Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note
1. EAGER READERS
Step 1 Consonant & Vowel Sounds
1. Alphabet

3. Vowels
26 letters of the alphabet:
abcdefghijklmn
opqrstuvwxyz
2. Consonants

2. READER READY
16 letters make only ONE sound:
bdfhjklmnpqrtvxz
b - bat
d - dog
f - fan
h - hat
j - jet
k - kiss
l - lamp
m - mask
n - nut
p - pin
q(u) - quilt
r - rat
t - tent
v - vest
x - box
z - zip
1) Two Kinds of Letters
There are two kinds of letters- vowels and
consonants.
Vowels often act to change another letter's
sound. The vowels are
"a", "e", "i", "o", "u", and sometimes
"y" and sometimes "w", too.
2) Vowels Can Make Short or Long Sounds
Vowels can make either a "short" or a "long"
sound. The "long" sound of a vowel is the
same as the name of the vowel.
One vowel surrounded by consonants is
usually "short".
bat
My Sound Chart
aA
bB
cC
dD
eE
fF
gG
hH
iI
jJ
kK
lL
bet
nN
pP
qQ
rR
sS
tT
uU
vV
wW
yY
zZ
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oO
xX
fun
PRACTISE:
At Ed’s, it’s odd up there.
One vowel followed by a consonant is usually
"short".
an
Ed
it
up
When two consonants are close together, just
make the sounds one after another.
blend
mM
bit
street
splat
3) The Silent "e"
If two vowels are close together in a word,
Usually the first vowel says its name (is
long) and the second vowel is silent.
plain
beat
boat
tie
When an “e” is at the end of the word, it
makes the first vowel say it’s name. This is
called the silent "e".
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mad – made
cap - cape
mat – mate
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Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note
Step 2 Long & Other Vowel
Sounds
4. Vowel Sounds
1) Long Vowels Plus Silent e
- in some words the final e shows that
the vowel sound before it is long
eg. home, came, Pete, tune, chime
2) Long a sound - a
ai ay eg. tail, play
3) Long e sound - e
ea ee y eg. beat, tree
4) Long i sound - I
ie y i+e (e is on the end)
eg. tie, my
5) Long o sound - o
oe oa
eg. toe, boat
6) Vowel Sound ar
- the a does not have a long a or short a
sound (eg. far)
7) Vowel Sound or
- the o does not have a long o or short o
sound (eg. for)
air, are - spell the vowel sound er like in the words
spare, air, chair, hair, and dare
Step 3-Other Sounds, Consonant
Blends and Digraphs
5. 10 Letters make more than one sound:
5 Vowels a e i o u
Short – eg. bag, beg, big, bog, bug
Long – say their name
3 "Copy Cats" c g s
Copy Cats
c - as in cat, cent
g - as in gum, gem
s - as in sun, nose
The sound of the Letter "c" Copies "k" or
"s"
The sound of the letter "c" copies "k" or "s".
It copies "s" when the letter
after it is "e", "i", or "y". It sounds like "k"
before consonants, "a" and "o". Read:
cent city cycle crop cap corn
"G" Usually Copies "j" "G" usually
copies "j" when it is followed by "e", "i", or
"y". Read: gentle gigantic gym
8) Vowel Sound ou
- ou and ow spell the sound ou as in
cow, sour
9) Vowel Sound oi
- oi and oy spell the sound oi as in toy,
foil
10) Vowel Sound u
- this is often spelt oo such as in room
"S" Copies "z" "S" copies "z" when it is
surrounded by vowels or at the end of a
word, except after "f", "k", "p", or "t".
Read: nose rise caves sags cabs
"Sometimes Vowel" y
"Y" Copies Long "i" "Y" copies long "i"
at the end of a word when it is the only
vowel in the word. Read: my by shy
11) Vowel Sound a
- a at the beginning of the word spells
the a sound such as; about, agree,
across, above
12) Vowel Sound er
- the e does not have a short or long
sound, ear, ir, ur
- spell this er sound, such as; fur, earth,
bird, shirt, learn, hurt
13) Vowel Sound er
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"Y" Copies Long "e" "Y" copies long "e"
at the end of the word when it is not the
only vowel in the word. Read:
baby lady shady.
A Silent "d" Is Used in Some Words
A silent "d" is used in some words to keep
the vowel before it short. Read:
ledge hedge ridge midget
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Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note
"Ere" can also copy long "a" with "r".
there where
6. The "Untouchables"
You can take these apart. They make new
sounds, not just the two sounds added
together.
ch - as in chip
sh - as in ship
wh - as in whip
th - as in this (and th - as in thin)
tch - as in match
7. Different Sounds and Sound Alikes
1) "Oo" Has Two Sounds . . .
"Oo" has two sounds, as in book or moon
look cook loon soon
2) "Ew" Makes Two Slightly Different
Sounds
new few
3) In Spelling Remember . . .
In spelling, remember "i" before "e"
except after "c", or when sounded like "a",
as in neigbour or weigh.
4) "A" at the End of a Word . . .
"A" at the end of a word sounds like short
"u"
China Cuba tuba
5) "R" Is So Strong, That . . . .
"R" is so strong, that it can change the
sound of a vowel in front of it.
car (the "a" sounds like "r")
her sir fur Myra ("er", "ir", "or", and
"yr"
sound like "r" itself)
for/fore ("or" and "ore" sound alike in
spite of the Magic "e")
6) Long Vowels, Except "o" . . .
Long vowels, except "o", are not changed
or just slightly changed by the "r".
care here fire pure
7) "Ere" Can Also Copy . . .
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8) "Oi" and "oy" Sound Alike
"Oi" and "oy" sound alike. "Oi" is usually
used in the middle of the word and "oy" is
usually at the end.
coil
coin toy joy
9) "Au" and "aw" Sound Alike
"Au" and "aw" sound alike. "Au" is
usually used in the middle of a word and
"ow" is usually at the end.
author haul law saw
10) "Ou" and "ow" Sound Alike
"Ou" and "ow" sound alike. "Ou" is
usually used in the middle of a word and
"ow" is usually at the end.
out oust now cow
11) "S" or "z" Surrounded By Vowels . . . .
"S" or "z" surrounded by vowels, often "I"
and "u", makes the sound that can best be
spelled "zh".
Television
treasure azure
12) An "a" Followed By . . . .
An "a" followed by an "l" or "ll" often
sounds like the short "o".
Tall
salt
always
Step 4- Wacky Words
8. Some Wacky/Words Because . . . .
Some wacky words are rule exceptions to
protect a more important rule.
1) Short "e" Sounds
"a" sounds like a short "e" sound (many,
any)
"ea" sounds like a short "e" sound (bread,
dread)
2) Long "I" Sounds
"i" sounds like a long "i" in words with
"nd" (kind, mind) "i" sounds like a long
"i" with "gh" (flight, sight)
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Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note
3) Short "o" Sounds
"a" sounds like a short "o" sound (mama,
father)
4) Long "o" Sounds
"o" with "ll" sounds long (toll, roll)
"o" with "ld" sounds long (hold, cold)
"ou" sounds like a long "o" in "ough"
(though, although)
5) Short "u" Sounds
"o" with "th" sounds like a short "u"
(mother, brother)
"o" with silent "e" sounds like a short "u"
(done, none)
6) Initial Silent Letter
"k" before "n" is silent (knew, knife)
"w" before "h" is silent (whole, who)
"p" before "s" is silent (psychologist,
psychosomatic)
"p" before "n" is silent (pneumonia, pneumatic)
7) Medial Silent Letter
"u" following a "g" is silent (guerilla,
guest)
long "i" with "gn" in a word makes the "g"
silent (sign, design)
"h" following a "g" is silent (ghost,
ghastly)
8) "Ph" Always Copies "f"
phone
photograph
9) "Ch" Sometimes Copies "k"
"ch" sometimes copies "k". Frequently,
this happens when "r" is nearby.
chrome
chord
10) "Y" Takes the Same Sound As "i"
"Y" in the middle of a word takes the same
sound as "i" would have in the same
position.
gym (short "i" sound) cy-clone (long
"I" sound)
11) "Tion" and "sion" Sound Like "shun"
nation
mission
12) "Tial" and "cial" Sound Like "shul"
partial
facial
***Study Wacky Word List & these rules.
Step 5-WordWisdom:RootWords,
Suffixes, Prefixes, Syllables and
Alphabetical Order
9. Syllables, Suffixes, Prefix Syllables,
Suffixes, Prefixes, Compound Words
a) A Syllable Is . . . . A syllable is a piece of
a word that can be said without a break. It
always contains one vowel sound. A good
way to learn new words is to divide them
up into syllables.
 You can usually know how many
syllables there are in a word by
counting the vowel sounds
eg. car - 1
talking - 2
supper - 2
in - vest - ment - 3
Rules:
1) Words Are Normally Divided . . . Words
are
Normally divided into syllables between
double consonants.
pep - per mat - ted kit - ten pil -low
2) A Syllable Break Usually Occurs . . . A
syllable break usually occurs between two
consonants that cannot blend together.
in - vite win - dow pen - cil num ber
ex - tra gen - tle par - ty
3) A Single Vowel . . . One vowel
inbetween 2
Consonants in a syllable or a word,
usually means its start.
4) A Vowel At the End of a Word or
Syllable is Usually Long (but not always) . .
. When only one consonant separates two
vowel sounds, the first syllable usually ends
after the first vowel sound.
pa - nic
be - low
hu – man
Multi - Syllable Words
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Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note
- each syllable must have a vowel sound
e.g. began  be - gan
away  a - way
crayon  cra - yon
banana  ba - na - na
anything  any – thing
tomorrow  to - mor – row
afternoon  af - ter - noon
basketball  bas - ket - ball
b) Root Words . . . Are words without added
beginnings (prefixes) or endings
(suffixes).
2) The ed Ending
Words that illustrate past time end with
carry  carried
hurry  hurried
join  joined
d) Prefix . . . A syllable at the beginning of
the word which changes the meaning of
the word.
Eg.
lace  un – lace
like  dis – like
happy  un – hap - py
fresh  re – fresh
c) Suffix . . . A syllable added at the end of a
root word to form a new word, related in
meaning.
Suffixes:
Words with a short vowel sound and
one consonant at the end, usually double
the final consonant before adding y,
er, est.
Eg. big  bigger  biggest
mud  muddy  muddier 
muddiest
fun  funny  funnier  funniest
1) Ending er and est
Add er and est to the base word to
make new words.
Eg. silly  sillier  silliest
busy  busier  busiest
2) The ing Ending
Add ing to the root word.
a) play  playing
cry  crying
b) drop the final e and add ing to the
root word
make  making
come  coming
c) if the root word has a short vowel
sound, then double the final consonant
before adding ing
win  winning
swim  swimming
run  running
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ed
The suffix or prefix added to a root
word usually makes a syllable.
e) Compound Words . . . words are usually
divided into syllables between two small
words.
Eg.
popcorn  pop – corn
sailboat  sail - boat
forget  for – get
birthday  birth – day
f) Multi Syllable Words With a Prefix. . .
words with one or more syllables at the
beginning of the word which changes the
meaning.
Eg.
disappear  dis - ap - pear
unfamiliar  un - fa - mi - li - ar
impossible  im - pos - si - ble
misplace  mis - place
enclose  en – close
g) Multi Syllable Words With a Suffix. . .
one or more syllables at the end of the word
which changes it's meaning
Eg.
helpful  help - ful
Neatness  neat - ness
painted  pain - ted
smaller  smal - ler
10. Contractions
Contractions are two words put together with
an apostrophe to make one shorter word.
Eg. he willhe'll
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Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note

11. Plurals
Grammar
 Nouns
 Verbs
 Nouns and verbs
 Pronouns
 Adjectives –
 Adverbs
 Prepositions
 Negatives
 Articles
 Questions
Most nouns are made plural formed by adding
s. The plurals of most remaining nouns are
formed by these rules.
1. Add s to nouns ending in a vowel +y.
2. Add es to nouns ending in s, x, z, ch,
and sh.
3. Change the y to i and es.
Eg.
class
class – es
mouth
mouth – s
country countr – ies
pony
pon – ies
1. Nouns
-
The Rule: To make nouns that end in o plural
add s or es.
Eg.
potato
potatoes
alto
altos
solo
solos
hobo
hoboes
hero
heroes
LEVEL C- WRITER READY
Review of Reader Ready Step 5
Part 1- Grammar Graspers
Word Wisdom
 Contractions - a word made from
two words in which one or more letters
are left out. An apostrophe is placed
in the word to show where letters are
missing. Eg. do not = don't.
 Plurals - more than one. Add s to
nouns ending in a vowel + y. Add es
to nouns ending in s, x, z, ch, and sh.
Change the y to I and add es to nouns
ending with a consonant + y.
 Synonyms - words that mean the
same thing. Teach Editing: see pages
20, 21,& 28.
 Homonyms – words that sound the
same but are spelled differently.
 Antonyms – opposites
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Alphabetical order - put words in
an order on the basis of there
composition.
-
Name a specific person, or object. They
begin with an upper case letter those are
all called nouns
a) Subject Nouns - tell you what the
sentence is
eg. A hotdog was my favourite food.
a) Nouns are Either Common or Proper
common = general nouns, words that
do not start with and upper case letter
eg dog
proper = specific names, eg. Mr.
Long,
Karen
b) Possessives - shows ownership of a
noun-add's
eg. flowers for TomTom's flowers
2. Verbs
- words that tell about action
a) Action words – show action;
eg. come, leave, spill
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b) Helping Verbs - eg. is, are, was, were
are used with another verb (adding)
eg. is swimming
c) Present Tense - add s to the verb when
you use
he, she, it or people names
eg. We like, He likes
d) Past Tense – add d or ed for most
regular verbs
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Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note
e) Future Tense – formed with will or
shall
5. Prepositions
- at, of, to, for, on, in, by, with, from,
etc.
eg. from my friend
f) Transitive – takes an object
eg. Push this button if you want a light
g) intransitive – does not take an object
eg. The sun shone brightly
*note* a verb can be transitive or
intransitive in different sentences.
6. Negatives
-
no, not, never
7. Articles
h) Auxilliary – can be used to make
negative comments, produce
certain tasks, asks questions and to
express shades of meaning.
Eg. They have been studying
diligently
Singular – requires a singular subject
Plural – requires a plural subject
-
a or an: before word beginning with
vowel or silent h
8. Questions
a) to change a sentence to a question, reverse
the helping verb
Eg. Jane was here.
Was Jane here?
2. Pronouns
Pronouns can take the place of functioning
nouns, but do not use specific names.
Eg. I, it, he, she, you, we, they
Jenny has a bike
She has a bike
Lesley gave Steve the ticket.
I gave you the ticket
3. Adjectives
- a word that describes or tells something
about the noun. (eg. blonde hair)
-descriptive adjectives answer the question
what kind (eg. large, high, purple) and
quantitative adjectives answer the
question how many (eg. two).
-proper adjectives come from proper nouns
(eg. Dutch, Republican)
4. Adverbs
-adverbs describe an action (verbs)
eg. Jake ran quickly
-it answers the questions where, when,
how?
-adverbs of two or more syllables add
more or most
eg. Jake ran more quickly than I
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b) when a sentence does not have a
helping verb add do, does, did
eg. Tom climbs trees
Does Tom climb trees?
Part 2- Excellent Editors
a) Capitalization
1. I and First Words
Eg. My horse is black.
2. Proper Nouns
Eg. Toronto
b) Punctuation
1. Ending marks
2. Commas: Dates & Addresses
3. Commas: Introductory Words and
Nouns of Address
4. Commas: Series
5. Commas: Compound Sentences
6. Commas: Quotation Marks
7. Commas/Appositives
Eg. Mary councils students, and she
volunteers at the local hospital.
c) Apostrophes
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Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note
1. add an apostrophe ‘s’ to indicate
possession to a singular noun including
words that end in ‘s’ or an ‘s’ sound.
Eg. My friend’s cat is named Ginger
(the cat is the possession of the friend)
Eg. Jess’s dog is named Peter.
2. add only an apostrophe to form the
possessive noun when that noun is plural
ending in ‘s’.
Eg. The dogs’ toys are spread around.
(there is more than one dog to which
the toys belong)
3. only add apostrophe ‘s’ on the last
word of compound nouns.
Eg. The Lady-in-Waiting’s sister was
from London.
4. Only add apostrophe ‘s’ to the last noun
to show joint possession.
Eg. Steve and Lesley’s room was
messy.
5. add an apostrophe ‘s’ to each noun
indicating individual ownership.
Eg. Steve’s and Lesley’s parents are
from Scotland.
6. add an apostrophe ‘s’ to words
indicating the plural of words, numbers,
and abbreviations.
Do not capitalize the first word in the
second part of an interrupted quotation
unless the second part begins a new
sentence.
Indirect quotations do no require quotation
narks.
e) Other Punctuation
1. Colon: end main clauses and introduce
additions and modifications.
Eg. Phillip had many favourite types
of books: science fiction, fantasy,
romance, and horror.
Colons also link the first clause with an
adjoining second clause.
Eg. Philip learned the most valuable
lesson from reading: knowledge is
power.
Colons are also used for letter salutations (to
Mrs. Jackson: ), separation of title and subtitle
(Wandering: the story of Anne Frank), and
Biblical citation (Exodus 3:12).
2. Brackets: enclose editorial additions
within quotations.
Eg. Aldous Huxley suggests that,
“chronic remorse (as all the moralists are
agreed) is a most undesirable sentiment”.
3. Parenthesis: as brackets, parenthesis
enclose additions to the sentence, however,
they do not alter the meaning.
Eg. Brave New World (1932) is a warning
against assimilation of the masses.
Eg. Allison got straight A’s.
7. add an apostrophe for contractions.
Eg. The Detroit Redwings won the ’99
Stanley Cup.
d) Quotation Marks
Direct and Indirect
Enclose a direct quotation
Eg.
1. Martha whispered quietly, “I’m scared
of the dark.”
2. “When,” she breathed, “do we get out
of here?”
Capitalize the first word of a direct
quotation
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4. Dashes: emphasize an important message
within a sentence.
Eg. All I can think of – without losing my
mind – is how long I’ll be away from my son.
5. Hyphens: join words together and indicate
a break.
Eg. The Profit-in-Peace spoke.
6. Ellipsis: typed by three periods in
succession, indicate an omission of
information from a quotation.
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Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note
Eg. “But Brave New World is a book
about…philosophical qualities…”
That is the end of my story. Then we
packed up and went home
7. Italics: are used to indicate titles of written
material and may be used to replace
underlining.
Eg. My favourite play is King Lear
by William Shakespeare.
Part 3- Sentence Sense –
Applying the rules for punctuation,
grammar and editing.
f) Story Writing
Part 4- AWESOME AUTHORS
1. Indirect Speech
- for cartoons, play scripts
COMPOSITION AND STYLE
Word Choice and Diction
2. Paragraphs - a group of sentences about
the same idea.
1st Sentence of Paragraph - should give a
general idea of what the rest of the paragraph
will be about.
There are certain rules to follow when
composing a formal essay.
3. Brainstorming - before writing plan by
writing all words and ideas about a topic.
- can easily be sorted if on small pieces of
paper
4. Mind Mapping - anyway to plan a story.
Topic is written on a page and ideas are
mapped out around it in categories.
5
Story Openings - for interest & attention
grabbing .
1. Do not use slang.
Eg. It struggled when the Leafs lost.
I felt awful when the Leafs lost.
2. Do not use colloquial language.
Eg. I can’t run as fast as I used to.
I cannot run as fast as I used to.
3. Avoid pretentious language that is
sometimes masked by over-complicated
language.
Eg. The United States engaged in
assertive counter measures resulting from the
September 11th attacks.
The United States waged war.
There are 3 types:
1. Statement - All of a sudden, the lights
went out.
2. Question - Have you ever seen a real
dinosaur?
3. Exclamation - Finally, the big day
arrived!
g) Story Endings - should build up to the
most exciting or interesting part of the
story.
This is called the Climax.
Stories should not finish with uninteresting
sentences such as:
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4. Avoid Euphemisms (words that soften the
meaning of a harsher word).
Eg. Fluffy passed on.
Fluffy died.
5. Do not used gender specific language.
Eg. She’s a strong wind.
The wind is strong.
6. Do not use the ‘he’ or ‘man’ to refer to
both sexes.
Eg. A policeman must always be
aware of his surroundings.
A police officer must always be
aware of their surroundings.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
1. simile: a comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
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Jr. Genius- Language Arts Cram Note
Eg. The woman cried like a little baby
2. metaphor: a comparison drawn between
two things without using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Eg. My bedroom is a disater-zone.
Improving Vocabulary and
Spelling
Personal Journal
Building Vocabulary Skills
Dictionary of Prefixes, Suffixes and
Roots
Becoming a Better Speller
History of the English Language
Improving Speaking and
Listening
Writing in Journals
Making Albums
Writing Lists
Writing Friendly Letters
Writing Personal Narratives
Writing Family Stories
Learning to View
Learning to Listen
Performing Poems
Giving Short Talks
Learning to Interview
Telling Stories
Subject Writing
Improving Your Thinking
Writing Alphabet Books
Writing Newspaper Stories
Writing Book Reviews
Writing Business Letters
Writing to Explain
Getting Organized
Thinking Clearly
Writing to Learn Math
3. personification: giving human qualities to
the inanimate.
Eg. The wind sang through the trees.
The Forms of Writing
Research Writing
Using the Library
Writing Classroom Reports
Writing Photo Essays
Writing Stories, Tales and
Plays
Improving Your Learning
Skills
Completing Assignments
Working in Groups
Taking Tests
Writing Realistic Stories
Writing Time-Travel Fantasies
Writing Plays
Writing Poems
The Tools of Learning
Improving Your Reading
Reading Graphics
Using Strategies to Read New Words
Reading to Understand
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