In the teaching of Phonics what is meant by Double letters and can you give examples please?

Question

I am missing the principal some how. I get seal/head but lose it straight after that. Help

Answer 1

I have been teaching phonics for donkeys' years and the only "double letters" I am familiar with are those in such words as "summer" or "fattest" or  "bidding" in which the double letters are present to prevent the preceding vowel  producing its long sound;  so "sumer" would be pronouced as "soomer" and "fatest" as "Faytest" etc.

What you seem to be referring to is the phenomenon where different letter combinations produce the same sound as in

"seal"  (pronounced "seel") and "head" (pronounced "hed").

There is no rule about remembering these words but they do make interesting  lessons. Have you ever come across this?

I take it you already know

Of tough and bough and cough and dough!

Others may stumble, but not you

On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through?

Well done! And now you wish perhaps

To learn of less familiar traps.

Beware of heard, a dreadful word,

That looks like beard but rhymes with bird.

And dead; it's said like bed, not bead -

For goodness' sake don't call it "deed"!

Watch out for meat and great and threat,

They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.

A moth is not a moth in mother

Nor both in bother or broth in brother,

And here is not a rhyme for there

nor dear and fear for bear and pear,

And then there's dose and rose and lose -

Just look them up and goose and choose.

And cork and work and card and ward,

And font and front and word and sword,

And do and go and thwart and cart -

Come, come, I've only made a start!

A dreadful language!  Man alive,

I'd mastered it when I was five!!

Taken from:

Alpha to Omega  - The A to Z of Teaching Reading, Writing and Spelling  by  Beve Hornsby and Frula Shear.

Suggest you buy one. Usually have to order them but can be found in Waterstones and/or WHSmith's.

I have used it for years as the basis of my phonics lessons.

Answer 2

Perhaps like phone and fork.  Both the ph and the f make the /f/ sound.  Does this help?

Answer 3

are you talking about  words like

Meet- Meat

same double vowels, different double vowels or are you talking about double consonants?? OR are you talking about diagraphs?

Diagraphs are the gr, tr, th , sh , ch ,dr etc etc

they are two letter blends

I dont exactly understand your question.. give more info