The ABC's and All Their Tricks

This is a scholarly work, and a godsend for a reading tutor, a homeschooling parent, or for anyone who hopes to help a youngster become not only a great reader, but a great speller as well. Similar to the founder of "Weight Watchers" (who drew from publicly-available studies as the diet's basis) this author has crafted a system using mainly government documents as her resource. She combed through crucial studies which proved, beyond a doubt, that English is, indeed, primarily phonetic -- which so many people often argue, endlessly, is NOT true! She cleverly groups her examples by age-appropriateness, making it oh-so-easy for a teacher to postpone any potentially confusing exceptions until the student is older. The resulting strong foundation, thus created, encourages a student rather than DIScouraging -- I love it! She also presented the clearest explanation I've ever read as to the function of vowels and consonants, and their initial roles in the ancient Latin language. Leaving no stone unturned, she explores each and every sound in our spoken language, and how that sound translates to the written word. I was especially captivated (not to mention profoundly saddened) by her section on Dr. Orton and his studies on dyslexia, and how few TRULY dyslexic individuals he came across -- as opposed to those he was able to remedy simply by returning to this basic phonetic method of instruction. I refer to this book often in my private tutoring, as I face more and more "whole language" students, of varying ages, who resort to word-guessing and have no idea how the individual letters relate to sounds. How can such a student properly decode a difficult S.A.T./A.C.T reading section, if crucial words are being misconstrued and misinterpreted? Phonics taught everyone from pioneers to American presidents, and lasted for 1500 years, until 20th-century beliefs tried to turn the whole educational system on its head, IMHO. This book now joins "Why Johnny Can't Read", and "Why Johnny STILL Can't Read" among my treasured tomes. Thank you, Margaret M. Bishop -- you have helped many, as you must know!

This is a super good book with all the reasons why our language is the way it is and how to teach your children.

"The ABC's and All Their Tricks" (1985) is aimed at teachers who are interested in phonics, but it is a favorite among home schooling parents and tutors. It's a reference book, not a phonics program, that has alphabetized word lists according to the 74 English phonograms or ways of spelling the 44 sounds of English. Curious about why CH is pronounced like / k / in mechanic but like / sh / or / ch / in others? Look up "CH as in Christmas." (Words with CH as in chorus come from Greek; words with CH as in chef come from French.) You'll find words that follow that rule, cross references, exceptions, words grouped in 3 categories from basic, high school, and college levels, and a blurb about the spelling and maybe some history of it. There is chapter after chapter about spelling rules, pronunciation rules, stressed syllables, silent letters, discussion of studies on phonetic reading, Latin words, Latin accent and spelling rules, and notes to remedial teachers. This would be a useful supplement to any good phonics program to help teachers / parents answer students' questions instead of saying "It's an exception. Just memorize it." Mott Media also publishes "Phonics Made Plain," a wall chart and 74 flash cards keyed to this book. Another good book that blends nicely with this one, yet is more concise, is "Uncovering the Logic of English."

My only word of caution about this book is that it is intended for teachers. Don't let your child study independently from it (unless they are high-school age), or they may become confused. The reason is not because it is faulty in its presentation, but because it is so comprehensive that students may become frustrated with it. Having said that upfront, I will also add that this is a magnificent phonics and spelling reference. The title uses the word "encyclopedia" and I believe that is the most appropriate description of its contents, and how to effectively use it with your child. The heart of the book is arranged alphabetically covering all the known rules for each letter and letter combinations. You will find introductory notes on each letter, an explanation of all the sounds that letter makes in the English language, and, if applicable, how that particular letter teams with others to make a new sound. You will also notice cross-references so you can easily find comparative sounds and notes. There is also a listing of words (beginning, intermediate and advanced) which work with each sound, exceptions,(if any), a total for the number of words in the English language that use that sound, and any spelling/phonetic rules which cover that sound. Like I said, this is an exhaustive reference tool that leaves no stone unturned. Do yourself, and your student(s) a favor...BUY THIS BOOK! To do without it means hours of preparation and research on your end (not to mention potential learning gaps) that can be spent applying what is given to you here.

I purchased this book because I wanted to be able to find words with sounds spelled the same. I teach 1st grade and I find it so helpful. My school even purchased a copy for all the teachers 1-3! Great reference book.

Great lease on pronunciation

This book gives practical information and examples about the sounds of English! I volunteer to teach a conversational ESL class and this book has been very helpful for me in explaining and demonstrating English pronunciation for the class. I have developed lessons around different letters and syllables that I hear the students needing help pronouncing.

One of my most used resources!

Muy muy bueno! Trae información que no se consigue fácil en ninguna parte

Would recommend to anyone teaching children to read and parents. Excellent book easy to support children with some of the why to the english language, alphabetic cod and, morphology.

Planning a lesson on the three sounds of CH and stumped on words that make the /sh/ sound? Wondering why the A in words like 'wash' and 'water' sounds more like short /o/? Need more examples of when the suffix ED sounds like /t/? This book has it all in such an easy-to-use format! Flip to any sound-spelling and find a list of words that have that sound - with easy, intermediate, and advanced examples. This book does provide information on each phonic sound-spelling, a tad bit of history and reasoning for the rules of each but it's not comprehensive enough to explain the full etymology. It's enough though to realize that many of the "exceptions" we claim that English has often have an explanation! :) The reason why I give this book 5 stars is because of its ease of use and everyday benefits. I find myself reaching for this book multiple times a week, if not daily, as I plan phonics lessons for my intervention students. Arranged alphabetically, it is so fast to flip to a particular sound spelling and have a list of words to use for reading practice, dictation exercises, word sorts, or any other activity. I wish the word lists were even longer for each sound-spelling as there is often a lot of white space left on the page. But I use the space to write down my own examples of each sound and over time I'll have a comprehensive list for each! :) Occasionally, I do not agree with the sound that a certain word makes although I attribute this to regional accent differences between myself and the author. Consider all of the words that you will pick to make sure they're suitable for your students. I LOVE this book! A must-have reference book for teachers!

One of the best books teachers (or anyone else) could have. It brings very thorough information about English phonograms along with short and clear information on why and how to use each phonogram. It also brings exceptions. It also brings rules and some information related to origin. (it could go deeper into etymology, but then we would need a much bigger volume!). It's an excellent book and I strongly recommend it.

Attention : le livre est en anglais. Ce livre est une sorte de dictionnaire récapitulatif sur la prononciation des mots en anglais. Les premiers chapitres reviennent sur les règles de base de prononciation des consonnes et des voyelles, ainsi que sur les règles d'accentuation. Un chapitre donne des conseils pour les professeurs. Ensuite, le livre se présente sous forme de listes de mots regroupés en fonction de leur prononciation (il existe beaucoup d'irrégularités dans la prononciation en anglais). A la fin du livre, vous avez des appendices revenant sur la division des syllabes, leur accentuation, la structure des mots (doublement des consonnes, mots à origine latine, mots composés, ....) d'après moi, ce livre est vraiment très complet et est une référence en la matière. Je pense que ce livre peut vraiment être intéressant pour ceux qui apprennent l'anglais et qui ne connaissent pas forcément l'alphabet phonétique.