ei Phonogram

Phonograms are letters that stand for a single speech sound. Phonograms stick together. They work with each other to make one sound. The letters ay are a phonogram. They make the "A" sound.

The ei phonogram is special. When it talks it can make three sounds. It does not make all three sounds at one time.

This "A" phonogram is shy. It only makes the "A" sound sometimes.

Here are some ei words: their, theirs, reign, reindeer, heir

 

Using the ei Phonogram

The ei phonogram is picky. It doesn't like to be last. You will not find the ei phonogram at the end of an English word.

Right: lei (This is not an English word. It is a Hawaiian word. A lei is a flower necklace worn in Hawaii)

Wrong: thei

The word thei sounds right but it is spelled wrong. It is wrong because it can not end in i. It is an English word.

A different Sound Family is used to spell thei correctly. If you guessed the ey phonogram you are right. The other sounds of the ey phonogram will be covered in a later lesson.

Exercise 1

Which words are spelled correctly?

1) thay, they, theigh, thaye, thai, thei

2) their, theyr, thair, thayr

3) reindeer, raynedeer, randeer, reighndeer

4) hayr, haire, heir, hayer, haer

5) raine, rayne, reign, rayn






Answers:
1)they, 2)their, 3)reindeer, 4)heir, 5)reign

 

Exercise 2

Directions: Say the word. Cover the word. Write the words three times

their

1) _______________2)_______________3)_______________

theirs

1) _______________2)_______________3)_______________

rein

1) _______________2)_______________3)_______________

heir

1) _______________2)_______________3)_______________

reindeer

1) _______________2)_______________3)_______________

heirloom

1) _______________2)_______________3)_______________

reign

1) _______________2)_______________3)_______________

heir= somebody who gets the things of another when that person dies

heirloom= personal things passed down for several generations

reign= time in power, like a king or queen

rein= strap for guiding a horse

 

Exercise 3

Fill in the blanks with the words below.

their, theirs, reins, heir, reindeer, heirloom, reigned

1) The ruby ring she wore was an _________ that had been in her family for years.

2) They played _______ music so loud that they didn’t hear _______ mother calling.

3) I grabbed the ______ and led the horse into the meadow.

4) The ___________ pulled the sleigh through the snow covered path.

5) The king _______ for forty years. 6) After the king died his ______ was next in line to the throne.

7) The students left _______ art work on the table to dry.






Answers:
1) heirloom, 2) theirs, 3) reins, 4)reindeer, 5)reigned, 6) heir, 7) their

 

Exercise 4

Unscramble the words below.

1) ireh

2) reniged

3) nederier

4) snire

5) sitreh

6) homeloir

7) eithr






Answers:
1) heir, 2)reigned,3)reindeer, 4)reins, 5)theirs, 6)heirloom 7)their

Most of the time the ei Sound Family makes different sounds. The other two sounds will be covered in later lessons.

Most of the time the ei Sound Family makes different sounds. The other two sounds will be covered in later lessons.