Fast Phonics,When you speak or read, you use sounds.,When you read, the sounds are represented by 26 letters of the alphabet. Associating sounds with letters of the alphabet is called phonics.,Each of the 26 alphabet letters represents one or more sounds. A letters name can also be one of its sounds. For example, the letter A can sound like aaa, ah, or ae.,Each of the 26 alphabet letters has a capital and a lower case form. The two forms for each of the 26 letters are shown below.,When letter sounds are put together, they become words. For example, putting together the sounds of the letters C, A, and T, spells the word CAT. C + A + T = CAT,A letter can be in different positions in a word. Click on the three words below that have the letter A in different positions.,A letter can be used more than once in the same word. If the same letter appears more than once in a word its sound might be the same or different each time it appears in that word. Click on the following words that all have repeating letters:,There are two types of letters in the alphabet: consonants and vowels. The basic difference is how the sound is produced through the mouth.,When sounding consonants, air flow is interrupted or limited by the position of the tongue, teeth or lips. The majority of letters in the alphabet are consonant letters. Most consonant letters have only one sound and rarely sound like their name.,When sounding vowels, your breath flows freely through the mouth. Five of the 26 alphabet letters are vowels: A, E, I, O, and U. The letter Y is sometimes considered a sixth vowel because it can sound like other vowels. Unlike consonants, each of the vowel letters has more than one type of sound or can even be silent with no sound at all.,When a vowel sounds like its name, this is called a long sound. A vowel letter can also have short sounds. Whether a vowel has a long sound, a short sound, or remains silent, depends on its position in a word and the letters around it. Click on the following vowel letters to hear their long and short sounds.,The letter Y is sometimes considered a vowel because it can sound like the vowel letters A, E, or I depending on the letters around it or whether the letter Y is at the middle or end of a word.,When there is only one vowel in a word and it is anywhere except at the end of a word, it usually has a short sound.,Where there is only one vowel and it comes at the end of the word, it usually has a long sound.,When there are two or more vowels and the word ends with the vowel E, two things happen. The ending vowel E is silent, and the vowel that comes before it has a long sound.,When two vowel letters are together, the first vowel letter has a long sound and the second vowel letter is silent.,When a word has a vowel followed by two of the same consonants in a row (called a double consonant), a short sound is used for the vowel.,When a word has two of the same vowels in a row (called a double vowel), pronounce them as one vowel, using the long sound. This rule does not apply when O is the double vowel.,When O is a double vowel, it makes different sounds.,Certain combinations of two or more consonant letters are called letter blends. Letter blends appear in the beginning or at the end of words to create specific sounds. In letter blends you can hear the sound of each letter. If the letters make a single sound they are called digraphs. Additionally, we have added other common letter combinations that include vowels.,Certain words are used again and again. These are common words that may or may not follow phonics rules. Below are five sets of common words to practice.,a at am and any are again do does done is be been of for the,can come he she me I us who you your was were use to two too,here there where have has had could would should enough though whole they them their,go get give gone made make many no know not run son sun said say,Congratulations ! You have mastered the basic rules of phonics. I hope you can practice more while reading and learning.,