"Chunking" words into letter groups
Sometimes breaking down words into smaller groups of letters can help make it easier to spell and/or pronounce. So instead of attacking the whole word, you can attack the word in smaller bits.
*Barwick, J (1999). The Spelling Skills Handbook. Sydney: Horwitz Education, pp29-30.
Sometimes breaking down words into smaller groups of letters can help make it easier to spell and/or pronounce. So instead of attacking the whole word, you can attack the word in smaller bits.
These tables are examples from "The Spelling Skills Handbook", By John Barwick and Jenny Barwick*.
Common letter combination
|
Consonant blend
|
Example
|
|
-ight
|
l
ight, r
ight
|
|
-tion
|
na
tion, rela
tion
|
|
-ing
|
str
ing, s
inger
|
|
-ough
|
r
ough, t
ough
|
|
-tle
|
cas
tle, net
tle
|
|
-end
|
fri
end, s
end
|
Consonant blends
|
Consonant blend
|
Example
|
|
bl-
|
blend,
black
|
|
br-
|
brown,
break
|
|
ch-
|
church, su
ch
|
|
cr-
|
crush,
creature
|
|
dr-
|
drip,
drawer
|
|
fl-
|
flood
|
|
gl-
|
glance,
glad
|
|
gr-
|
graph, de
gree
|
|
pl-
|
place, ap
ply
|
|
pr-
|
prince,
probably
|
|
sc-
|
scatter,
scene
|
|
scr-
|
scramble, de
scribe
|
|
sh-
|
ship,
sharp
|
|
shr-
|
shrill,
shriek
|
|
sl-
|
slope,
slippers
|
|
sp-
|
spill,
speak
|
|
spl-
|
splint,
splash
|
|
spr-
|
spring,
spread
|
|
st-
|
steam,
still
|
|
str-
|
strike,
strap
|
|
sw-
|
swim,
sword
|
|
th-
|
this,
third
|
|
tr-
|
trip,
tremendous
|
|
tw-
|
twelve,
twist
|
|
wh-
|
who,
whistle
|
|
wr-
|
write,
wriggle
|
Vowel blends - including a vowel and -y
These are some examples of vowel blends. Sometimes the letter -y is used as a vowel.
|
Vowel blends
|
Examples
|
|
-ai-
|
rail, remain
|
|
-au-
|
taught, Paul
|
|
-ay-
|
pay, today
|
|
-ea-
|
peace, tea
|
|
-ee-
|
seem, peer
|
|
-ei-
|
seize, receive
|
|
eu-
|
eucalyptus, Europe
|
|
-ey
|
monkey, prey
|
|
-ie-
|
believe, relief
|
|
-oa-
|
roast, soar
|
|
-oe-
|
toe, poet
|
|
-oi
|
oil, spoil
|
|
-oo-
|
spool, poor
|
|
-ou-
|
about, devout
|
|
-oy
|
toy, deploy
|
|
-ue-
|
Sue, suet
|
|
-ui
|
ruin, build
|
|
-uy
|
buy, guy
|
Related links
References:
