ss «arn ery x dog an die™ @ skuldugg in eh Se seren & “Ege S re © spittle “hom © thunderstruck clownishness ze9 Pumpernickey 9,000 PHONETIC WORDS FOR BEGINNING READERS Creampuff mudslinger Yp scalawag counterattack = ,,ackwu rst wep. SPlenetic i2\, _ tactlessness ns, we e OTS ait Pers. ty uo yan ee creepers “Cag Pe uae «te litterbug Se5, go! beledegog ok PO on SPasmodically ¥ ; eo" _ inoperative kindergarten ko 9 we any Sassafrags iin jos : Intercontinental une? impalpable Easy-To-Read Words : Notwithstanding gclefOUC = Whimsy FIntroduction The list of 9,000+ Easy-To-Read words was put together with the help of Alan Beale and his list of 30,000 common English words. The 30,000 words were found in 6 of 12 popular dictionaries and can justifiably be described as being common. WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN WE SAY A WORD IS PHONETIC? We developed and use the follow- ing definition. Words are phonetic if they follow rules that say they are phonetic. The most common rule for almost everyone is, “In a CVC word the vowel is a ‘short’ vowel”. Words that follow that rule are, BY DEFINITION “phonetic”. Words that do not follow the rule ~ “was”, “say”, “saw” and “car”, for instance. are not phonetic under this rule. “Say, “saw” and “car” are phonetic under other rules in this book. “War” does not follow any of our rules and is therefor a memory-word. The idea is to set logical rules and then pick words that follow those rules. We have set about 85 rules -~ 26 are alphabetic and the others are based on letter combination and the position of certain letters. For instance, in all words of more than one syllable that end in “e”, the “e” is silent, If such a multi-vowel word ends in “e” and that “e” is not silent -- we do not put it on our list. “Passe” and “posse”, therefor, are not on our list. + This is designed to be a simple, unambiguous, Easy-To-Read system for teaching beginning readers. + Once they get the hang of reading these 9,000 words (in first grade?) they should be able to handle the ambiguities of the full English language * 100% of the 9,000 selected words follow our letter-to-speech-sound correspondence (see pages 3 & 7). They are therefor “phonetic” and should be Easy-To-Read. + 73 very common words which are not perfectly phonetic are also listed -- see page 6. Those words can't be easily sounded-out and are therefor best memorized: we call them “memory-words”. We also list 218 memory words which are not as common as these 73. These words are clearly marked on our master list (pg. 114 to 149). + Most reading systems suggest that beginning students be taught the 340 short CVC words because those words are spelled regularly: that is, all the vowels are short vowels. This Easy-To-Read system goes somewhat further, being a list of more than 9,000 words with Easy-To-Read spelling regardless of the word length. Page 2BACKGROUND / EVOLUTION OF THE EASY-TO-READ WORDS 1) _ TALL STARTED WITH CVC WORDS. Many reading programs for beginners focus first on three-letter, single-syllable words which have the form “Consonant-Vowel-Consonant” (CVC). Aimost all of these words have a short vowel and most pro- grams teach only those CVC words with a short vowel. The reason for teaching these words first is that it builds confidence. The students are never faced with ambiguities -- every letter in every word has only ‘one sound. There are about 340 CVC words with a short vowel in the English language (ignoring proper nouns). Beginners can, at least, pronounce these words even if they have never seen a particular word before or do not have it in their verbal vocabulary. 2) BUT THATHAS LIMITATIONS: it's not easy to create interesting sentences with 340 CVC words alone. About the best we can do is write sentences like, “Six big pigs can get gas” 3) ADDING ADDITIONAL SHORT-VOWEL, SINGLE-SYLLABLE WORDS HELPS BYPASS THOSE LIMITATIONS: We added other single-syllable short-vowel words (stretch, clamp, match, and so on ~ there are at least a thousand such words) we also added prefixes and suffixes with short vowels. This means we can expand the complexity of possible sentences, for instance, “Sixty bigger piglets living in fith did not mess with the rotten rats" 4) ADDING SHORT-VOWEL, MULTI-SYLLABLE WORDS HELPS MORE: We then selected and added a couple of thousand multi-syllable words which contain only short vowels (words such as “terrific and “peripatetic’, we can then write much more interesting sentences which are complex grammatically, but easy-to-read 5) ADDING 40 DIGRAPHS AND TRIGRAPHS, WHICH WE CALL LETTER COMBINATIONS, GREATLY EXPANDS THE VERSATILITY OF OUR LIST OF WORDS: These letter-combinations are treated (spelled and read) as though they are letters with specific speech- sounds. We wound up adding er. ai, air, all, ally, at, au, aw, ay, ch, ea, ear, ed, ee, er, ice, ie, ine, ing, ink, ir, kn, le, 08, 08, 01, 00, 0k, OF, OU, OW, OY, qu, Sh, sky, th, Ue, ur, wh and wr. 6) _ 11 WELL KNOWN POSITIONING RULES WERE ACKNOWLEDGED: We show that “a’, 'e", “o”, “le”, ‘ly’ and "y" have a special pronunciation when they are at the end of cer- tain words. We also show that "y” inside a word is rronounced uniquely. (see page 7). 7)____ That basically gave us an “alphabet’ with 77 (26 + 40 + 11) symbols and an almost perfectly easy- to-read list of more than 9,000 regularly spelled words - without changing the spelling of any of those words. 8) WE DO NOT INCLUDE CERTAIN WORDS WHICH CONTAIN AWKWARD SPELLING: 8.1) All words with soft “c” and soft “g’ are not included. 8.2) “ph” for ff/ is not included. 8.3) “ough”, “ight”, “eau” and the like are not included. 9) _ THE FOLLOWING TWO EASY-TO-READ SENTENCES ARE EXAMPLES OF WHAT CAN BE WRITTEN WITH THE 9,000+ ABSOLUTELY EASY-TO-READ WORDS: (9.1) We now have a long list of interesting words which can be the feedstock for an end less number of interesting articles, essays and witty epigrams. (9.2) I tried windsurfing, but I hurt my wrist on the first day -- so I quit. The following two new rules have to be observed. 4) Allletters within a 2- or 3-letter-combination as shown on page #7 always abandon their individual pronunciations. The pronunciation of the combination is always used. 2) All 2-letter combinations within a 3-letter combination as shown above always abandon their indi- vidual pronunciations. The pronunciation of the 3-letter combination is always used. For instance, if the word is ‘ears’ (an “ea” is in the “ear’), itis pronounced earls -- not eeiris (as though it has two speech-sounds, not three). Page 3OVERVIEW We have specified 40 Easy-To-Read letters and letter-combinations in the English language. Each letter and letter-combination is shown on page 7 with its speech sounds and sample words. Specifying the letter-combinations this way essentially acts like we have expanded our alpha- bet from 26 to 66 symbols, thus eliminating much ambiguity. Once the letter-combinations are learned, they can be pronounced in confidence when reading words on our easy-to-read words list. The letter ‘0’, for instance is shown on its own (always pronounced as the ‘0’ in ‘dot’) and in the following seven combinations: ‘oa’ (as in boat), ‘oe’ (as in toe), ‘oi’ (as in coil), ‘ou’ (as in cloud), ‘ow’ (as in cow), ‘oy’ (as in boy), and as the last letter in a word (as in hello). Each of the combinations represents a single sound. The fact that three combinations stand for the same (long ‘o’) speech-sound does not confuse be- ginning readers when they are reading. It is analogous to three boys in the class having the name “Bob”. When looking at any one of those boys, it is not confusing that two other boys have the same name. It would be confusing if a single boy used a different name on every day of the week In that case, when we looked at him, we would not immediately know which name to use --- we would have to first find out what day of the week it was. This concept of “day-related” pronuncia- tion is very much like the ‘word-related” pronunciation of English print, wherein letter combinations (spelling) have different pronunciations in different words, This system does not help students learn to spell (it is neutral in this regard) -- it only makes read- ing easier. This system does not cover every English word -- we simply do not put words like “yellow” on the list, because the ‘ow’ in yellow does not conform to the our pronunciation for ‘ow’ as being the sound in ‘cow’. Words like ‘yellow’ can be introduced as a ‘memory-word’ after the student be- comes a fluent reader of words on the easy-to-read list Ultimately, the system should be able to cover the entire English language. At that point, it will be clear to everyone that our language can be divided into two groups, (1) those words which are easy-to-read because they follow phonetic rules and (2) those which must be memorized. It is our immediate estimate that learning 200 letter-combinations, should re- duce the percentage of necessary memory words to less than 10% of the language. At the present time we have a total of 9,709 words: 9,418 phonetic words (97%) and 291 memory words (3%). If only the 26 letters of the alphabet are a guide to pronunciation, all English words have to be considered memory words. That is the inescapable conclusion that must be drawn if the vowels all have more than one pronunciation and every word has a vowel. Page 4ONDOARwON 8to6t 62. 63, 64 65, 66. 67. 68. 69-70, 71... TRevsree 73-75. T8vcsrse 76 to 80, 81 82 to 101 102 103. 104 105. 106. 107. 108. 108. 109. 110 to 111 112 113, 114 to 149 150. 151 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Background and Evolution of the Easy-To-Read words Overview of the system Table Of Contents Memory Words: words that are common and hard to sound-out Numerals and keyboard symbols INDEX to Letter-combinations, plus a Speech-Sound Table Syllables and syllabication -- does it help? Letters and Letter-combinations — selected as Easy-To-Read Selected Easy-To-Read CVC words in alphabetical order CVC AND VC words in 143 phrases Easy-To-Read phrases with short words Mostly Easy-To-Read CVC sentences -- good for assessment timing 2.word phrases, CVC and Memory Words Easy-To-Read “and” phrases 3-letter-word mini-rhymes 3-word phrases, all use Easy-To-Read words 4, 5-, & 6-word phrases 7-word phrases Longer phrases and sentences Selected Easy-To-Read headlines from the NY Times Easy-To-Read sentences INDEX to hundreds of single syllable rhyme-sets Common one-syllable rhyme sets APPENDIX INDEX The 120 most common printed words in the English language. The 106 most common words written by children Using the Alphabetic Principle to teach little Lou Costello how to read. Reading the long vowels ‘Speech-sound table and discussion ‘Speech-sounds are essentially self-taught and self-correcting The Letter Song. Sing it to the tune of A You're Adorable Teaching the sounds of words: an essay How-to create lesson-plans The next step: 55 long-vowel, magic “e’, single-syllable rhyme-sets INDEX to 9,709 words 9,392 Easy-To-Read words and 317 memory-words Alphabetical INDEX Summary of easy-to-read rules Page 573 MEMORY WORDS: These common words do not follow our Easy-To-Read speech-sound system. They are difficult to analyze phonetically. The best way to learn them is by simple memorization These words are allowed in order to make it easy to write interesting study-sentences for students. It is hard to write interesting material if you can’t use very common words like “the”, “one”, “a”, “want” and “you”. Words are on the left in each column, Speech sound notation is on the right. a’ Jaal intot i/n/tfuu son s/u/n at Jul liket Vii/k the’ thh/ee ace aa/s lose Vuulz their’ thh/air age aalj love Vulv there’ thh/air any" e/niee made" miaa/d they’ thh/aa both b/oo/th make" miaalk time’ vim bush b/uuh/sh many! mie/niee to! t/uu come’ c/u/m mother — m/u/th/er two! tuu could? c/uuh/d not n/oo use’ y/uu/z, dot d/uu none n/u/n want wiolnit does d/ulz of" uly war w/or done d/u/n oh’ Joo! was' wlulz even" ee/vie/n old oollid watert wrawit/ur eye jill once wiu/n/s what! wiult father flo/th/er one* wiu/n who" h/uu find" fli/nid own oo/n whose h/uu/z, flu fil/uu people’ _p/ee/p/u.| word" wlurld foot fluuhit pull p/uuhi/l work wiur/k from' fit/ulm push p/uuh/sh would? w/uuh/d front firu/nit pussy p/uuh/s/ee writet wilt full fluuh/| put p/uuhit you! y/uu got g/oo said’ s/eld your' y/or ho h/oo should sh/uuh/d r iil so! s/o tm im some! s/u/m 1) About two-thirds of the above words (the 41 with superscript “I” above) are on our list of the most common written words in the English language (see page 101), so it is quite important that they be learned by beginners. NUMERALS AND KEYBOARD SYMBOLS We allow using keyboard symbols as words (1, 2,3... to whatever - also +, -, x, <, >, %, $, 2, & and =) In other words, we can write a sentence such as "2 + 2 = 4”, or ‘7 < (6 + 2)’, or ‘Is 6 the sum of 2 + 37”. Page 640 Easy-To-Read letter-combinations and 11 position rules When not within the combinations below; (a) all consonants are pronounced conventionally and (b) all vowels are “short” -- see page 107 letters sample words speech-sounds pg. ‘a See pages 6 and 107 Jal, faal or ful 107 ‘a’ ending * Single syllable -- bra, fa, ha, la, ma, pa, ska /ah/ 8 ‘a’ ending * Longer -- camera, data, hula, Africa, America fu 8 ‘ai’ & ‘ay’ aid, attain, brain, clay, Sunday, way Taal 9 ‘air’ & ‘aer’ air, hair, pair, aeronaut, staiwell Tai! 10 ‘all’ bail, call, fall, hall, mall, pall, stall, tall, ‘yall /all/ 11 ‘ally’ normally, orally, royally, typically, verbally lulee! 12 ‘ar’ bar, card, carnivore, cartoon, farm, start faci 13 ‘au’ & ‘aw’ auto, fauit, laundry, paws, pause, saw, vault /aw! 14 ‘ch’ batch, catch, chat, chart, chicken, lynch Ichi 15 ‘e’ ending * With no other vowel -- be, Fe, me, she, we __fee/ 16 With other vowels --are, give, love, subjective ‘e’ is silent 16 beetle, see, sea, speech, team leel 17-21 ear, fear, gear, nearest, yearling lear! 22 armed, barked, mopped, slapped, squirreled ‘e's silent 23-28 absurd, burp, her, fur, furnish, sir, stir furl 29-31 ice, ice-cream, nice, twice fice! 32 lie, pie, cried, fries, ratified, verified fill 33 mine, wine -- See page 34 for a discussion _/ine/ 34 & 107 king, sing, spring, swing, thng, twinkling fing! 35 blink, dinky, kink, pink, stink, inkling iniky 36 ‘ir - see ‘er’ ‘kn’ knack, knead, knee, knit, knot, knuckle Int 37 ‘le’ ending * bottle, dawdle, doodle, wrinkle, giggle, rattle /ul/ 38-40 ‘o' ending‘ gecko, go, hello, limo, no, no-no, $0, yo-yo oo! 4 ‘oa’ & ‘oe’ Boat, coast, coax, doe, poem, toast, toe lool 42 ‘oi’ & ‘oy’ boil, boy, coins, oil, spoiled, toilet, toys Joy! 43 ‘00' & ‘ue’ blue, cool, cruel, giue, glued, too, true, 200 /uu/ 44 ‘ook’ book, cook, hook, look, nock, rook, took Juuh.k/ 45 ‘or’ born, Ford, gordo, gorilla, more, sort Jor! 46-47 ‘ou’ & ‘ow’ cow, how, brown, cloud, mcuse, owl, proud ow! 48 ‘qu’ liquid, squirm, squireled, quit, queen Ik.wl 49 ‘sh’ dish, fisherman, she, shout, splash, wish Ish 50 ‘sky’ skycap, skyed, skyhook, skyline, skyway Is.k.iil 141 ‘th’ (unvoiced) bath, thick, thin, thousand Ith 51 ‘th’ (voiced) that, the, their, them Ith 51 ‘ue’ see ‘oo" ‘ur’ -- see ‘er’ ‘wht what, when, where, who, why Mw 52 ‘we wrecked, wrench, wring, wrist, wrong Ih 53 ‘y' beginning’ _yell, yen, yes, yet ly) 149 ‘y' middle * abyss, hymn, myth, system it 54 ‘y’ ending * Single syllable — by, fly, fry, my, ply, pry, why fill 55-61 ‘y’ ending * Longer --badly, blurry, bumpy, bunny, sunny —_/ee/ 55-61 ‘Superscript 1: Pronunciation is dependent on the position of the vowel You only need two new rules to pronounce the various words: (1) when a vowel is not part of a letter- combination, itis short and (2) when itis part of a latter-combination, it gives up its sound to the sound of the combination Page 7‘a’ ending single syllable words have an /ah/ speech-sound bra, fa, ha, la, ma, pa & ska ‘a’- ending longer words have the speech-sound /u/ NOTE: This list does not cover every single wore on our Easy-To-Read list, but itis a good sample. DOES SYLLABICATION HELP BEGINNERS? Frankly, we do not know. On one hand, it might help them sound-out the word, but on the other hand it might be distracting, We do not know of any studies that point definitively one way or the other. In ancient times, syllables were regularly taught to beginners. In fact syllabaries preceded diction- aries as teaching tools and reference works. Dividing the words into syllables as shown below may or may not help students recognize the let- ters and letter combinations and help them read or pronounce the word. Each teacher will have to decide whether to emphasize the syllables or not. We are showing the syllabication here to show how it might be done to minimize the distraction of breaking the words into parts. Af.ti.ca da.da max.ill.a sa.van.na al.fal.fa da.ta max.im.a sen.na al.ga del.ta Ma.don.na sil.i.ca al.pa.ca dra.ma Mec.ca stan.za al.um.na en.e.ma Mel.ba strat.a Ant.arc.ti.ca ex.tra mem.or.an.da taf.fe.ta an.ten.na fau.na min.im.a troi.ka ba.na.na fe.ta par.ka tun.dra ban.dan.na flor.a pen.um.bra tymp.an.a ba.sil.i.ca gal.a plas.ma um.brel.la ba.zoo.ka hen.na plec.tra um.bra bel.ladon.na | hoop.la van.il.la ca.ba.na kar.ma : vert.e.bra ca.mer.a lar.va ricotta vis.ta ca.tal.pa lol.la.pa.loo.za ros.tra vul.va con.tra man.na San.ta NOTE: “grandma” and “grandpa” are exceptions. They both end in the sound /o/ as in “cha-cha-cha” and are listed as memory-words on our master list. Page 8bay? ‘ 3 al & ay words have the speech-sound /aa/ NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. abstain acclaim again aid aide aid-de-camp aids ail aileron ailment ails aim, attain oa a bays blackmail brain bray cal chain claim claimer claiming clay — complain complaint contain containment crayfish daily dainty daisy day days derail detail detain display drain dray. entail _ entertain entrails exclaim explain. explainin fal ¢ flay fray gain gait grail grain grainy ray hail a hua interplay jail Jailer Jay jays jay layer layette lays laid lain maid mail mailer maim main mainly — milkmaid minelayer may mayhem Page 9 mayoral nail nail nailer nay nays obtained obtains ordain paid pail pain painful painfully parlay plain plainer plainest plainly play player playoff pray prayer. quitclaim quay raid raided raider rail railroad rails rain rainment rainy ray rays_ refrain sail sailor sails Saturday say slain slay snail snails Spay stain stay stays strain Spain subway Sunday swain sway tail tailor train trained trait tray Tuesday Thursday unaided underway upsy-daisy vain waif wait waits waiter way ways x-ray yesterdayCay? ‘ 3 alr & ae@Pr’ words have the speech-sound /air/ NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. aero- re) airing fair pair aerometer airless fairest paired aeronomy © airlift fairness _ pairing airline fairy pairs air airliner fairly airlock repair airborne flair airbrush airmail stair airburst airman hair stairs airbus airmanship hairbrush stairway airmen hairless _ stairwell aircoach hairs aircool airs hairy unfair aircraft unfairly airy lair airdrop wheelchair affair airfoil chair chairman Page 10‘ | | 3 a words have the speech-sound /all/ NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. all appall appallingly ball ballpark ballplayer ballpoint ballroom balls baseball basketball blackball call caller calling catcall catchall cornball crestfallen downfall fall fallen fallout gall gallbladder galling hall hallmark hallway handball hardball install installment mall mallrat meatball Page 11 oddball paintball pall pinball pitfall puffball rainfall recall recalling shortfall small smaller smallest smallish smallness smallpox stall stalling stalls spitball squall stall stalled tall taller tallest tallness thrall wall walls wallflower windfall y'all‘ 3 al ly words have the speech-sound ull/ee NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but itis a good sample Try these fraternally 5-syllables —_ pedantically 3-syllable hectically artistically sadistically words first drastically athletically sarcastically immorally dramatically — sardonically carnally immortally ecstatically —_ satanically dismally informally academically sentimentally fiscally internally allegorically — spasmodically formally laterally analytically _ statistically loyally liberally anatomically symbolically mentally literally antiseptically symmetrically morally maternally apathetically synthetically mortally medically extrinsically __ terrifically normally metrically fanatically pragmatically orally minimally fantastically royally mystically frenetically 6-syllables verbally nocturnally fundamentally categorically nominally grammatically enigmatically 4-syllables optically harmonically lackadaisically abnormally paternally hermetically — mathematically abysmally practically historically optimistically classically quizzically horizontally —_ pessimistically clinically radically hypnotically —_ problematically comically severally intrinsically sympathetically cosmically skeptically laconically systematically criminally tactically magnetically critically terminally majestically —_7-syllables cryptically topically melodically _ infinitesimally ethically typically methodically ethnically vertically nonsensically federally whimsically organically frantically pathetically Page 12fay? @AP words have the speech-sound /ar/ NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. 1-syllable gar roar barter starling arc garb starkly arch scar carafe starshine arcs hard scarf cargo starting are hark shard carload starving ark harm shards carlot arks harp shark carpet tardy arm harsh sharp cartoon target armed hart smart cartoons tartar arms soar charcoal art jar spar charred unarmed arts Jarred sparse upstart star darling bar lard starch varlet barb lark stark farmer bard start garden 3-syllable barred mar starts. gardens alarming barf march starve apartment bark mark starved hardly ardently barn mars hardy artistic bars Mars tar harken artistry boar marsh tarp harmless board mart tart harness Barbaro car narc yard impart carnivore char yarn carpenter carb oar yarns. larder carbs disarming card par 2-syllable market cards parched alarm Martin escarpment carp park alarmed cars parr apart parboil gardener cart parse ardent parlay carve part argue parting martinet chart armfull partner quark army narcotic dark quarrel artist quarrelling dart quarreled arty partnership darn quart scarlet quarts. barfly sharpen sarcastic far quartz barking smarmy sardonic farm barroom smarter scarified Page 13‘ 3 ‘ J au & AW words have the speech-sound /aw/ NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. Start with these single syllable words auk awe awl bawl brawl cause caused caw clause claw claws craw crawl dawn draw drawn fault faults fawn flaunt flaw flawed fraud gaunt gawk haul haw hawk jaw law lawn laws maul mauled maw pause paused paw pawl pawn paws prawns raw saw sawn saws scrawl shawl slaw straw straws taunt taut taw thaw vault yaw yawl yawn yaws 2-syllable applaud auto awful awfully awning bawdy because brawler brawling causes causing caustic crawdad crawfish Page 14 crawling dawdle dawning defraud drawdown drawer drawing drawstring faucet faulty faultless fauna fawning flawless gaudy gauntlet gawky hawkish hawser jawing launder laundry lawless lawman lawful maudlin mawkish pausing pawnshop raunchy saunter saunters sawing sawtooth scrawling strawlike vaulted vaunted 3-syllable defrauding gaudily launderette lawfully strawberry 4-syllable automaton‘ ’ ch words have the speech-sound /ch/ NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but itis a good sample. aircoach arch bachelor bachelorette batch beach blanch branch cache catch catchall catcher chair chairman chad chaff champ chap chapel chapter char charcoal charred chart charted charter chastity chat chatter chattering cheat check checker chick chicken chimp chin chip chit chock chop chow chub chuck chug chum chummy chunk chunks clinch clincher clutch coach couch crouch crouching crunch crunchy ditch dutch each etch finch flinch Page 15 glitch glitchy hatch hatchet hitch inch itch itchy kitchen kitchenette latch linchpin lynch march match much ouch parched patch patches peach peachy pitch pouch ranch ratchet retch rich richest satchel scotch sketch sketchy squelch starch such switch teach teacher thatch twitch twitchy wench wheelchair which witch witchy wrench wretch‘e’ ending a word is silent when there is another vowel in the word -- it is bashful NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. absinthe babble dice goose laxative quintette acquisitive backhoe dine gore leave active bore dispense groove live respite adaptive braise displease love roomette addictive breathe diverse haggle additive brine douse have mice score adjective bronze heave mingle selective adoptive ease hemline more sleaze adore captive eave hotline mouse solve adverse carafe edible house muzzle sore adze carnivore else humble needle souse affective carve explore hurdle nerve sparse affirmative cheese expressive nimble spore albacore choose ice nice starve amicable clause feeble impasse nurse store ample collapse feasible implore noodle subjective antifreeze converse fettle improbable noose submissive afflictive core fiddle inedible aggressive —curdle fixative indivisible ooze tease aide cursive fore inoperable toilette airborne curve formative inverse parse towelette alkaline crease furtive invisible please ‘twere anisette curse pore are geese jingle promise weave awe dawdle giggle jumble purple were axe dazzle give purse definite gobble yore definitive guzzle ‘e’ ending a word is a long vowel /ee/ when there is no other vowel in the word be, he, me, she, the*, we, ye. “the” is a special case. It can be taught as thh/u or thh/ee Page 16‘ 3 ‘ 3 ea & @@’ words have the speech-sound /ee/ NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. abeam absentee absenteeism addressee adoptee agree agreeable agreeably agreed agreement anneal anteater antifreeze appeal appealing appease appeaser appointee asleep backseat backstreet banshee beach bead beady beagle beak beaker beam bean beanbag beast beastly beat beaten beater beating beatnik beaver bee beech beef beefy beekeeper beeline beep beeper beeswax beet beetle birdseed bittersweet bleach bleachers bleak bleakly bleakness bleat bleating bleed bleeder bleeding bootee brainteaser breach breathable breathe breather breathing breech breed breeder breeding breeze Page 17 breezily breezy breed browbeat browbeaten buckwheat bumblebee canteen cartwheel cheap cheapen cheaply cheapness cheat cheater cheek cheekily cheeky cheep cheese cheesy chickadee chickpea chickweed chimpanzee clean cleaner cleaners cleaning cleanly cleanness cleanup cleat cleave cleaver cogwheel cornmeal creak creaky cream creamer creamery creampuff creamy crease creed creek creel creep creeper creepy daydream daydreamer deal dealer dealership dealing dealings dean deed deem deep deepen deeply deepness disagree disagreeable disagreeably disagreement discreet discreetly discreetly‘ea’ & ‘ee’ continued NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. disease displease downbeat downstream dream draftee dreamer dreamily dreamland dreamless dreamy dweeb each eager eagerly eagerness eagle eaglet ease easel easily East east eastbound Easter easterly easter easterner easy eat eatable eaten eater eatery eave eggbeater eel eels epee evergreen feasibility feasible feasibly feast feat fee feeble feebleness feebly feed feedback feedbag feeder feeding feel feeler feeling feelingly feelings feet fifteen fifteenth fifty-three filigree flea flee fleet fleeting fleetingly fleetness forty-three freak freakish freaky free Page 18 freebooter freedman freehand freeload freeloader freely freeman freestanding freethinker freethinking freeway freewheeling freeze freezer freezing fricassee garnishee geek geeky geese geezer gleam gleaming glean glee gleeful gleefully goalkeeper goatee grandee grease greed greedily greasy greed greedily greedy Greek green greenback greenery greenhorn greenhouse greenish greenness greens greet greeting greetings heal healer heap heaping heat heated heatedly heater heath heathen heave heed heedful heedless heedlessly heedlessness heel heels impeach impeachment inbreeding increase increase increasing increasingly indeed‘ea’ & ‘ee’ continued NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. indiscreet leaning meatball indiscreetly leanness meatloaf oatmeal inductee leap meaty ordeal innkeeper lease meek outreach interbreed leash meekly interweave least meekness pea leave meet peach Jean leavings meeting peacock jeans Lee meetinghouse peahen Jeep lee melee peak jeez leech midstream peaked jeepers-creepers leek midweek peal jeer lees milkweed peanut leeway minesweeper peanuts keel legatee misdeed peat keen lessee misread pedigree keenly loudspeaker misreading pedigreed keenness mistreat pee keep mainstream mistreatment peek keeper maltreat moonbeam peekaboo keeping maltreatment peel Kleenex manatee neat peeling knead mead neatly peep knee meager neatness peeper kneecap meagerly need peeve kneel meagerness needful peevish meal needle peevishly leach mealy needlepoint peevishness lead mean needless peewee leader meaning needlessly pinwheel leadership meaningful needs pipsqueak leading meaningfully needy plea leaf meaningless northeast plead leafless meanly northeaster pleaded leaflet meanness northeasterly pleading leafy means northeastern please leak measles need pleasing leaky measly ninety-three pleasingly lean meat nominee pleat Page 19‘ea’ & ‘ee’ continued NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but it is a good sample. pleated screenplay seer sneak pleating sea seethe sneaker preach seabed seething sneaking preacher seacoast seer sneaky Preakness seafood setee sneeze preen seagull seventeen southeast seahorse seventy-three southeasterly queasily seal sheaf southeastern queasy sealant sheath speak queen sealer sheathe speakeasy queenly sealskin sheathing speaker queer seam shear speech seaman shears speechless ragweed seamanship sheen speed reach seamless sheep speedboat read seamstress sheepish speeder readability seamy sheepishly speedily readable seaport sheepishness speeding reader seashell sheepskin speedster readership seashore sheet speedway reading seasick sheeting speedy ream seasickness shirtsleeve spleen reamer seat shopkeeper spree reap seatbelt sixteen squeak reaper seating sixteenth squeaky reed seaway sixty-three squeal reeds seaweed sleaze squeamishness reedy see sleazy squeeze reef seed sleek steal reefer seedless sleekness steam reek seedling sleep steamboat reel seedy sleeper steamer ref seeing sleepily steamship referee seek sleepless steamy ringleader seeker sleeplessness steed seem sleepy steel sateen seeming sleet steely scream seemly sleety steep screech seen sleeve steeple screen seep smithereens steeplejack Page 20steeply steepness steer streak streaky stream streamer streamline street streetcar striptease sublease sunscreen sweep sweeper sweeping sweepings sweet sweeten sweetener sweetish sweetly sweetmeat sweetness sweets tea teach teachable teacher teaching teacup teak teakettle teal team teamster teapot tease ‘ea’ & ‘ee’ continued NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy~To-Read list, but it is a good sample. teaspoon teat tee teem teen teens teeny teeter teeth teething tenderfeet thee thirteen thirteenth three threescore trainee treacle treat treatable treatise treatment treaty treble tree treeless treetop trustee trusteeship tumbleweed twenty-three thirty-three treat tree tweak tweed tweedy ‘tween tweet Page 21 tweeter tweezers umpteen umpteenth unbeatable unbeaten unclean underneath undersea unease uneasily uneasy unfeeling unfeelingly unheeded unimpeachable unleash unneeded unseemly unseen unspeakable unspeakably upbeat upheaval upkeep upstream veal veer veep velveteen weak weaken weakling weakly weakness weal wean weasel weave weaver wee weed weeder weeds weedy week weekday weekend weekly weep weeping weepy weevil wheat whee wheedle wheel wheelchair wheels wheeze wheezy wildebeest wintergreen wreak wreath wreathe yeast yeasty yippee Zeal6 3 Cal’ words have the speech-sound /ear/ NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Reau list, but itis a good sample. appear endear leary arrears endears near bleary fear nearer fearful nearest clear fearfully nearly clearly fearless rear fears rearmost dear dearest gear sear dearly gearing shear drearily gears shearing dreary shearling hear shears ear hearing spear ears Page 22 tear tearful tearing tears unclear wear wearily weary year yearling yearlyWORDS THAT END IN ‘ed’ ALWAYS HAVE A SILENT “e” NOTE: This list does not cover every single word on our Easy-To-Read list, but i is a good sample. This “ed” rule does not apply to the following 7 words which can be treated as memory-words or as CVC words which have a digraph for the initial consonant. bled, bred, fled, shed, shred, sled, sped. AIBID _ blabbed, cabbed, crabbed, dabbed, gabbed, grabbed, jabbed, nabbed, scabbed, slabbed, stabbed, tabbed AIGID bagged, bragged, dragged, flagged, fragged, gagged, lagged, nagged, sagged, shagged, slagged, snagged, swagged, tagged, wagged, zagged AIRI/D _ aired, layered, paired, AIKID & AIK/T _ backed, blacked, clacked, cracked, hacked, jacked, lacked, packed, quacked, racked, sacked, shacked, slacked, smacked, snacked, stacked, tacked, tracked, whacked, wracked, yacked, A/IMID bammed, cammed, clammed, crammed, dammed, hammed, jammed, lammed, rammed, scammed, scrammed, shammed, slammed, spammed, trammed, whammed AINICHID _ blanched, branched, ranched, stanched AINID _ banned, canned, fanned, manned, panned, planned, canned, spanned, tanned, vanned, AIP/D & AIP/IT — capped, chapped, clapped, crapped, flapped, gapped, lapped, mapped, napped, rapped, sapped, scrapped, slapped, snapped, tapped, trapped, wrapped, yapped, zapped ARIBID barbed, carbed ARID _ barred, jarred, marred, parred, scarred, sparred, starred, tarred ARIKID barked, harked, larked, parked, sharked, sparked, ARIMID armed, charmed, farmed, harmed ARINID barned, darned ARIPID carped, harped, tarped ARIVID carved, starved Page 23