Rules n tools literacy book aw

Rules ‘n’ Tools

Keeping it simple

Literacy Lifelong Learning Publications 1

Rules ‘n’ Tools

Keeping it simple

A note to the learner

Rules ‘n’ Tools has been created to provide a quick, at a glance reference guide to some of the most relevant areas of literacies.

Our language is complicated: there is no hiding that fact. We have words that sound the same but mean something entirely different. Then we have two letters together to complete a totally different sound.

Sometimes a letter is pronounced as a capital sound and at others it is pronounced as a small letter sound.

How do we know which to use? Then to add to the confusion we have commas, apostrophes, colons, question marks... and the list goes on.

Rules ‘n’ Tools is a one size fits all reference guide, with the aim of making it simple to understand how the language works. It is full of easy to remember tips and is suitable for absolute beginners through to those simply trying to remember if there are two r’s or two m’s in the word tomorrow!

Good Luck!

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Technophonics a

at f

friend k

b

c

d

e

broadband

camera

disc

exit

g

h

i

j

google

home

internet

jargon

m

n

o

network

off

s

t

search

tweet

x

y

l

kiss

like

p

q

mobile r

Quit paypal

quit

u

v

unfriend

virus

read w

web

x-box

yahoo

z

zip ph

sh

th

www.rulesntools.co.uk

phone

share

thumb

Email: info@rulesntools.co.uk

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Rules ‘n’ Tools

Keeping it simple

The Alphabet There are 26 letters in the English alphabet.

There are 5 vowels and the rest of the letters are called consonants.

Capital letters A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R ST UVW XY Z Small letters abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz When we spell a word out loud, we use the capital sounds. When we speak a word we use a combination of capital and small alphabet sounds.

Throughout this book, capital letter sounds are known as long sounds and small alphabet letters are known as short sounds.

The Technophonics chart opposite will help you to understand the different short sounds in the alphabet.

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Long vowels and short vowels There may be only 5 of them but the vowels are the most important letters in the alphabet. Every single word in the English language contains either a vowel or a vowel sound so make sure you understand them.

LONG VOWEL SOUNDS: A E I O U A long vowel is pronounced as a capital letter sound: Late Pete Fire Bone Tune Short vowel sounds: a e i o u A short vowel is pronounced as a small letter sound: Bark Pet Bin Born Burn

REMEMBER: If you are unsure of the pronunciation of

a word try saying it with both a long vowel sound and a short vowel sound.

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An e at the end of a word A lot of words have the letter e at the end and here’s why: When an e is at the end of a word it means that the last vowel is a long vowel sound.

Hat

e

Hate

Mat

e

Mate

Fat

e

Fate

Pet

e

Pete

Tim

e

Time

Con

e

Cone

Cut

e

Cute

When writing or spelling a word, just remember that if the last vowel is a long vowel sound then it will most likely have an e at the end. The rest of the letters only use small alphabet sounds.

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Suffix Should I keep the ‘e’ ?

When adding a suffix to a root word that ends in an e, there are some rules in order to get the spelling right: If the suffix begins with a vowel then the e is dropped: Hope – hoping Love – loving Celebrate – celebration

Tip: Don’t have 2 vowels together when adding a suffix Exceptions to the rule: age – ageing: keep the e.

If the suffix begins with a consonant then the e stays: Bare – barely Woe – woeful Refine – refinement Care – careless Exceptions to the rule: argue – argument

awe – awful

true – truly

(In this case, drop the e even if the suffix begins with a consonant).

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Is it a or an?

You would use the word ’a’ before a consonant and use the word ’an’ before a vowel sound. a boat a hotel a ladder a raindrop a walk

an animal an egg an igloo an opera an umbrella

There are some exceptions : a comes before words that sound like consonants, even if it begins with a vowel: a union a useful gadget.

The u sounds like a small y. an comes before words that have a silent h. This is because the first sound you make when saying the word is a vowel sound and an goes before a vowel or a vowel sound: an heir an honour If you pronounce the h then use a.

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Is it their or there?

The word their is used to indicate that something belongs to someone or something.

Their house Their school Their party Their children Their car.

Remember, page 26 tells us that an ei combination sounds like an A sound. The word their has an A sound The word there is mainly used to indicates a place

We will sit over there Can we go there on holiday?

I live near there

It is also used to draw attention to something: There is a spider on the ceiling There is going to be a storm.

There are only three people left in the competition.

There was a heatwave last month.

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Long Vowel sounds On Page 15 we found out that the five vowels can be pronounced as short vowels and also as long vowels.

On the next few pages you will learn how to use different letter combinations to create a long vowel sound.

Remember that we have thousands of words and almost every word needs to have a vowel so we need to use different letter combinations so that each word has its own unique spelling.

Yes – it’s confusing, but it would be even worse if we just spelt all the words the same way!!

Use the Rules n Tools guide to refer to when you get stuck spelling these complicated sounds.

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Spelling words with the long ‘E’ sound There are different ways to spell the E sound.

Spelling e ee

ea

Sound

E

Example Me Be We Feel Between Seen Been Beneath Meal Steal Clean

If you see these letter combinations when reading, say the sound as you would say a long A sound.

If you are unsure when spelling a word with this sound then try the different letter combinations until you get it right.

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ph

th

wh

gh ch 47

The ‘ch’ sound A c and an h together can be confusing.

Most people are told that this is the ch sound as in church – but have a look below!!

Spelling

Sound

Example

ch

ch

church bench champ cheers

ch

c

character charisma chemist

ch

K

chaos chaotic

ch

sh

champagne chalet chaperone

ch

qu

choir

When you see this combination when reading, try out the different sounds above.

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Introduction to Punctuation Punctuation is a standardized form of marks, dots, dashes, squiqqles and shapes that give us more information about the text and help to keep it in an understandable format.

Imagine reading an article that just goes on and on and on…….…

When we speak we use different tones and we express ourselves with our voices. Punctuation expresses the words to suggest the meaning. Punctuation is the voice of the text. It helps you to understand how the writer wants you to hear it.

Don’t worry about getting punctuation perfect: very few people do. Just try to get a feel for the more common punctuation marks and you will see immediately how much of a difference it makes to your writing and how much more enjoyable reading can be.

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CAPITAL LETTERS Capital letters are used: At the beginning of a sentence Days of the week Months of the year Names of countries Names of people T.V. Programmes Title of books Name of a magazine The word I is always written as a capital letter.

When reading, look out for capital letters as this will help you to remember where to use them.

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The Comma , The comma is the most frequently misused punctuation mark. The following pages give you the two main rules for using commas.

Rule 1 Use a comma when writing words in an order or a list: My favourite colours are orange, green, blue and red.

I love East Enders, Corrie and Come Dine with Me. In the restaurant we had soup, bread, fish, potatoes, vegetables and dessert.

Imagine each item was on a list. A comma comes after every item except the last two. The word and goes between the last two items.

If you said ‘I don’t like X Factor, Big Brother or Strictly’ then the conjunction you use would be or instead of and.

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Punctuation table Punctuation Mark

Sign

When/Where to use

CAPITAL LETTERS

ABC

Beginning of a sentence.

Names of people/places.

Full Stop

.

End of a sentence.

Comma

,

Join two sentences, to list and to add more information.

Apostrophe

‘

To show possession/to join two words together.

Exclamation Mark

!

To indicate alarm/surprise.

Inverted Commas

““

When quoting speech.

Colon

:

To give further information.

Semi Colon

;

To link two relating sentences.

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Shin and shon Introd uction to Grammar Grammar is simply the term given to different categories of words and is used to give structure to words and sentences.

We speak in grammatical terms and we think in grammatical terms so don’t be put off by words like pronouns and adverbs; these are simply names given to different classes of words.

Look at the following: I walked shops

I walked to the shops

Obviously the second statement is correct.

I personal pronoun Walked verb To preposition The definite article Shops noun Every word in our language comes under a particular category. Take your time to learn the grammatical terms, and if it helps, try to think of words in terms of speaking, rather than reading or writing.

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Adjectives An adjective is a describing word.

It gives more information about a noun.

Stevie drives a car.

Stevie drives a black car.

Fiona has hair.

Fiona has curly hair.

Ricky lives in a flat in town.

Ricky lives in a big flat in town.

The cat has whiskers.

The cat has long whiskers.

Ann has got a job Ann has got a new job

An adjective gives more information and can make a piece of writing more interesting.

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Nouns A noun is a naming word for people, places and things.

The kids went to the park.

My cousin lives in Edinburgh.

Jack is always late.

I am going into town today.

My car is in the garage.

The plane sped along the runway.

We are going to Spain on holiday The school is closed for the holidays.

REMEMBER: Nouns are for people places and things.

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Verbs A verb is a doing word.

It refers to an action that takes place.

She had to run to catch the bus.

Millie and Kyle played on the swings.

We looked everywhere for the cat.

I overslept for work this morning.

Donna bought a new coat today.

We arranged the fireworks display.

We travelled first class on the train.

If you are confused about a verb: ask yourself ‘is something being done?’ For an in depth look at verbs see ESOL section.

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Letters for School Writing a letter to your child’s school is a common practice for most parents. Most parents need to write to the school for reasons such as absence and homework. If your issues are more serious than this, you should address your letter to the head teacher.

Keep your letter or note near to the style of a formal letter – even if it is scribbled down in a rush. You will probably know your child’s teacher but do not be over familiar in your letter.

Be polite: If your child needs to be absent from school for a particular reason – ask. Don’t make your letter sound as though you have already made the decision.

A note to the school can be seen as somewhere in between a formal and informal letter.

Remember to always put in your address and the date the letter was written.

You can simply say ‘Thank you’ instead of ‘Yours sincerely’ or ‘faithfully’.

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Note for Absence

18.03.07

Dear Mr Wright, Richard was absent from school yesterday as he had flu- like symptoms. However, I believe this has been a 24 hour bug as he appears well enough to attend school today.

I would appreciate if you would give him homework to catch up on any work he has missed.

Thank You Mrs Anne Moore

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Letter to the Bank The Manager Newton Bank 26a Newton Road West Newtown NW6 6SS

22 Ash Court Ashlee Park Newton NW4 4DM

16/08/13 Dear Sirs, Request for Mortgage Repayment Holiday Account No: AB/12345/006 In June 2012 I remortgaged my property with your bank and opted for the 3 year fixed term rate which included the option to take a 6 month Mortgage Payment Holiday.

I therefore request an application form to apply for this option in order to prepare for my daughter’s wedding next year.

Yours faithfully, Charles Morvin CHARLES MARVIN

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Compiling your CV The first impression an employer has of you is your CV. A good cv is simple to follow, looks tidy and is laid out in a manner that is easy to read.

If your cv looks messy, confusing or untidy, an employer probably won’t even read it and you will have lost your opportunity for the job.

Some people like to have multiple pages in their cv but either one or two pages should be enough. An employer only wants to know your qualifications, experience and work history; they do not have time to read autobiographies!

Keep it simple and to the point.

Ensure the layout is easy to follow.

Check it over for any errors.

Keep a copy to save rewriting it every time.

Update it as you need to.

The following page shows a brief example of the general layout of a cv. You can adapt this to suit yourself.

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Introduction to ESOL Many foreign nationals have literacy problems in their own language and would find it difficult to learn an accredited ESOL course.

This section covers the basics of ESOL has been included to assist foreign nationals and also to help tutors who may have pupils in their classes for whom English is a Second Language.

It addresses some of the main areas that ESOL leaners will encounter: Verbs, tenses and prepositions.

Use a combination of the ESOL section and the other sections in this book to help your ESOL learner understand the language.

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To be or not to be…..

The most common verb is the auxiliary verb ‘to be’.

The verb to be is a strange verb because we never actually say ‘ I be happy…..’ or ‘you be hungry’ etc..

We use different words for the verb to be depending on who or what we are talking about.

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Present tense I am

Past tense I was

You are

You were

He is

He was

She is

She was

It is

It was

We are

We were

They are

They were

Other verbs With most other regular verbs you would simple add the letter s in the present tense.

I like He likes She likes They like It likes We like

You like Follow this rule for other regular verbs.

walk...walks sing...sings, love...loves want...wants

With an irregular verb, the whole word can change as we change tense.

To buy................... bought To take...................took To tell.................... told To catch............... caught 113

Present Continuous This is an action that is taking place right now, at this point in time.

Form:

Subject + verb to + ing

Example:

It is raining heavily.

He is going to work.

We are having a party

Present Simple This is an action that is generally true. It describes something that is habitual or that happens regularly.

Form:

Subject + verb

Example:

I walk to work every day

I watch Corrie every Friday

I love caramel cake.

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Prepositions Of time Prepositions tell you when something happened Specific point In time

Unspecified times

Specific Days & Dates

at 5 o’clock at Christmas at bedtime at the weekend

In the autumn in the morning in 2014 in the 60’s

on November 23rd on Christmas Day on Saturday night on my birthday

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Your own notes, examples and reminders

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Literacy Lifelong Learning Publications 122