.

WATCH the Kids vs Phonics Video (2:47) & Jack Hartmann Video (2:16)

GH can also be /g/ when you see a ghost all in white, or no sound at all when you see the light. Learn more at A ghost with a slight cough gave a great fright.

How many times do you hear the sound of /f/ in this poem about fall?

The Fall for Phonics freebie that includes the poem, a word list, and worksheet for F variations is available at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Learn more about the Phonics Pow Toolkit, how to get free word sort games and more free resources.

Chase the Sheep

After learning about Consonant Digraphs with short vowels at the end of the SOUND OUT WORDS section (II.c), and about Silent e (III.a), it is time to learn about words that have BOTH! Words like…

CHASE THE SHEEP!

This free set of activities includes a worksheet, a word search, and a word sort. The words can be sorted two ways: by digraphs or by the Bossy R vowel. The CHASE THE SHEEP freebie is available to download at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers. Also available is a free wordlist and set of bookmarks with consonant digraphs and vowel patterns.

Play the Chase the Sheep wordsearch online.

Learn more about Word Sorts and get the free set of word sort games for the Phonics Pow Toolkit.