Spellography Study Guide
Unit 1 - 3
You must be able to define, identify, and/or give examples of…
 Phonemes – Definition: A sound. You must be able to write the number of
Phonemes (sounds) you hear in a word.
 Example: cat – 3, police – 5
 Consonant Blends – Definition: Each consonant in a blend is pronounced and
heard.
 Example: scram, black
 F, L, S Doubling Rule - Definition: Words with one syllable that end in f, l, or s
AND it has a short vowel then you usually double the final letter.
 Example – fluff, ball, crass
 Noun – Definition: A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. (Hint: You usually
can tell if a word is a noun if you put the or a in front of it.)
 Example: dogs, spaghetti, courage
 Proper Noun – Definition: A Proper Noun: Is the specific name of a person,
place, thing, or idea.
 Example: Mr. Grogan, Stowe
 Verb – Definition: Verbs are words that tell an action or something that is done
(Hint: A verb will usually NOT have an –ing added to the end of the root word.
For example “run” is a verb, but “running” is an adverb.)
 Example: run, step
 Adjective – Definition: Adjectives are describers. They help us paint a picture in
our mind’s eye about how things look, smell, taste, feel, or sound.
 Example: hairy, smelly, red
 Open Sounds – Definition: Any sound where you push air through your teeth.
All vowels are open sounds (a, e, i, o, u, and, sometimes y). You push air
through your teeth when you say them. There are also a few consonants that
produce open sounds too. /s/, /w/, /y/, /r/, /l/, n/, /m/, /ng/
 Closed Sounds – Definition: A closed sound is when the air is cut off at the end
of the sound. With some consonants sounds we totally cut off the airstream.
These include: /b/, /d/, /f/, /g/, /h/, j/, k/, /p/, /t/, /p/,
 Graphemes – Definition: A grapheme is a letter or group of letters that make one
sound. You must be able to Identify what graphemes (letters) make the following
phonemes:
1. /f/
ph, gh, ff, f
2. /k/
c, k, ck, ch, q
3. /sh/ t, ss, sh
4. /j/
g, j, dge
5. /ch/ ch, tch, ti, tu
6. /m/ m, mb, mn
 Ways to spell the sound /k/.
o The letter c represents the sound /k/ most of the time.
o /k/ is usually spelled with a c before the vowel letters a, o, and u:
 Example: campus, commit, custom
o /k/ is spelled with c before other consonants in blends, including the
blends cl, cr, and scr.
 Example: clock, craft, scroll
o /k/ spelled with the letter k before any vowel, but k is almost always
used before e, i, and y
 Example: kennel, kiss
o When the letter c is followed by e, i, or y, it stands for soft sound /s/
 Example: cent, city, cycle
 That’s is why the letter k is added to achieve the /k/ sound
 Example: keg, kit, kyack
o /k/ is spelled with ck after a stressed short vowel or in a one-syllable
word with a short vowel:
 Example: back, clock, neck, stuck
 Closed Syllable – Definition: A closed syllable has a short vowel, spelled with
one vowel letter, followed by one or more consonants.
 Homophone – Definition: Words that sound the same but are spelled differently
and have different meanings are called homophones.
o Example:
there/their
to/two/too