FLOSS Rule Anchor Chart Rule 1 • Short Vowel Shields
The FLOSS Rule! 🦷
Short word + short vowel + f, l, s, or z at the end?
DOUBLE that last letter!
👏
1 Clap
Short 1-beat word
🗣️
Short Vowel
a, e, i, o, or u
✌️
Ends in F, L, S, Z
Write TWO at the end!
Double F
puff
cliff
💨
Double L
bell
hill
🔔
Double S
kiss
grass
🌿
Double Z
buzz
fizz
🐝
👀
Tricky Words!
Little words like if, of, us, yes, bus, and is only have ONE letter at the end!
C or K Anchor Chart Rule 2 • Short Vowel Shields
C or K at the Start?
🐱🪁
K likes i and e! C likes a, o, u!
K
K + i or e
kid
🧒
kite
🪁
key
🔑
king
👑
C
C + a, o, u
cat
🐱
cow
🐄
cup
🥤
car
🚗
💡
Quick Clue!
Look at the second letter ! If it is i or e , pick K . If it is a, o, u (or a consonant like crab ), pick C !
CK vs K Anchor Chart Rule 3 • Short Vowel Shields
-CK or -K at the End?
🦆🥛
Use -ck right after a short vowel!
Use -k after any other letter!
-ck
Short Vowel + /k/
duck
🦆
sock
🧦
kick
⚽
back
🎒
-k
Not a Short Vowel
milk
🥛
book
📖
bike
🚲
desk
🪑
🛡️
Why? C and K Team Up!
A short vowel needs two buddies (-ck) to guard it at the end of a short word!
C vs K Anchor Chart Bonus Chart • Short Vowel Shields
C vs. K: The /k/ Sound!
🔎
Hear /k/? Ask: Is it at the START or the END?
AT THE START Look at the next vowel!
C takes a, o, u
cat cup
🐱
K takes i, e
kid key
🔑
AT THE END Listen right before /k/!
Short vowel → -ck
duck sock
🦆
Anything else → -k
milk book
🥛
🌟
Golden Rule!
Short words almost never end with just -c ! Use -ck or -k at the end.
Magic E Anchor Chart Rule 4 • Vowel Power Boosters
Magic Silent E! ✨
🪄
Magic e is quiet at the end!
It makes the other vowel SAY ITS NAME!
cap
cape
🧢 → 🦸
kit
kite
🧰 → 🪁
hop
hope
🐇 → 🌟
cub
cube
🐻 → 🧊
tap
tape
🚰 → 📼
🪄
Magic E Jumps Over ONE Letter!
Watch out for helper words like have, give, and love—their vowel stays short!
TCH vs CH Anchor Chart Rule 5 • Vowel Power Boosters
-TCH or -CH at the End?
⚾🥪
Use -tch right after a short vowel!
Use -ch after any other letter!
-tch
Short Vowel + /ch/
catch
⚾
match
🧩
watch
⌚
witch
🧙♀️
-ch
Not a Short Vowel
lunch
🥪
bench
🪑
beach
🏖️
peach
🍑
👀
4 Tricky Rule Breakers!
These 4 short-vowel words use -ch instead: rich, much, such, which!
Soft C and G Anchor Chart Rule 6 • Vowel Power Boosters
Soft C & Soft G! 💎
🪙
When c or g sees e, i, or y, it whispers its SOFT sound!
C says /s/
like a snake! 🐍
cent
🪙
city
🏙️
face
😊
mice
🐭
G says /j/
like a giraffe! 🦒
gem
💎
gym
🏀
cage
🐦
page
📄
💡
Remember!
Before a, o, or u , C and G stay HARD (cat 🐱, goat 🐐)!
AI vs AY Anchor Chart Vowel Team 1 • Long A Sound
AI or AY? (Long A) 🚂
🌧️
Use ai in the MIDDLE of a word!
Use ay at the END of a word!
ai
In the MIDDLE
rain
🌧️
train
🚂
snail
🐌
tail
🐕
ay
At the END
play
⚽
day
☀️
stay
🏠
tray
🍽️
🤝
Why?
I is shy at the end of a word, so Y steps in to finish the word (play, day, stay )!
EE vs EA Anchor Chart Vowel Team 2 • Long E Sound
EE & EA! (Long E) 🌳
🐝
When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking!
Both ee and ea say /ē/!
ee
Double E Buddy Pair
tree
🌳
bee
🐝
feet
🦶
green
🟩
ea
E and A Team
leaf
🍃
eat
🍎
read
📖
beach
🏖️
🍞
Watch Out for Tricky EA!
Sometimes ea says short /ĕ/ like in bread 🍞 and head 😊!
OA vs OW Anchor Chart Vowel Team 3 • Long O Sound
OA or OW? (Long O) ⛵
❄️
Use oa in the MIDDLE of a word!
Use ow at the END of a word!
oa
In the MIDDLE
boat
⛵
coat
🧥
goat
🐐
soap
🧼
ow
At the END
snow
❄️
bow
🎀
grow
🌱
yellow
💛
🦉
Watch Out for OW!
ow can also say /ow/ like in cow 🐄 and owl 🦉!
OI vs OY Anchor Chart Vowel Team 4 • /oi/ Sound
OI or OY? (/oi/ Sound) 🪙
🧸
Use oi in the MIDDLE of a word!
Use oy at the END of a word!
oi
In the MIDDLE
coin
🪙
boil
🍲
soil
🌱
point
👉
oy
At the END
boy
👦
toy
🧸
joy
😄
enjoy
🎉
🤝
Same Rule as AI / AY!
Just like ai/ay , i stays in the middle and y loves the end of a word!
1-1-1 Doubling Anchor Chart Rule 7 • Suffix Shapeshifters
The 1-1-1 Doubling Rule!
🐇💨
Does your word pass 1-1-1?
DOUBLE the last letter before -ed, -ing, -er!
1
1 Clap 👏
Short word (hop )
1
1 Short Vowel
a, e, i, o, or u
1
1 Last Letter
Ends in 1 consonant
✓ Passes 1-1-1 → DOUBLE!
hop + ing = hopping 🐇
big + er = bigger 🐘
stop + ed = stopped 🛑
✗ No Double Needed
jump + ing = jumping 🦘
rain + ed = rained 🌧️
help + er = helper 🤝
🚫
Never Double W, X, or Y!
Words ending in w, x, or y never double (snowing ❄️, boxed 📦, playing ⚽).
Drop the E Anchor Chart Rule 8 • Suffix Shapeshifters
Drop the Silent E! ✂️
🧁
DROP the silent e when adding -ing, -ed, -er!
KEEP it when adding -ful, -less, -ly!
DROP the E ✂️
Ending starts with a VOWEL
bake + ing → baking
🧁
make + ing → making
🎨
bike + ed → biked
🚲
cute + er → cuter
🐶
KEEP the E 🤝
Ending starts with a CONSONANT
hope + ful → hopeful
🌟
safe + ly → safely
🦺
care + less → careless
💥
nice + ly → nicely
😊
💡
Why?
Two vowels don’t like to bump into each other! When a vowel ending comes along, silent e steps out of the way.
Change Y to I Anchor Chart Rule 9 • Suffix Shapeshifters
Change Y to I! 🔄
👶☀️
Peek at the letter right before Y!
Consonant + y → Change y to i ! Vowel + y → Keep y !
Consonant + Y
Change Y → I!
baby + es → babies
👶
try + ed → tried
🏃
happy + er → happier
😄
sunny + est → sunniest
☀️
Vowel + Y
Keep the Y!
play + ed → played
⚽
toy + s → toys
🧸
boy + s → boys
👦
stay + s → stays
🏠
👀
Keep Y Before -ING!
When you add -ing , keep the y so you don’t get “ii” (crying 😢, trying 💪)!
Plural S vs ES Anchor Chart Rule 10 • Word Builder Secrets
More Than One: -S or -ES?
🐶🐶
Add -es after hissing endings: s, x, z, ch, sh!
Add -s to most other words!
Add -ES
Ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh
bus → buses
🚌
box → boxes
📦
wish → wishes
🌟
bench → benches
🪑
Add -S
Most other words
dog → dogs
🐶
cat → cats
🐱
hat → hats
🎩
star → stars
⭐
👏
Clap Test!
If adding the ending makes an extra clap (box → box-es ), spell it with -es !
QU Buddy Rule Anchor Chart Rule 11 • Word Builder Secrets
Q & U Are Best Friends!
👑🦆
Q never goes anywhere without U!
Together, qu says /kw/!
queen
👑
quack
🦆
quilt
🛏️
quick
⚡
squid
🦑
quiz
📝
🤫
Another Buddy Secret!
Words never end with just v ! Put a quiet e at the end to hold its hand (have, give, love ❤️).
I Before E Anchor Chart Rule 12 • Word Builder Secrets
I Before E! 🍰
🤝
I before E, except after C,
or when it says /ā/ as in eight !
IE
Usually I then E
piece 🍰
field 🌾
friend 🤝
CEI
E then I after C
ceiling 🏠
receive 📬
receipt 🧾
EI = /ā/
Says Long A
eight 8️⃣
sleigh 🛷
weigh ⚖️
👀
Tricky Words!
A few words like weird and science break the rhyme!