What about rare graphemes which are not on the Charts?

How inventive are you with your Phonics International resources - what works for you?
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debbie
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Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:28 pm
Location: UK

What about rare graphemes which are not on the Charts?

Post by debbie »

I received this question via email and I thought it was a really good question worthy of sharing with our wider community:
Dear Debbie,

Hope you are fine. Here in Uruguay we are already working flat out!
I am bothering you again with a sound -spelling doubt.

Is it correct to say that grapheme -au- for the /ai/ sound as in the word " gauge" is another spelling alternative of this sound?

If this is so shouldn't it be added to those already listed next to the sound /ai/ in your chart?

Looking forward to your reply.

Warmly,
Here is my reply based on existing guidance in the PI programme and in my wider training:
It’s good to hear from you – and well done for discovering a piece of very rare code in the word ‘gauge’ (it is VERY unusual).

Here is my suggestion for when anyone discovers words with code in that is not on the chart – add the code and the word example to the chart by hand if you would like to – and/or create a poster for the wall to note the unusual word.

If there are other words with the rare code in, include those also such as the poster ‘giraffe’ here:

http://www.phonicsinternational.com/unu ... osters.pdf

This creates a mini 'Spelling Word Bank' of words with the rare code.

I do include some very rare code on the Alphabetic Code Charts – but generally on the basis that although the code may be ‘rare’ as a spelling alternative, the word containing the grapheme may be common.

Thus, I now include words such as ‘said’ and ‘again’ with rare code in ('ai' as code for /e/) – and ‘who’ where ‘wh’ is code for /h/ which is unusual code but in some common words like ‘who, whom, whose, a whole one’.

So, the rationale, then, is to ADD the code to your chart that you or your pupils discover and/or make a unique poster for display to recall the words with unusual spellings.

Thank you for keeping in touch with me about this – you are always welcome to ask questions of course.

I think there is probably double the code we see on my Alphabetic Code Charts when taking into account all the very unusual spellings of words in English.

The amount included on the charts, however, is ample for teaching learners to read and spell through a structured approach.

Kindest regards,

Debbie
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Debbie Hepplewhite
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