5 Shape Phonics created by Joe Staples

compiled by Chris Smiddy, Vikki Nguyen, and Sydney Peck

Contents

1a. An introduction to 5 Shape Phonics

1b. The system in numbers

2. Karuta cards 1

3 Karuta cards 2

4. Sound list (alphabet divided)

5a. aiueo Read Out Loud

5b. READ OUT LOUD

6. flash cards

7. - single vowel words

8a. - vowels followed by an “r”

8b. - single FINAL vowels that are not short

9. flash cards

10. - double vowel words

11a. - double vowel, monosyllabic words that don’t follow

11b. あ Gあ Lあ うTあ song

page 1

History and common sense do not lie: written English was conceived to represent the sounds of

spoken English. How are sounds and spellings connected? Imperfectly, but mostly predictably.

Most fluent L1 readers and writers began by learning these connections. Failing to teach them to

our Japanese learners is a major reason they lag behind learners in other Asian countries, and has

perpetuated the false “Eigo wa muzukashii!/English is so hard!” mantra heard from the lips of virtually

every JTE in Japan.

Most JTEs who majored in English teaching have heard of phonics patterns, but deem them too

difficult to teach to students. The tendency is to focus on the few exceptions (~13% of short words),

rather than the usual patterns.

Even before young learners are carefully taught their ABCs (not E– B SHI...), they can begin to

correctly hear and say English phonemes (the smallest units of sound) when correctly modeled.

Part of our task as ALTs is to help 2nd-language students and teachers alike understand the

sounds, melody, rhythm, tempo, and fun of “real English” by example and by instruction. The “Sound

Menu” is a good starting point.

Verbal fluency does not require literacy, but knowing in your ears and mouth the sounds of “real

English” is made easier by connecting them to letters, pictures, key words, and patterns, and will surely

lead to better literacy, confidence, and ability.

These 5 shapes represent the 5 main rules regarding the pronunciation of mono-syllabic English words.

All the words included within each shape’s group will follow the same rule, and readers will be able to

pronounce these words correctly when reading, and spell them correctly when listening (and testing!) if

they understand that rule. See pages 8～11 for more specific information about these 5 shapes and how

to say, read, hear, and spell them.

The words in these 5 groups account for ～87% of the mono-syllabic words in commonly-used English.

Total

621 words

295

2-3 vowel words

326

1 vowel words

“Five-Shape Phonics” is worth teaching!

These two remaining shapes represent the remaining ～13% of mono-syllabic words. They are the

words that do not follow a specific rule, though there are still patterns among the words. See pages 8

and 9 for more details.

210 25 44 177 79 48 38

34 4 7 29 13 7 6

Number of words:

Percentage (%):

Single vowel* Double vowel**

** *

The system in numbers:

+ = 63%

+ + = 86% of all single vowel words (45% of total)

+ = 87% of all double vowel words (42% of total)

+ + + + = 87%

+ = 13%

(Most common single and double vowel words)

(All regular 5-shape phonics words—rule followers)

(All irregular words—rule breakers, with their own minor patterns)

- The rule followers

- The rule breakers

[2002 New Crown III corpus. Other corpora are similar] (all the monosyllabic

words in this corpus)

The 5-Shape Phonics Method

- English sounds and spellings simplified -

The “Sound Menu”

えー B しー

sounds of Japanese

sounds of English

sounds common to both

Li on: Hi, Big Bird... Fight! I like my team, too... Caught yours, boy! Come home! •

27

ら

ĕ (え) ŏ (≃あ)

k s t n h m y w

g z d b p sh ch j _ng

ŏw oi/oy

ā i ū ū ē ō/ōw

ă ĭ ŭ

r l f v

wh th th

_x qu

television [イー] [ウー] [ユー] [アイ] [エイ]

[オイ] [アウ]

[オウ]

oo oo au/aw

/ /

16

42 (ū ≠ oo)

Ph

on

ics

– K

aru

ta P

art

1 あ

Kあ

か

Sあ

さ

Tあ

た

Nあ

な

Hあ

は

Mあ

ま

Yあ

や

Rあ

ら/r

aw

Wあ

わ

Gあ

が

Zあ

ざ

Dあ

だ

Bあ

ば

Pあ

ぱ

SHあ

しゃ

CHあ

ちゃ

Jあ

じゃ

R

page 2

Sho

rt

& u

nvo

iced

Sh

ort

&

vo

iced

C

on

tin

uab

le

& v

oic

ed

Co

nti

nu

able

&

un

voic

ed

Lあ L—L—La

Fあ F・F・Fa

Vあ V—V—Vast

WHあ

“Wh・Wh・Why?”

THあ

“Th・Th・Thanks!”

THあ

“Th —Th — This...”

あX

“Follow an OX to Zenkoji”

あNG

“Singing a song”

(NIHONGOもある！)

QUあ

“Qu・Qu・Quiz.”

page 3

Phonics – Karuta Page 2 – English-only Sounds short continuable voiced

★ 以下

いか

のアルフ

ァベッ

トは名

前な

まえ

の前

半ぜ

んは

ん

が発音

はつ

おん

になる：

(

Thes

e ar

e re

ad u

sin

g th

e le

tter

nam

e’s

“firs

t h

alf”

)

.B .D

.J .K

.P

.T

.V

.Z

Ph

on

ics

– So

un

ds

List

★以

下い

か

のア

ルフ

ァベ

ット

は名

前な

まえ

の後半

こう

はん

が発音

はつ

おん

になる：

(Use

th

e le

tter

nam

e’s

“latt

er h

alf”

)

F. L

. M

. N

. R

. S

. X

.

★ ２つの

読よ

み方かた

：(T

wo

way

s to

re

ad t

he

se)

C

:

KA

can

SI

ci

ty

KU

cut

SE

ce

nte

r

KO

cost

G

:

GA

gas

JI

gi

ant

GU

gu

ts

JE

ge

ntl

e

GO

go

!

Q→

Qu

(see

be

low

)

ce o

r ci

= S

so

un

d

Few

exc

ep

tio

ns

ge o

r gi

usu

ally

= J

so

un

d

Som

e ex

cep

tio

ns

(gir

l, ge

t, g

ive.

..)

★

Wは

w・

w・わ

H

はh・

h・は

Yは

y・y・

や W

HY

?

★

CH

air

TH

is

W

Hy?

PH

on

e

is

SHe

THre

e

siN

GiN

G

QU

iz!

≠ Y

es

~y is

a v

ow

el.

y~

is

no

t.

★

sho

rt:

an

t in

k

us

e

nd

on

★

lon

g:

mA

de

fI

ne

cU

te

mEa

t

nO

te

No

te: t

he

seco

nd

, pal

e vo

wel

mak

es N

O s

ou

nd

, bu

t gi

ves

“Nam

e P

ow

er”

to t

he

firs

t vo

wel

.

page 4

1

smel

l Sc

otc

h

shel

f fl

ag

gris

t fl

ash

craft

sm

ash

skit

spri

tz

2

slit

pro

p

span

flo

ss

slo

sh

Ch

et

blis

s cl

asp

flin

t so

ng

3

shar

p

smac

k gr

ass

shad

sm

elt

glit

z gr

ill

clas

h

clen

ch

shri

mp

4

Fren

ch

grit

qu

ill

ph

ón

ics

shu

t Sp

ánis

h

slat

qu

ench

flu

sh

bri

ng

5

bra

n

clu

ck

clap

cr

ust

glo

p

smo

g sh

aft

glo

ss

grad

wh

iz

6

plu

sh

smu

g p

luck

smu

t sl

un

g gr

aft

plu

s sh

ell

slab

ru

ng

7

grap

h

fro

st

dra

ft

ble

nd

ble

ss

bru

nt

grab

snap

sc

an

off

8

glad

slo

b

spec

k gr

and

cru

sh

Gre

g sh

ark

sped

sh

in

stre

ngt

hs

9

slam

fr

ock

chu

m

chu

nk

clo

ck

sket

ch

spat

shu

ck

pri

nt

ph

óto

10

flo

g gr

and

slu

g sc

um

sku

nk

spin

qu

est

split

flec

k fi

zz

11

dra

g p

ram

dri

ll ch

amp

bla

b

chill

chin

dri

nk

dra

b

qu

iz

12

fro

m

snip

slim

sp

ell

qu

ell

flic

k ch

est

clam

C

had

b

ank

13

dru

g cr

est

sham

b

lob

cro

p

Bro

nx

scal

p

blo

ck

gru

nt

plu

mp

REA

D O

UT

LOU

D!

wit

h r

and

om

sh

ort

vo

we

ls,

dig

rap

hs

an

d d

ou

ble

co

nso

na

nts

2L

= 1

S

2 le

tter

s m

akin

g 1

ne

w s

ou

nd

ch

ph

～n

g

sh

qu

th

wh

sho

rt v

ow

els

[æ]

ant

ア

1

[ɪ]

ink

イ

2

[ʌ]

us

ア

3

[ɛ]

end

/egg

エ

4

[～

a]

on

～ア

オ

5

a i u

e o

Re

ad O

ut

Lou

d

a

i u

e

o

1

at

an

in

is

up

u

s en

d

Ed

on

o

ff

2

cat

rat

hit

si

t cu

t b

ut

set

let

ho

t lo

t

3

can

m

an

win

p

in

fun

b

un

te

n

yen

yo

n

Do

n

4

ham

ja

m

him

vi

m

hu

m

gum

Em

h

em

mo

m

Tom

5

cab

ja

b

rib

b

ib

cub

ru

b

web

D

eb

Bo

b

job

6

map

ca

p

zip

lip

p

up

cu

p

pep

re

p

ho

p

top

7

bag

za

g zi

g d

ig

hu

g b

ug

leg

peg

d

og

log

8

sad

D

ad

Sid

d

id

mu

d

bu

d

red

b

ed

od

d

Go

d

9

has

ga

s h

is

kiss

b

us

fuss

le

ss

mes

s to

ss

loss

10

ya

k q

uac

k q

uic

k lic

k lu

ck

du

ck

nec

k w

reck

lo

ck

rock

11

ta

x ta

cks

fix

six

tux

du

cks

nex

t R

ex

fox

clo

cks

page 5

Short o sound

on

clock

hot

lock

mop

sock

stop

top

ア ≃ [ɑ]

Short e sound

end

egg

hen

nest

pet

red

tent

エ = [ɛ]

Short a sound

ant

at

cat

bat

fan

had

hat

jam

ア [ӕ]

A one-vowel word has a short vowel sound. 母音が1つの場合、短母音で発音します。

Rule #1: page 6

Short i sound

ink

fish

hit

in

lips

pig

sit

イ [ɪ]

Short u sound

up

bug

cup

nut

pup

sun

us

cut

ア [ʌ]

act fan held live sad strong well

am fast help long Sam such went

an can fell him lock sang sun when

and cap felt his lost sax sung which

as cat fifth hit lot scrap swam will

ask catch film hot lunch send swim win

at check Finn if man set task wing

back clap fish in map shall tell wish

bad class flag is mat shell ten with

bag clock flash it match shock tent wrap

bath club fox its men shop tenth yes

bed crop France jazz met shot test yet

belt cup fresh jet miss shrug text

best dance fridge job mom sick than

big desk fun John much since that

black did get judge must sing them

Bob dish give jump neck sit then

bomb dog glad just next six thick

box doll got kick not sixth thing

brick drink graph kill off smell think

bring drop grass king on smith this

brush drum gym lamp pass soft Tom

bus egg had land pen song trash

but else hand lap pick spend trip

end has last plan spring trick

fact hat left plant staff twelve

have leg pot stand twelfth

less quick step up

let’s quit still us

ran stop vet

red

rock

run

POINT:

1st concept:

- each letter – one

sound

- practice sounding

out words with

students on aiueo

page

then

Read Out Loud:

- find & circle the

47 diagraphs

- single vowel is

usually a short

vowel

- Point out vowels

which are not short

(marked with )

Teach

Teach

- Single, final vowel

is never short

Y-vowel vs.

Y-consonant

~y final is a vowel

(e.g. my)

Y~ initial is not (e.g.

yes)

Teach:

Sound families &

rhyming later

Teach:

ác・cents on words

with weak syllables.

KEY C = consonant V = vowel R = letter r Uppercase letters = vital Lowercase letter = optional

「―ぼは田んぼ」 ＊A one-vowel word usually has a short vowel sound.

[ӕ] ant

[ɪ] ink

[ʌ] up

[ɛ] end

~[a] ~on

empty sounds (unnecessary “e”)

209 words

Exceptions: same ccVCcc pattern

as , but NOT a short vowel sound. cVRc

A single vowel followed by an “r” is NOT read as a

short vowel , but usually:

c a r p o r t

w o r k s h e r

b i r d b u r ns

arm

art

bird

born

burn

car

card

clerk

dark

earth

far

farm

first

for

girl

heard

her

horse*

hurt

large*

March

nurse*

or

park

part

search

shirt

short

sport

star

start

surf

third

turn

war

warm

warn

word

work

world

worn

worst

worse

worth

*ea = weak ea

*_e = unnecessary e

(see table)

44 words

は と同じパターンだが、発音が短母

音ではありません。

all

ball

both

bright

call

child

climb

cold

few

fight

find

fold

from

front

hall

high

hold

kind

knew

light

mind

month

most

new

night

ninth

of

oh

old

post

push

put

right

roll

sight

small

talk

tall

thank

told

walk

wall

want

was

wash

watch

what

won

Hint: Look

for GROUPS!

IND f

k

m

OST gh

m

p

IGHT

br

f

l

n

r

s

OLD c f h t

ALL b

c

h

sm

w

“unnecessary e”*

“giv” give

“brij” bridge

“senss” sense

“chanss” chance

48 words

he

go

to

A single FINAL vowel

(or “open syllable”) is

NOT read as a short

vowel.

単語に母音が一つで、最

後に来る場合は、 のよ

うな短母音として読みま

せん。

ccV

a

be

by

cry

do

fly

fry

go

he

hi

I

me

my

no

she

ski

sky

so

the

to

try

two

we

who

why

25 words

ccVCcc

WA lk

nt

sh

tch

These follow the “One vowel?

Short vowel!” rule. Teach these

FIRST, then , then , and

Using New Crown corpus 2002, 3rd year.

page 7 • Li on: Hi, Big Bird... Fight!

(USA)

er

berm

germ

Hert

z

her

herb

jerk

nerv

e

perv

pert

Pert

h

perk

perc

h

stern

ters

e

verb

ar

arm

art

arc

arc

h

bar

barn

dark

dart

far

farm

gar

gart

h

gn

arl

or

bo

rn

do

rm

do

rk

fork

go

rp

lord

mo

rph

no

r

no

rth

no

rm

or

orb

orc

ort

po

rk

A s

ing

le v

ow

el fo

llo

wed

by r

.

“Car

po

rt w

ork

s.”

“Her

bir

d b

urn

s.”

ir

bir

d

firm

firs

t

flir

t

gir

th

mir

th

qu

irk

thir

d

thir

st

po

rt

po

rch

spo

rt

sto

rk

sto

rm

tort

wo

rn

hard

hark

harp

harm

Hart

jar

kart

car

card

carp

carb

lard

lark

larc

h

mar

[ɑːr

]

mark

mart

Mars

narc

nard

par

parc

h

park

part

qu

ark

star

tar

tart

tarp

[oːr

]

[r

ː]

ur

bu

rn

chu

rn

chu

rch

cur

du

rn

gu

rn

hu

rt

hu

rl

lurc

h

lurk

mu

rk

spu

rn

turn

wo

r

wo

rd

wo

rk

wo

rm

wo

rld

wo

rst

war

war

ward

warm

wart

* *

*

* in

dic

ate

s p

ron

un

ciati

on

ch

an

ge.

page 8

A s

ing

le v

ow

el in

fin

al p

osi

tio

n (

Vo

wel O

NLY

is

als

o f

inal.

Als

o “

op

en

syllab

le”

for

lon

g w

ord

s, e

.g. ta·b

le, u·n

it )

.

NO

T a

sh

ort

vo

wel so

un

d.

“I t

ry t

ri-a

ng

le.”

bra

fa

ha

la

ma

pa

qu

a

Ra

spa

wa

[ǝ]

[aɪ]

I bi

hi

pi

chi

ski

[uː]

by

cry

dry

fly

fry

my

ply

pry

sly

sky

spy

sty

spry

try

wh

y

[uː]

be

he

me

she

we

ye

[iː]

do

to

wh

o

O

Bo

bro

fro

ho

go

Jo

lo

Mo

Po

pro

qu

o

rho

so

wo

yo

[oʊ

]

_ɑ

_i

_y

_u

_e

_o

ind

icate

s p

ron

un

ciati

on

ch

an

ge.

*

* *

* *

* *

We r

are

ly s

ee _

u in

sh

ort

wo

rds.

Th

is s

ou

nd

is

usu

ally

spelled

th

e f

ollo

win

g w

ays:

few

, n

ew

loo

, zo

o

blu

e, tr

ue

_u

is

occ

asi

on

ally s

een

in

bo

rro

wed

wo

rds

such

as:

cru

, g

u, g

nu

, n

u, etc

.

[ɑː]

* a

[iː]

*

page 9

In a one-syllable two-vowel word, the first vowel is long, the second vowel is silent. １つの音節の中に母音が２つある場合は、1つ目の母音をアルファベットの読み方で発音し、2つ目は発音しません。

Rule #2:

Ape plays with birthday cake in rain

Long a sound

cake

ape

play

rain

エイ [ɛɪ]

Long a sounds:

a cave, late

ai paint, rain

ay day, play

Long e sound

meat

key

seal

Pete

free

イー [iː]

He, a seal, and we, the bees, eat meat.

Long e sounds:

ee bee, seed

ea each, eat

e he, we

Long i sound

like

bike

pie

Long i sounds:

i_e mice, smile

ie pie, tie

y hi, my, try

igh high, sigh

I like my pie

Long u sound

cute

blue

cube

new

suit

ユー・ウー

[juː]・[uː]

Long u sounds:

u cube

ue blue, glue

ew few, new A cute blue cube in a new suit

Toad goes home as snow blows

Long o sound

goes

home

toad

blows

オウ ≃ [oʊ]

Long o sounds:

oa coat, boat

oe toe, hoe

ow snow, blow

o so, go

In a one-syllable 2-vowel word, the first vowel is long, the second vowel is silent.

音節が1つで母音が2つある単語は、最初の母音の発音がアルファベットの読み方、2つ目の母

音が発音しません。 ā: エイ i/y: アイ ū: ユー・ウー ē: イー ō: オウ

air Dave grade make race smile tie

ate day gray may rain smoke time

bake deal green mean raise snake tired

beach dear ~hair meat reach space train

bean deep hear meet read (pr.) Spain tray

beef die here Mike rice speak tree

bite dome hole mine ride speech true

bike dream home name rise spoke type

blue drive hope near road stairs use

broke each huge need rule state vase

bye ear joke nice same stay wait

cake eat June nine save store waste

came Eve keep nose say street wave

~care face key note sea style way

~chair fail lake page seat suit week

change feel late paint see sure whale

clean feet leaf peace seen sweet wheel

clear fine lead (v.) peach shake take while

close fire leave Pete shape taste white

clothes flute life phone ~share tea whole

coach force like pie shine teach wife

coat free line place side team wine

coal game live (adj.) plane site teeth wore

crane gate made play size these write

date gave main please sleep those wrote

three year

“When 2

vowels go

walking, the

first one does

the talking: it

says its own

name, the

other says

nothing.”

- Once

students can

easily identify

these 5 regular

patterns and

groups, then

they know

what they need

to study -

closed & open

syllables as

well as

polysyllabic

words with

weak syllables.

177 words

These monosyllabic words are marked by “megane.”

These “oo” “ou” “oi/oy” and

“au/aw” don’t follow the rule.

上記の6つは の読み方とは違

います。

2- vowel exceptions.

Same pattern as , but

these are the exceptions.

のパターンと同じです

が、読み方は例外です。

aunt house should

book join shout

boy laugh soon

brought law sound

cause look south

choice loud stood

choose mouth taught

cloud ouch thought

cook our through

cough ours too

course out took

door Paul tooth

draw point touch

floor pool tour

food poor toy

foot roof wood

found room would

four round you

good saw young

ground school your

hawk shook yours

hour shoot 65 words

OW can be read 2 ways:

OW

snows = nose

grow

know

low

own

show

now = out

brown

down

how

now

owl

14 words

The combination of letters “ow” can be read

in two ways; [oʊ], and [aʊ]. Therefore words

containing them either fit into the shape

category, or the shape category.

NOTE:

page 10

are move

been once

bread one

break piece

build priest

buy read

come said

dead shoe

death some

does spread

done their

eight there

eye they

field tongue

friend wear

great were

head where

hey whose

lose

love

38 words

• Li on: Hi, Big Bird... Fight! I like my team, too... Caught yours, boy! Come home!

ōw ŏw

(past)

Teach only AFTER students can

recognize polysyllabic words.

[uː]

cou

p

gro

up

sou

p

wo

un

d

yo

u

yo

uth

[ɔː]

bo

ug

ht

bro

ug

ht

fou

gh

t

tho

ug

ht

[oʊ

]

do

ug

h

tho

ug

h

bo

y

coy

joy

clo

y

Ro

y

soy

toy

Tro

y

[ɔɪ]

bo

il

coil

coin

cho

ice

foil

fois

t

gro

in

ho

ist

jois

t

join

t

mo

ist

po

int

roil

soil

spo

il

toil

[a]

cou

gh

[aʊ

]

plo

ug

h

[uː]

thro

ug

h

[ʌ]

tou

gh

rou

gh

[ʊ]

cou

ld

sho

uld

wo

uld

[oo

, o

u, o

i/o

y, a

u/a

w, ŏ

w]

Th

ese

2-v

ow

el m

on

osy

llab

ic w

ord

s are

mark

ed

by “

meg

an

e.”

Th

ey d

o n

ot

follo

w t

he

ru

le.

この

7つ

は の

読み

方と

は違

う。

[uː]

mo

on

blo

om

bro

om

coo

foo

d

foo

l

ho

op

mo

od

roo

m

sto

ol

too

l

wo

o

zoo

[ʊ]

bo

ok

bro

ok

foo

t

go

od

ho

od

roo

k

sto

od

too

k

wo

ol

wo

od

oo

[ʌ]

blo

od

flo

od

[oː]

do

or

flo

or

mo

or

po

or

ou

[aʊ

]

clo

ud

cou

ch

do

ub

t

fou

l

lou

d

mo

un

d

mo

un

t

ou

t

po

ut

sou

r

sco

ut

spo

ut

spro

ut

tou

t

tro

ut

wo

un

d

* *

* *

* * * *

* * * * *

oi/

oy

*

aw

aw

l

caw

craw

l

dra

w

dra

wl

dra

wn

jaw

law

paw

raw

saw

stra

w

au

/aw

* [ɔː]

cau

gh

t

frau

gh

t

tau

gh

t

ŏw

(n

ot ōw

)

* in

dic

ate

s p

ron

un

ciati

on

ch

an

ge.

page 11 あ Gあ Lあ うTあ

Joseph Staples 1/2/06

# # C

# #

# #

あ Kあ Sあ Tあ Nあ Hあ Mあ Yあ Rあ Wあ

Dあ Gあ Zあ Bあ Pあ SHあ CHあ Jあ

Lあ Fあ Vあ THあ WHあ THあ あX あNG QUあ

[oʊ

]

blo

w

bo

w

bo

wl

cro

w

glo

w

gro

w

low

row

sho

w

sno

w

sow

sto

w

tow

* [aʊ

]

plo

w

bo

w

fow

l

ho

w

ho

wl

jow

l

no

w

row

sco

wl

cow

sow

vo

w

wo

w

=

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠

≠