Learning the /k/ sound at the beginning and end of words can be a big challenge for budding readers. Teaching these spelling rules is a valuable tool for spelling hundreds of words effectively and efficiently. The CK and K spelling rule is very difficult for most students. This generalization applies to the END of words and is only reliable for monosyllabic words. We use K when the first vowel of the word is an I or an E. Here are some visuals to help us remember the c or k rule. However, keep in mind that with our new readers/writers, we want them to sound with the sounds they hear. We don`t need to focus on spelling until at least Grade 1. We summed it up this way: “If the letter C has E, I or Y then, the sound is `s`” (the only spelling rule that works in English!). The best thing about the English language is that there is often a rule (or generalization) for most words. One of the most frequently asked questions is: how do we know when it`s c, ck, ke or k? AND why does /c/ sometimes sound like /s/?! I can`t wait to show it to you! Don`t forget to read the whole thing and take a gift at the end.

→ Sign up to access my growing library of resources and get free interactive notebook pages to help you with this spelling rule and other fun spelling activities. I will use it in my class – thank you! It makes so much more sense to allow children to examine the rule for themselves rather than just telling them. Learning spelling rules is essential for children to develop strong reading and writing skills. Knowing when to use c and k and when to use ck or k for the sound of /k/ can be extremely difficult for beginners. Early teaching of these two rules allows students to expand their spelling skills. Knowing that there is a rule they can follow gives them confidence and makes spelling easier. Providing hands-on activities helps your students learn the rules and internalize them so they can apply them to new words. Of course, spelling isn`t just about reciting and writing words. To reinforce the C and K spelling rule, students should be taught explicitly, provided with many examples and a lot of practice. Activities such as sorting, dictating, playing, checking, and verbalizing the rule help children apply it.

Click here for a free set of spelling rule anchor diagrams. Impressive! Very good practical ideas to promote independence and so that children can develop the rule instead of just giving them the rule. I am very much in favour of that. Thank you very much. The anchor diagram of the ck/k rule is included in the spelling rule anchor diagrams. Hello Riddhi, the spelling kn is used in old English words where the /k/ was pronounced before the /n/. There is no “rule” that tells you which words it is, but the main basic words are in this list: www.spelfabet.com.au/spelling-lists/sorted-by-sound/n/kn-as-in-know This rule allows you to determine whether a word begins with a c or a k. When your students hear the sound /k/ at the beginning of a word, they probably think of the letter “c”. As with other spelling rules, it is important to have an image and examples. Very useful. Thank you. I agree with the method – the student recognizes the model versus being told the rule.

Using task cards is another great way to reinforce spelling rules, differentiate teaching, and enable independent, self-directed learning. Check out the images below to help us remember the c or k rule! Practicing this rule with hands-on, interactive activities is so much fun! Digital and paper activities are available to support learners online and in person. They are available for all spelling rules. Discover them here. If you hear the sound /k/ at the end of a word AND the /k/ immediately follows a short vowel, it is written ck. If it is preceded by a long vowel or consonant, it is written by a k. Back from lesson 10: C, K, CK and QU on English spelling rules, I wrote the words “brake”, “fake”, “like”, “trike” and “puke” in pencil, then asked them to change the “K” to “C” and see what happened. She changed that to “bracket,” “face,” “lice,” “trice,” and “bullet.” The student was able to tell me that it was because the letter “C” sounds like “s” while a letter “E” is the next.

Brave girl. Thank you for your explanation. My 5 year old is starting to spell and the 2 words we have encountered in the last 2 weeks are Kit and Cub. She knows all his letters and is already reading. The question arose when she had to spell the word while probing it. He looks in his instance at the beginning of a word, whether it`s an i, e or y, it`s a k. and if it`s an a, o or u, it`s a c. Examples boy, cat, cake, cape, cap, cup, cradle, bay, policeman, then kite, kite, kill, keep, key, kilt. Does that seem fair to you? Did you think it would happen so soon? When we were done, she picked up the sheets of paper on which we had done this training and asked, “Can I keep them?” Very well.

Of course. I hope she will play the role of teacher for a friend or younger sibling who doesn`t know when to use C or K. Hi Shannon, sorry for the slow response, I was snowy. Yes, if we put a letter c before e, i or y, the sound “s” is like in a hundred, city and cycle. We must use a letter k to spell the sound /k/ before e, i or y, as in Kent, kitty and kybosh. I hope that makes sense. Alison Having a picture is a great way to help students remember this generalization. P. You may like this article – 11 spelling rules that improve reading I got them to answer their own question by doing the following: When the sounds e, i or come after /c/, it looks like /s/.

/C/ sounds like /k/ after any other letter! This multisensory spelling pack includes hands-on and engaging activities for Grade 2 students, including those that support digital and paper learning. In addition to the interactive notebook pages, the resource consists of: Thank you. That is very helpful. I also want to know how to use the letters c and s. as circulars. not sircular.. As it is explained in a simple way, my sister thinks that the taco is written with a k and she is in seventh grade in fifth grade and I know it is written with a c, not with a k, so please help me someone and prove my point of view love Taruna, I`m not sure, if there is always an easy way to explain when to use c and when to use s, but sometimes these can be related to the meaning to give a clue, e.g. circle, circus, cycle, cyclone are all C and all have to do with circles.

But sometimes it`s just a matter of learning which words c have and the rest the standards. Alison 2. If the word contains a short vowel, it ends with CK. Here are some examples: DUCK, STUCK, DOCK, SOCK, CLICK, FLICK, SACK. Listen to the vowel sound in each and you can hear the short sound evenly. I wrote a few words like this in two columns (I`m used to focusing on groups of letters that work together to represent a single sound, so I`ll do it here too): Hello, I want to know how to explain to my 6-year-old when a word starts with kn or n. Reinforce spelling C and K with activities and pictures with words like dragon, cat and cookies! In early Latin inscriptions, the letters C, K, and Q were used to represent the sounds /k/ and /ɡ/ (which were not distinguished in writing). Of these, Q was used before a rounded vowel (e.g. ⟨EQO⟩ `Ego`), K before /a/ (e.g. ⟨KALENDIS⟩ `calendis`) and C elsewhere. Later, the use of C and its variant G replaced most uses of K and Q. K survived only in a few fossilized forms such as Kalendae, “the Calends”.

[4]. Dear Bill, do you know that you can use a dictionary to check how words are written? Tacos come from Mexico, where they speak Spanish, and Spanish doesn`t use the letter K much. Even in words borrowed from other languages, they often change K to C. When I was living in Mexico years ago, I was surprised that the Spanish word for “kangaroo” was “canguro.” Hopefully, your sibling rivalry with your sister dissolves into a warm and loving friendship for life. All the best, Alison The letter K comes from the Greek letter Κ (kappa), which comes from the Semitic kaph, the symbol of an open hand. [2] This, in turn, was probably adapted by the Semitic tribes that had lived in Egypt from the hieroglyph for “hand”,” which represented /ḏ/ in the Egyptian word for hand, ⟨ḏ-r-t⟩ (probably pronounced /ˈcʼaːɾat/ in ancient Egyptian). Instead, the Semites obviously gave it the sound value /k/ because their word for hand began with this sound. [3] Today, English is the only Germanic language that productively uses the ⟨c⟩ “hard” (apart from the digraph ⟨ck⟩) instead of ⟨k⟩ (although Dutch uses it in loanwords of Latin origin, and the pronunciation of these words follows the same hard/soft distinction as in English). [Citation needed] That`s a nice explanation.