I REVIEW the |ch| sound made by ch and tch, as in church and kitchen.

LEARN the |ch| sound made by tu and te, as in future and righteous.

II LEARN the |ch| sound made by ce, ci, and ti, as in cello, Pacino, and Christian. The vowel sound is sometimes unaltered, as with the e in cello. In the words Pacino and Christianity, the ci and ti are separate syllables that say |chē|.

III REVIEW the |ch| pronunciation of ch, tch, tu, te, ce, ci, and ti.

Contractions

IV – VI NEW CONCEPT. Introduce contractions. Contracting is a literary technique for combining and then shortening two words, usually to make them easier to pronounce. An apostrophe (’) is inserted in the word to indicate where one or more letters have been removed.

One common contraction is isn’t. Isn’t is the combining of the words is + not, followed by the removal of the letter o from the new word. An apostrophe is inserted to signify where the o was excised. When your student reads “isn’t,” have him say, “Isn’t means is not.” Continue this translation exercise through all of the words in the lists to ensure that the contraction pattern is understood.

When it is time to spell, ask your student to spell isn’t and then recite the word. He should say, “Isn’t means is not.” Continue this through the lists. You might have your student use the contractions in sentences.

Contractions

IV – VI NEW CONCEPT. Introduce contractions. Contracting is a literary technique for combining and then shortening two words, usually to make them easier to pronounce. An apostrophe (’) is inserted in the word to indicate where one or more letters have been removed.

One common contraction is isn’t. Isn’t is the combining of the words is + not, followed by the removal of the letter o from the new word. An apostrophe is inserted to signify where the o was excised. When your student reads “isn’t,” have him say, “Isn’t means is not.” Continue this translation exercise through all of the words in the lists to ensure that the contraction pattern is understood.

When it is time to spell, ask your student to spell isn’t and then recite the word. He should say, “Isn’t means is not.” Continue this through the lists. You might have your student use the contractions in sentences.

IV LEARN n’t. It takes the place of not. The contraction ’ll means will.

V LEARN ’ve and ’d. The contraction ’ve stands for have. The contraction ’d means had or would.

VI LEARN ’s and ’re and ’m. The contraction ’s = is or has; ’s = us, as in let’s; ’re = are, as in you’re; and ’m = am, as in I’m.

Special observations about contractions:

• The word have ends in a silent e. (English words are not supposed to end in the letter v.)
• The first t in the word mustn’t is silent.
• The contraction for will not is irregular. It is written won’t and is pronounced |wōnt|.

Differentiating its, it’s and your, you’re

Please inform your student that it’s is a contraction meaning it is. The presence of the apostrophe here does not indicate possession. The word its (no apostrophe) is a possessive pronoun. The sentence, “The basketball team’s mascot is a Bengal tiger” could be expressed with the possessive pronoun equivalent, “Its mascot is a tiger.” The word your is a possessive pronoun. You’re is a contraction meaning you are.