This is a continuation of a parent series on WRTR.
The Second Suffix Rule: # 11, Page 4
When you add any suffix-that-starts-with-a-vowel (ing, ed, ish, etc) to a base word, you have to check for the following three rules:
- DOUBLING (a consonant)
- DROPPING (a silent e)
- CHANGING (a y to an i)*
We covered the first rule (two parts) in the last post. Now we move on to the SECOND suffix rule (#11): Dropping.
This is for silent “e”.
- Does the suffix start with a vowel? (Spalding doesn’t actually ask this question, but it’s implied.)
- Does the base word end in silent “e”?
DROP IT. The notebook page only shows times that you DO drop it. At the top of the post, you will see a mix of options where you do and don’t.
I before E, except after…BLAH
So, now we are on page 5 of the spelling notebook. This is rule 12’s page.
12. I before E, except after C, or sounded like AY as in neighbor and weigh.
The left side of the spread gives us examples of the rule. The long E sound is spelled IE or EI, depending on the preceding consonant.
The right side of the spread shows us the AY spellings where EI is the order. For my daughter, the therapist has us learn all the phonograms that follow the “two vowels go walking, first one does the talking” rule. EI saying /ay/ is a rule breaker, so we have a mnemonic image for it: A horse was wearing a VEIL and tripped on a SKEIN that pulled his REIN, and pinched his VEIN and he yelled, “NEIGH.”
The final column is a list of exceptions. Page 66 in my book gives a memory hook sentence for these exceptions. “Neither foreign sovereign…” It might help to draw a picture.