OnTrack Reading

Preparation: Write the Main Rule on the board. Have available the word list from the previous lesson, Lesson 3.
Familiarize yourself with the Rule of c.

Class time elapsed: 0 minutes

Ask the class to recite the Main Rule.

Practice chunking words using the remaining words from the word list in Lesson 3 for review.

Class time elapsed: 4 minutes

Write on the board: Rule of c: The letter c is /s/ before e, i or y; otherwise it is /k/.

Ask the class to repeat the Rule of c with you.

Write the word cent on the board and have someone read it.

Point to the letter c and ask what letter follows it.

Say “This is /s/ in front of the letter e, as the rule says.”

Write the word city on the board and have someone read it.

Point to the letter c and ask what letter follow it.

Say “This is /s/ in front of the letter i, as the rule says.”

Write the word cycle on the board and have someone read it.

Point to the first letter c and ask what letter follows it.

Say “This is /s/ in front of the letter y, as the rule says.”

Point to the second letter c in cycle and ask what letter follows it.

Say “This is /k/ in here because it is not followed by e, i or y.”

Write the words cat, cot and cut on the board and point out that all of them start with the sound /k/ because none are followed by e, i or y.

Write the words cram and clam on the board and again point out that both of them start with the sound /k/ because none are followed by e, i or y.

Write the word panic on the board and point out that it ends with the /k/ sound because the letter c is not followed by e, i or y.

Summarize by telling your students that the Rule of c is very reliable and that when reading a longer, unfamiliar word, it is useful to determine in advance what sound any c’s in the word will represent, /s/ or /k/, before attempting to decode the word.

Ask the class to recite the Rule of c again together.

Class time elapsed: 10 minutes

Note to the Teacher: I am not a fan of telling teachers the scripted language you should use, but it is advisable to introduce concepts in a certain order, so if you desire, change your presentation as you wish, but keep the same order of presentation of the example words. Depending on your students’ abilities and the time you have available, elaborate on the Rule of c by having your students come up with additional words to illustrate the rule. It is the one rule governing English pronunciation that is definitely worth learning because it is better than 99% accurate.

Next mini-lesson: Segmenting and Digraphs

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