Puzzle Words

Puzzle Words
Language - Reading
Level	Primary
Prerequisites	Word Lists Digraph Word Lists
Materials	cards with high frequency words with tricky spellings

In this activity the child reads cards with high frequency words that have tricky spellings. These words are sounded out as much as possible, and the unusual bit of the spelling is pointed out for the child to notice.

Presentations

Carry the box of word cards to a mat or table. Place the it in the upper right corner.
Take out the stack of cards and place them in the center of the workspace.

he, she, me, we, be, the

1. "Today we're going to read six words that all follow the same rule."
2. Point to the letter 'e' in one of the words.
   "They all use this letter to spell the sound /ee/. Let's sound them out."
3. "/h/ /ee/, he."
4. "/sh/ /ee/, she."
5. "/m/ /ee/, me."
6. "/w/ /ee/, we."
7. "/b/ /ee/, be. This is the way we spell 'be' when we mean 'I'll be home soon.' If we mean bee like the insect that makes honey, we spell it with two Es."
8. "/th/ /ee/, the. With this word, we sometimes say thee and sometimes we say thuh but we always spell it the same way."

is, as, his, has

1. "Today we're going to read four words that all follow the same rule."
2. Point to the letter 's' in one of the words.
   "They all use this letter to spell the sound /z/. Let's sound them out."
3. "/i/ /z/, is."
4. "/a/ /z/, as."
5. "/h/ /i/ /z/, his."
6. "/h/ /a/ /z/, has."
7. "The /s/ sound and the /z/ sound are very similar, so there are lots of words where these letters get switched like this. The same thing is happening with our lips and teeth and tongue when we say the sounds. The only difference is that with the /z/ sound, our vocal cords are vibrating."
8. Place your fingertips lightly on the front of your throat. Direct the child to do the same.
9. Switch back and forth between saying /z/ and /s/. Ask the child if they can feel their throat vibrating with one but not the other.

give, live, have

The odd thing about these is the "e" at the end. It's there because "v" doesn't occur at the end of words in English. Just tell the child that the child that "v" doesn't ever like to be at the end of words (maybe compare it to not liking to be at the end of the line), but the "e" doesn't mind so it's there to keep the "v" company.

Why the Dolch List is Bad

Please, do not use Dolch Sight Words, Fry's 100 Instant Words, or any of the other standard collections of "sight words" to be memorized. The great majority of these "sight-words" are spelled completely phonetically.
Doing this is no different than using the long discredited "whole-word" method of teaching reading. Even those words that are a little trickier do have phonetic rules that they follow, or at least most of the word can be sounded out. Teaching sight words before children have a solid phonetic foundation gives them the idea that some or all words just have to be memorized. This will cause them more problems in the long run.

Dolch Words That Are Easy to Sound Out

am, at, an, ask, and, can, cat, ran, man, had, fast, grass, hand
egg, let, get, tell, yes, ten, leg, men, red, bed, bell, well, help, best, nest, went
in, if, it, its, him, did, sit, big, six, hill, pig, will, milk, wind
on, off, top, not, got, box, hot, doll, dog, stop
us, up, cut, but, must, sun, run, just, jump
rabbit, seven, robin, upon

Dolch Words With Silent e

make, came, take, name, ate, cake, gave, game, made<br here, these
nine, five, white*, like, ride, time
home, those
use

Further Reading

• 100 most commonly used words in the English language (notice that these are not the same as the Dolch word list)