Today, we’re going to talk about teaching phonics rules versus teaching phonics generalizations. What’s the difference, and does it really matter?
Find all the posts in this blog/video series by scrolling to the very bottom of this post where you’ll find an image gallery. Click on the images to find the other posts.
If you’ve taught reading or spelling in any capacity for more than a few years, I’m sure you’ve heard this said: “English is FULL of exceptions!”
But is it entirely true? Well, it depends on how you view and therefore teach the English language!
Phonics Rules vs. Phonics Generalizations
The difference comes in teaching phonics rules vs. phonics or spelling generalizations. Now, this difference is very subtle, so I hope I can make it clear in this video and blog post.
The text in this blog post is the text from my video.
Watch the full video on my YouTube channel.
Phonics rules seem to state something about language that is absolute or always true. For example, “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.”
While there’s nothing inherently WRONG with teaching this to your learners (after all, it’s a clever little rhyme), it does seem to imply that this is always true. When you see two vowels side-by-side in a word, the first one will do the talking, the second one is silent as it just walks.
And the English language is full of vowel teams that follow this rule.
Another phonics rule you may have heard is, “Silent e makes the vowel say its name.”
Again, I’m not saying there’s anything WRONG with teaching this to your learners, but it carries with it the idea that this is always true. When you see a silent e at the end of the word, its role is to make the vowel long.
And again, the English language is full of examples that follow this rule. Can, not, and cut become cane, note, and cute.
But, there’s a problem here. If we state or teach phonics or spelling rules as absolutes, we come to one big conclusion:
The English language is indeed FULL of exceptions! And this conclusion makes it seem that English is very unpredictable. Rules, after all, are just meant to be broken, right?
Enter phonics generalizations.
Phonics generalizations state something about language that is GENERALLY true. For example, while our phonics rule stated: “Silent e makes the vowel say its name,” a phonics generalization would state: “SOMETIMES silent e makes the vowel say its name.”
And while it may seem like I’m splitting hairs here, there is a difference. Stating a generalization leaves room for other spelling patterns. Silent e, for example, doesn’t just have one role in the English language.
Ditching Phonics Rules In Favor of Phonics Generalizations
Here are three quick tips for using generalizations.
1. Refrain from stating absolutes. Simply adding the words usually, typically, often, or sometimes to a phonics rule gives you wiggle room you don’t have if you state absolutes.
2. Look for patterns. When you come across groups of words that don’t fit the generalization, look for patterns.
The words have, love, give, and glove, for example, all have a similar pattern.
Notice they all have a v followed by a silent e. And while the silent e DOES NOT make the vowels long, these words follow their own generalization which is the English language typically doesn’t have words that end with the letter v.
3. Explain why. While the English language is more predictable that one might think, it is helpful to explain to our learners why certain words seem to follow the beat of a different drum. There are several reasons for this, but let’s take a quick look at two.
One reason is that the word has a foreign origin. The English language has adopted many words from other languages and cultures.
Ballet has a silent t based on the rules of French.
The ch in chord makes a hard /k/ sound based on the patterns from the Greek language.
Tortilla has a different pronunciation based on the rules of Spanish.
Another thing to keep in mind is that pronunciations have changed over time and with our location. For example, in America, most people say been as /ben/, with a short e, while those in the UK say /been/, with a long e.
*Note: To be fair, I must admit that some phonics patterns are EXTREMELY consistent and can be taught more as phonics rules. Two examples of this are: u coming after q and the 1-1-1 rule when adding vowel suffixes to words.
You may also like my older blog post,
Helping Spellers Make Phonics Generalizations.
Enjoy teaching!
~Becky
More Posts in this Series so Far…
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Today, we’re going to talk about teaching phonics rules versus teaching phonics generalizations. What’s the difference, and does it really matter? Find all the posts in this blog/video series by scrolling to the very bottom of this post where you’ll find an image gallery. Click on the images to find the other posts. If you’ve … Read More about Phonics Rules vs. Phonics Generalizations
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