2nd Grade Language Arts
Word Sounds
Unit 1
Unit 1: Word Sounds
There are thousands of words that exist in English, so how do people remember how to say them all? The answer: phonics! Phonics is a fancy word for how groups of letters sound. They can help young readers (just like you) learn to speak and read better!
Base Building
Create new words based on another, smaller word!
First, let's try building new words off of a simple word that you know. For example, the base word "do" can be used to make new words. Say OUT-LOUD some words that have "do" in them and are related to the word (like "doing").
After you've done that, click here and see how many you were able to get!
Undo, Redo, Doable, Doing. There are other examples, so if you got different words, that's still great!
Did you notice that when you said these words out-loud, the "do" sounded the same? When a base word has a prefix (a group of letters before the base word like the "un" in "undo") or a suffix (a group of letters after the base word like the "ing" in "doing"), the base word is often pronounced the same.
Try this again with the word "care" and see how many words you can get! Click here to see examples!
Careful, Careless, Caring, Cared
LESSON:
When you come across a word with a base word and a prefix and/or a suffix, you can usually combine the pronunciation of the base word with the pronunciation of the prefix or the suffix.
Breakdown
Figure out how to pronounce hard words!
If you're confused with the pronunciation of a really hard word, another trick you can try is to break them down. What words do you see in the word "uncontrollable"? You probably see "un" and "control" and "able". If you put the pronunciation of those words together, you can get really close to the actual pronunciation of the word!
LESSON: Break down hard words into words you know how to say!
Letter Groupings
LESSON: grouping letters can change the sound that the letters would usually make.
Some Common Sound Changes:
y = can sound like "e" (ex. sunny, bunny, baby) or "i" (fry, why, try)
when it is a 2 syllable word, it is usually the "e" sound
when it is a 1 syllable word, it is usually the "i" sound
igh = can sound like "i" (ex. knight, might, fight)
oa, oe, ow = can sound like "oh" (ex. groan, toe, bowl)
oo = can sound like "ooh" (ex. pool, cool, school)
ou, ow = can sound like "ow" (ex. owl, scowl, ouch, ounce)
ee, ea = can sound like "e" (ex. peel, squeal, congeal)
Watch the videos on this page for more help with phonics!