“Fizzle/Floss Rule”
Does Sammy really like fried zebras? The pattern of doubling <f>, <l>, <s>, and <z> in a one-syllable word after a short vowel, sometimes referred to as the “Floss” or “Fizzle” rule, has a few people still puzzled. For the...
Thoughts From My Notebook
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-ch or -tch, which witch?
/ch/ -tch after a short vowel Don’t you love that we have a pattern that is so simple to follow? Yes, but people ask me, what about much and sandwich? Let’s take a look at the historical aspects of these...
/k/ can be tricky!
Let’s talk about these three spellings of /k/. When do we use <c> and <k>, and what is the pattern followed for <ck>? Do you struggle with what to tell your students when they ask, “Should I use a...
Why are there two ways to write /w/?
Why are there two ways to write /w/? Is that a <w> or <wh>? How often have you heard that from your student? How do you explain the difference? Do they really sound different? Let’s take a deep dive into...
Too many rules and exceptions!
As the Science of Reading pushes awareness of how to teach reading and spelling, people are jumping on the bandwagon. Publishers also see an opportunity to make money, so they are cranking out a “phonics-based “ curriculum with all the...
Teaching r-controlled vowels
Bossy r? I never let consonants boss me around, do you? So why would we call r bossy? R controlled vowels can be some of the trickiest concepts to teach, this is true, but is calling them bossy r to...
What is mastery in an Orton Gillingham Lesson?
I was recently asked by a school administrator to define mastery and to present it in written form. I have to admit the question set me back a bit. No one has ever asked me to quantify this, much less...
When two vowels go walking...
well, if you do see two vowels walking, this is a problem. Along with my aforementioned knee jerk reactions to hearing magic e, I cringe equally hard hearing people in the reading world say to their students, " When two...
Word books... can you ever have too many?
When I took Orton-Gillingham training we received several word books—all classics, all invaluable tools for an OG practitioner. Why do we need so many books? Why isn't just one enough? As I mentioned earlier, I received the following books...