Continue word study by the analytic-synthetic process. These phonic drills will deal largely with the new words that occur in the daily reading lessons.
III. Syllabication.
In mastering the pronunciation of new words, pupils should acquire the habit of analyzing them into syllables.
The ear must be trained to hear syllables, they should be separately pronounced, and clearly imaged. This makes for effective spelling later. Most of the difficulties in spelling are removed when the habit of breaking up a complex word into its elements is acquired.
| re mem ber | ther mom e ter | |
| sep a rate | in de pen dence | |
| dan de lion | mul ti pli ca tion | |
| beau ti ful | re frig er a tor |
IV. Teach the Long Vowel Sounds.
We have found that the short vowels predominate in the English language. The long vowel sounds come next in frequency. When the child has mastered the letters and combinations representing these two sounds, he is able to recognize a large majority of the phonetic words in our language.
Phonetic words follow definite rules of pronunciation. These rules are not to be formally taught in the first and second years, but pointed out by examples, so that the visual and auditory image may be associated.
To illustrate: When there are two or more vowels in a word of one syllable, the first vowel is long, and the last silent, as: came, leaf, coat, rain.
"When there is one vowel in the word and it is the last, it is long," as: me, he, fly.