Saxon Phonics 101:
Survival Guide for Parents
SAXON Vowel Coding Rules:
Spelling Rules
Syllable Division
Definitions for Coding and Understanding Saxon Phonics:
Other Rules or Codes:
First Grade Saxon Sight Word List
1. The
2. End
3. Said
4. Of
5. Do
6. To
7. Into
8. Who
9. You
10. Your
11. Color
12. What
13. From
14. Are
15. Friend
16. Their
17. There
18. Come
19. Some
20. Does
21. Goes
22. Been
23. Put
24. Want
25. Was
26. Where
27. Two
28. Done
29. One
30. Sure
31. Don’t
32. Won’t
33. Bought
34. Brought
35. Fought
36. Thought
37. Could
38. Should
39. Would
40. School
41. Says
42. Give
43. Have
44. Live
45. They
46. People
47. Eye
48. love
49. Move
50. Any
51. Many
52. Another
53. Brother
54. Mother
55. Other
56. Only
57. Something
58. Answer
59. Were
60. Early
61. Earth
62. Heard
63. Learn
64. Word
65. Work
66. World
67. Once
68. Today
69. Together
70. Tomorrow
71. Again
72. Four
73. Country
74. Because
75. America
76. Animal
77. Change
78. Strange
79. Danger
80. Stranger
81. Often
82. Enough
83. Rough
84. Tough
85. Every
86. Very
87. Father
88. Through
89. Eight
Survival Guide for Parents
SAXON Vowel Coding Rules:
- VOWEL RULE 1: Short Vowels: (lesson 2) A vowel followed by a consonant is short. Code it with a breve.
- VOWEL RULE 2: Long Vowels: (lesson 3) An open, accented vowel (not followed by a consonant) is long. Code it with a macron and an accent.
- VOWEL RULE 3: (lesson 41) A vowel followed by a consonant and a silent e is long; code the vowel with a macron, and cross out the silent e.
- Vowel Rule 4 (Schwa):(lesson 84) Open, unaccented vowels usually have the following sounds: a is schwa; e, o, and u are long; and i is short. Any vowel can have the /u/ sound. Coded with an upside down e. (schwa)
Spelling Rules
- K and C Spelling Rules: (lesson 23)
- k before e, i, or y
- c before a, o, u, and any consonant
- Final /k/ Spelling Rules: (lesson 29)
- ck after a short vowel
- k after a consonant or a vowel digraph
- ke after a long vowel
- c at the end of a word with two or more syllables
- Floss Rule: (lesson 52) When a one-syllable root word has a short vowel sound followed by the sound /f/, /l/, /s/, it is usually spelled ff, ll, ss, zz.
- Final /v/ Spelling Rule: (lesson 53) When a word has the final sound /v/, it is spelled ve.
- Final /s/ Spelling Rules: (lesson 78)
- ss after a short vowel
- ce after a long vowel
- se after anything else
- Adding a Consonant Suffix: (lesson 88) To spell a word with a consonant suffix, just add the suffix to the end of the root word.
- Adding a Vowel Suffix-Dropping Rule: (lesson 88) When a word ends with a silent e, drop the ebefore adding a vowel suffix.
- Adding a Vowel Suffix-Doubling Rule: (lesson 88) When the final syllable of a word is accentedand ends with one vowel and one consonant, double the final consonant before adding avowel suffix.
- J & G Spelling Rule: (lesson 109)
- j before a, o, or u
- g before e, i, or y
- Final /ch/ Spelling Rules: (lesson 116)
- tch after a short vowel
- ch after anything else
- Final /j/ Spelling Rule: (lesson 117)
- dge after a short vowel
- ge after anything else
Syllable Division
- How to Divide and Label a Word: (lesson 36) vc/cv
- Syllable Division Rule vccv (lesson 39) vc'/cv; vc/cv'
- Syllable Division Rule vcv (lesson 81) v'/cv; vc'/v; v/cv'
- Syllable Division Rule vc/cvc/cv (lesson 92)
- Syllable Division Rules vcccv (lesson 99) vc/ccv; vcc/cv
Definitions for Coding and Understanding Saxon Phonics:
- Breve- a coding mark used to indicate a vowel's short sound
- Cedilla- a coding mark on the letter c to indicate a soft sound
- Code: to mark a word with symbols to provide information about how to pronounce it
- Combination- two letters that come together to make an unexpected sound (ar, er, ir, or, ur, qu, wh); coded with an arc
- Digraph- two letters that come together to make one new sound (consonant digraphs: ch, ck, ng, ph, sh, th; vowel digraphs: ai, au, aw, ay, ea, ee, ei, ew, ey, ie, oa, oo, ow, ue); underline to code
- Diphthong- two vowel sounds that come together so quickly that they are considered one syllable (oi, ou, ow, oy); code with an arc
- Final, stable syllable: a nonphonetic syllable that occurs in the final position frequently enough to be considered stable (ble, cle, dle, fle, gle, kle, ple, sle, tle, zle, tion); code with a bracket
- Ghost Letter Digraphs: two letters that make one sound; first sound is silent (gn, kn, wr);silent letters are coded with a diagonal slash
- High-frequency words: those words that occur most often in written text
- K-back: a coding mark consisting of a vertical line on the back of a c that makes the /k/ sound
- Macron: a coding mark used to indicate a vowel's long sound; line drawn above a vowel saying its long name
- Prefix: a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a root word that changes the meaning or usage of the word (dis, pre, un)
- Root word: a word with no prefix or suffix added
- Schwa: a coding mark resembling an upside-down e placed over a vowel to indicate the short u sound
- Sight word: a word of which all or part does not follow phonetic rules
- Sneaky e: the e in the vowel rule v-e; it makes the vowel have a long sound (a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e); coded by drawing a diagonal slash through the silent e and a macron drawn above the long vowel
- Suffix: a letter or group of letters added to the end of a root word that changes the meaning or usage of the word (vowel suffix: ed, er, es, est, ing, y; consonant suffix: ful, less, ly, ness, s);suffixes are coded by boxing in the affix added to the root word
- Syllable: a word or part of a word that contains only one vowel sound and is made by one impulse of the voice; syllables are split with a vertical line
- Trigraph: three letters that come together to make one sound (dge, igh, tch); underline trigraphs to code
- Twin consonsants: two identical consonants making only one sound; coded with a diagonal slash for silent letters
- Voice line: a coding mark consisting of a horizontal line through the middle of a letter or letters, representing a voiced sound (s, th)
- "Wild Colt" Words: words that only have one vowel and break the rule by sounding like a long vowel
Other Rules or Codes:
- ai is often followed by n, l, or d
- oa is often found in one-syllable words
- v and x are never doubled
- x is never followed by an s
- no words in English end in v
- igh, ough, and augh are usually followed by a t
- add es to nouns ending in s, x, z, ch, tch, and sh to make them plural
First Grade Saxon Sight Word List
1. The
2. End
3. Said
4. Of
5. Do
6. To
7. Into
8. Who
9. You
10. Your
11. Color
12. What
13. From
14. Are
15. Friend
16. Their
17. There
18. Come
19. Some
20. Does
21. Goes
22. Been
23. Put
24. Want
25. Was
26. Where
27. Two
28. Done
29. One
30. Sure
31. Don’t
32. Won’t
33. Bought
34. Brought
35. Fought
36. Thought
37. Could
38. Should
39. Would
40. School
41. Says
42. Give
43. Have
44. Live
45. They
46. People
47. Eye
48. love
49. Move
50. Any
51. Many
52. Another
53. Brother
54. Mother
55. Other
56. Only
57. Something
58. Answer
59. Were
60. Early
61. Earth
62. Heard
63. Learn
64. Word
65. Work
66. World
67. Once
68. Today
69. Together
70. Tomorrow
71. Again
72. Four
73. Country
74. Because
75. America
76. Animal
77. Change
78. Strange
79. Danger
80. Stranger
81. Often
82. Enough
83. Rough
84. Tough
85. Every
86. Very
87. Father
88. Through
89. Eight