How to Correct Pronunciation with Struggling Readers

by Silvia Mazabel Ortega MA, Dynaread Clinical Neuropsychology and Learning Disabilities.

If your child struggles with decoding a certain sound (phoneme) or sequence of sounds when reading, do the following:

Pronounce the word correctly and at the same time point at the sequence of graphemes (letters). Do not let him/her struggle: Simply say the word. Reading is like playing tennis. Your first ball will probably hit the net or go out of the court. If you would tell a young tennis pupil: Well, that was bad! You hit the net. Try again. Wrong again, now the ball is out. Again. Wrong! ... You will soon have a very hard time dragging this child to the tennis court :-)

1. When you give the word pronunciation away, let the child parrot it, as you point to the word. Then read the sentence again, and parrot that word a few times again.
2. Next, go into this list, and find the matching grapheme/phoneme. Exercise it directly.
3. Show other examples of the same word a logical context. Ask your child to read the list of words with similar sounding patterns a few times. Then, ask them to read each word again and trace the graphemes as they reads.

The whole idea is transferring accurate information into the child's reading system, embedded in a logical context, used within a sentence with correct grammar, and having the child use as many senses as possible. For example, you may ask your child to rap the list of words just exercised, to write them down or use magnet letters to put the sounds together, or even use Jell-O powder or flour to trace the sequence of graphemes while pronouncing them.

TIP: You can use Control F, if you happen to be behind the computer, to quickly find the proper grapheme/phoneme in the list below.

Phonics list

List compiled by Mrs. Munro.

Short Vowel Words

ab: cab, lab, nab, Tab

ack: back, hack, Jack, lack, Mack, pack, rack, tack, yak

ad: bad, dad, had, lad, mad, pad, sad

ag: bag, lag, nag, rag, sag, tag, wag, zag

am: dam, ham, jam, Pam, Sam, tam, yam

an: ban, can, Dan, fan, Jan, man, pan, ran, tan

ap: cap, gap, lap, map, nap, rap, sap, tap, zap

ast: fast, last

at: bat, cat, fat, mat, pat, rat, sat

ax: fax, Max, sax, tax, wax

ed: bed, fed, led, Ned, red, Ted, wed

eg: leg, peg

ell: fell, jell, Mell, Nell, sell, tell, well, yell

en: Ben, den, hen, Jen, Len, men, pen, ten

et: bet, get, let, met, net, pet, set, wet, yet

ess: Bess, less, mess

ib: fib, nib, rib

ick: Dick, Rick, pck, sick, tick, wick

id: bid, did, hid, lid, rid

if

ig: big, fig, jig, pig, rig, wig, zig

ill: Bill, dill, fill, hill, Jill, kill, mill, pill, will

im: dim, him, rim, Tim

in: bin, pin, sin, tin, win

ip: dip, hip, lip, rip, sip, tip, zip

iss: miss

it: bit, fit, hit, kit, lit, mitt, pit, sit

ob: Bob, cob, job, mob, rob, sob

ock: dock, lock, rock, tock

od: nod, rod, sod

off

og: bog, dog, fog, hog, jog, log

om: Tom

on: Don, Ron

op: cop, hop, mop, top

ot: hot, pot, rot, tot

ub: cub, hub, rub, tub

uck: buck, duck, puck

ud: bud, cud, mud

ug, bug, dug, hug, jug, jug, put, rug

um: hum, sum

un: bun, fun, run, sun

up: cup, put

us, bus, fuss, Guss, Russ

ut: but, cut, hut, jut, mut, nut, rut

Silent “e” at the end of a word making the vowel sound long

fade, jade, made, wade

bake, cake, lake, make, rake, take, wake

fame, game lame, tame,dame

cane, Dane, Jane, mane, pane, vane

cape, tape

base

date. fate, gate, hate, late, mate, rate

cave, gave, save

hide, ride

bike, like, hike, Mike

dime, time

dine, fine line, mine, nine, pine, vine, wine

pipe, ripe, wipe

fire, tire, wire

bite, kite

dive, hive

robe

joke, poke, woke

code, rode

hole, pole

bone, cone, tone

cope, hope, rope

hose, nose, rose

note, vote

dove

cube, tube

rude

dune, June, tune

fuse

cute, mute

With a silent e, the c changes to a “soft c”

face, pace, race

With a silent e, the g changes to a “soft g”

age, cage, page, rage, sage, wage

The vowels controlled by r

Listed here are one syllable words that children can decode when they know only the consonant sounds. More difficult words would be taught as the children develop more skills.

ar: bar, car, far, jar, par, tar

arm, farm, barn

“er”, “ir”, and “ur” all make the same sound

her

girl, bird

fur, turn, burn

or: born, corn, form, horn, torn

Consonant blends: (with short vowels)

bl: black, block

cl: clack, clam, clan, clap, clip, clock, club

fl: :flack, flag, flap, flat, flax, flick, flip, flock, flop

gl: glad, glass, glob, glum

pl: plan, plod, plot, pluck, plug, plum

sl: slab, slack, slam, slap, slick, slid, slim, slip, slot, slug

br: brag, bran, brass, brat, brick, brim

cr: crab, crack, cram, crib, crock, crop

fr: Fred, fret, frill, frog

gr: grab, Gran, grass, Greg, grub

tr: tram, trap, trim, trip, trod, trot, truck

End of list.