The final phonetic skill, #5 is called the adjacent vowel rule. What does the word adjacent mean? It means near or next to one another. In skill #5 the vowels are adjacent, they are next to one another, side by side.
Phonetic Skill #5 says, when there are adjacent vowels, the second vowel will be silent making the first vowel long.
A simple way to help students remember their adjacent vowels is to put two rows of vowels on the board. Write them in the order they were taught. Then, beginning at the bottom fill in the adjacent vowels. The most common ending adjacents are ay, ee, oe, ue, and ie. The common middle adjacent vowels are ai, ea, oa, and ui. Sometimes they can actually begin a word. These will give students a very good way to remember the common adjacent vowel patterns.
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