This document discusses the sounds, symbols, and syllables of the English language. It outlines the 44 sounds in English including vowels, consonants, diphthongs, and variants. It describes the six syllable types and explains vowel patterns including closed, open, silent e, bossy r, vowel digraphs, diphthongs/variants, and consonant-le patterns. These patterns have a 77-89% prediction rate for decoding words. The document emphasizes directly teaching phonics patterns to students to help them conquer the code and ultimately master reading.

1. Conquer the Code:Conquer the Code:
Sounds, Symbols, and SyllablesSounds, Symbols, and Syllables
E. Judith Cohen, Ed.D.E. Judith Cohen, Ed.D.

2. 44 Sounds of the
English Language
• Vowels (10)
/ă/ /ā/
/ĕ/ /ē/
/ĭ/ /ī/
/ŏ/ /ō/
/ŭ/ /ū/
• Consonants (18)
/b/ /j/ /s/
/k/ /l/ /t/
/d/ /m/ /v/
/f/ /n/ /w/
/g/ /p/ /y/
/h/ /r/ /z/

3. 44 Sounds of the
English Language
• Vowel Diphthongs (2)
/ou/
/oi/
• Vowel Variants (3)
/au/
/oo/ (moon)
/oo/ (book)
• Schwa (1)
/ə/
• Consonant Digraphs(7)
/sh/ /ch/ /wh/
/th/ /th/ /zh/
/ng/
• r-controlled (3)
/ar/ /or/ /er/

4. Phonics
• Synthetic Phonics
• Part to whole
• Analytic Phonics
• Whole to part
• Word families (rimes)
• Vowel Patterns
• 6 Syllable types
• 85-88% regularity
• Structural Analysis
• Root words,
prefixes & suffixes
• Compound words
• Contractions
• Syllabication

5. Color-Code
Vowels
a
e
i
o
u
-y -w
Digraphs
sh
ch
th
wh
ph
Blends
bl-
cr-
st-
-nd
-mp
etc.

6. Orthography: Syllables
• Six basic syllable types
• 85 – 88% of English language
• Vowel Patterns (syllable types)
• Structure of our language
• Alphabetic code

7. Vowel Patterns
• Regular
• Reliable
• Research-based
• Effective
• Efficient
• Easy to use

8. Vowel Pattern Chart
Closed Open Silent e
Bossy r 2 Vowels
Talkers Whiners
C+le

9. Vowel Pattern Chart
Closed
cat
fish
bub-
Open
me
go
ta-
Silent e
ride
cape
hope
Bossy r
car
girl
tur-
2 Vowels
Talkers Whiners
boat boy
meat clown
C+le
ta - ble
bub - ble
tur - tle

10. Vowel Patterns
Closed:
A word or syllable that contains only one vowel
followed by one or more consonants;
the vowel is short.
“One lonely vowel squished in the middle,
says its special sound just a little.”
sat bed fin top gum
sand best print shop lunch
at Ed in on up

11. Vowel Patterns
Open:
A word or syllable that ends with one
vowel; the vowel is long.
“If one vowel at the end is free, it
pops way up and says its name to me.”
me she hi go flu fly

12. Vowel Patterns
Silent e [Magic e]:
A word or syllable that ends in e, containing one
consonant before the final e and one vowel before
that consonant; the vowel is long.
“The magic e is quiet, but it has a claim to fame;
it makes the vowel before it say its real name.”
The magic e is so powerful, it gives all its strength
to the other vowel so that it can say its real
name.
make Steve ride hope cube

13. Vowel Patterns
Bossy r [r-controlled]:
A word or syllable containing a vowel followed by r;
the vowel sound is altered by the r.
The letter r is so bossy, it tells the vowel that it
can’t say its real name (long vowel) or its special
sound (short vowel), but must say the r sound (as
in car, for, her).
car her girl for curl

14. Vowel Patterns
Double Vowel Talkers: [vowel digraphs]
A word or syllable containing two adjacent
vowels; the first one is long.
“When two vowels go walking, the first one
does the talking and says its name.”
rain day see meat pie
boat toe slow suit blue

15. Vowel Patterns
Double Vowel Whiners :[diphthongs and variants]
A word or syllable that contains two adjacent
vowels; the vowels say neither a long or short
vowel sound, but rather a very different sound.
Sometimes when two vowels are next to each other,
they make a funny whining sound, like when you
fall down and say “ow,” “aw,” “oy,” and get a “boo-
boo.”
fault saw foil boy loud cow moon new book

16. Vowel Patterns
C+le: [consonant + le]
This syllable ends with “le” preceded by a
consonant, and occurs in two-syllable
words.
When a word ends with a consonant and “le,”
the “le” grabs the consonant before it, and
the word breaks into two parts right
before that consonant.
bub–ble ca–ble ea–gle poo–dle pur-ple

17. Vowel Pattern
“Prediction Power”
The prediction power of the patterns ranges from 77 to
89%, each of which is much better than predictions on
the basis of chance alone. Teaching children vowel
patterns can make a difference in their fluency and
comprehension (May, 2002).
Closed
86 – 89%
Open
77%
Silent e
81%
Bossy r 2 Vowels
Talkers Whiners
77%
C+le

18. Irregular / “Memory”
Words
• About 12 – 15% of English words do
not conform to the regular patterns
• Can be taught through context,
repetition, multisensory techniques,
and learning games, e.g., Word Wall
activities, VAAKT (associative word
cards), BINGO

19. Structural Analysis
• Root words and affixes
• Compound words
• Contractions
• Syllabication

20. Root Words and Affixes
Prefix Root Suffix
un friend ly
re heat ed
in spect or
• Color-highlight or draw a box around
affixes (prefix = green; suffix = red)
• Make charts for similar affixes

21. Compound Words
• Begin with whole word, e.g., doghouse
• Segment and blend
• Use fists, puzzles, linking blocks
• Make lists of compound words
• Use color-coding (doghouse)
• Practice deletion (say doghouse
without dog)

22. Contractions
• Compare “long” and “short” forms, e.g.,
do not (long – 2
words)
don’t (short – contraction)
• Highlight apostrophe (use elbow macaroni)
and deleted letter/s in red
• Use a rubberband to show long and
shortened forms (same meaning)
• Make lists of contractions from stories

23. Syllabication Patterns
• C+le turtle tur – tle
• VC/CV rabbit rab – bit
• V/CV tiger ti – ger
• VC/V camel cam – el
• V/V lion li - on

24. Strategy for Syllabication
• “Spot and dot” the vowels
• Connect the dots
• Look at the number of consonants between
the vowels
• If 2 – break between the consonants
• If 1 – break before the consonant; if it
doesn’t sound right, move over one letter

25. Apply and Transfer
• Provide many opportunities to use
these skills and strategies, both in
isolation and in connected text
– Fiction and non-fiction
– Poetry and songs
– Decodable text
– Learning games and activities

26. Why?
When students have the MEANS
to conquer the code,
they will reach the GOAL, and
master the meaning!

27. Contact information
E. Judith Cohen, Ed.D.
For more information, see:
Focus on Phonics: Assessment and Instruction,
Wendy Cheyney & E. Judith Cohen (1999)
The Wright Skills Program (PreK – Grade 3)
Fast Track Reading
Wright Group/ McGraw-Hill www.wrightgroup.com

28. Websites of Interest
www.aft.org American Federation of Teachers
www.ascd.org Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development
www.educationworld.com Education World
www.fcrr.org Florida Center for Reading Research
www.idafla.org Florida Branch - IDA
www.interdys.org International Dyslexia Association
www.nifl.gov National Institute for Literacy
www.nationalreadingpanel.org National Reading Panel
www.reading.org International Reading Association
www.readingrockets.org Reading Rockets