Allographs™ II Student Workbook

About the Book

The Student Workbook provides exercises and a special Dictionary to teach how syllables are compounded in multi-syllable words, as well as the spelling patterns used in a variety of prefixes and suffixes.

Over 3,000 multi-syllable words are included in the lessons.

Lessons proceed in the following order:

This is an ordered list.

1. The nature of compounding using whole words: 'sunset' 'firefly'.
2. Root word transformations for adding ing, and ed.
3. Turning verbs into persons by adding er.
4. Changing common root words (nouns or verbs) to other parts of speech: 'bright' – brighten, brighter, brightest, brightly.
5. Reading and spelling words with adjacent vowel sounds: 'po/et' 'ra/di/o' – 'o/a/sis, vi/o/lent.
6. Common prefixes and their meaning: de, re, pre, pro, be, e, im, in, em, en.
7. Suffixes spelled alike but pronounced differently, such as: machine, refine, famine.
8. The spelling of the 'schwa'* vowel at the beginning and ends of words: a/bout, a/gend/a
9. The spellings for 'schwa' vowels in the middle of words: redundant, benefit, hesitate, collect, industry.
10. A Dictionary of 2,000 words with spelling alternatives for Old French, Latin, and Greek-based suffixes.
11. Latin root words and definitions.
12. Latin and Greek-based prefixes and definitions
13. Words of Greek origin with special spellings: myth, pneumonia, rhapsody, xylophone.

*A "schwa" is the weakest, briefest vowel in a multi-syllable word. It is the result of 'sloppy' pronunciation and always sounds "uh". It has 5 main spellings.

About the Author

Diane McGuinness is a leading expert on the nature and structure of writing systems and how this applies to teaching reading and spelling. She is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of South Florida. She currently lives in England and is Chairman of the Trust: Our Right to Read. Professor McGuinness is the author of over 100 research and scholarly papers, and has published 6 books on learning and reading instruction. These include: Why Our Children Can't Read (Simon and Schuster; 1997; Penguin Books, 1998), and Early Reading Instruction (MIT Press, 2004).