Teacher Master Key • Lessons 107 & 108Sound of Ĩ as in sir (/ɜːr/) • Phonics Matrix • Sangster Lyric Analysis • Page 60
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INSTRUCTOR REFERENCE KEY |
| Word | Part of Speech / IPA | Syllables | Family | Phonetic & Etymological Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. dirt | Noun /dɜːrt/ | dirt (1) | -irt | Base CVC. Voiced /d/ + /ɜːr/ + /t/. Etym. Old Norse drit (soil, earth). |
| 2. skirt | Noun /skɜːrt/ | skirt (1) | -irt | Initial blend sk-. Etym. Old Norse skyrta (shirt/border). |
| 3. firm | Adj. /fɜːrm/ | firm (1) | -irm | Unvoiced fricative /f/ + /ɜːr/ + bilabial nasal /m/. Latin firmus. |
| 4. first | Adj. /fɜːrst/ | first (1) | -irst | Superlative of fore (*fore-est). Consonant cluster -rst. |
| 5. thirst | Noun /θɜːrst/ | thirst (1) | -irst | Voiceless dental fricative th- (/θ/). Old English thurst. |
| 6. third | Adj. /θɜːrd/ | third (1) | -ird | Voiceless th- (/θ/) + voiced dental /d/. From OE thridda (metathesis). |
| 7. girl | Noun /ɡɜːrl/ | girl (1) | -irl | Hard g (/ɡ/) before /ɜːr/ + liquid /l/. Middle English girle. |
| 8. whirl | Verb /wɜːrl/ | whirl (1) | -irl | Initial digraph wh- (/w/ or /hw/). Etym. Old Norse hvirfla. |
| 9. mirth | Noun /mɜːrθ/ | mirth (1) | -irth | Bilabial nasal /m/ + /ɜːr/ + voiceless -th (/θ/). OE myrgth. |
| 10. bird | Noun /bɜːrd/ | bird (1) | -ird | Voiced bilabial /b/ + /ɜːr/ + voiced /d/. OE bridd (metathesis of r). |
| 11. birth | Noun /bɜːrθ/ | birth (1) | -irth | Voiced /b/ + /ɜːr/ + voiceless -th. Etym. Old Norse byrth. |
| 12. chirp | Verb /tʃɜːrp/ | chirp (1) | -irp | Voiceless palatal affricate ch- (/tʃ/) + /ɜːr/ + voiceless stop /p/. |
| 13. stirred | Verb /stɜːrd/ | stirred (1) | -irred | Lesson 108: Base stir doubles final r before -ed (1-1-1 rule). |
| 14. sir | Noun /sɜːr/ | sir (1) | -ir | Textbook key anchor: “Sound of i as in sir, marked ĩ.” |
• Acoustic Identity: Wheeler marks i before r with a tilde (ĩ) to indicate the mid-central r-colored vowel (/ɜːr/), acoustically identical in modern standard English to ẽ in her/earn (Lessons 103–104) and û in fur/burn.
• Historical Metathesis: Words like bird (OE bridd) and third (OE thridda) underwent historical vowel-consonant transposition, placing i immediately before r.
• Morphology: stir has 1 syllable, 1 short vowel (i), and ends in 1 consonant (r). Before adding vowel suffix -ed, the final consonant doubles: stir → stirred.
• Rhyme in Sangster's Lyric: Sangster pairs bird with stirred, giving students concrete proof that -ird and -irred produce the exact acoustic cadence (/ɜːrd/).
1. Tilde Placement Accuracy (6 pts): Correctly marks the tilde (ĩ) over the i in all 12 target words and in bird and stirred.
2. Phonogram Sorting (5 pts): Accurately associates each word with its phonogram family (e.g., dirt/skirt → -irt; first/thirst → -irst).
3. Memory Transcription & Penmanship (5 pts): Transcribes Sangster's stanza accurately on 26px lines; letters align cleanly with 13px midline.
4. Orthographic Conventions (4 pts): Capitalizes beginning of poetic lines and uses correct punctuation (question marks, commas, period).
• Diacritic Inquiry: “What sound does the letter 'i' make in 'pin'? What sound does it make in 'sir'? What mark shows that 'i' is modified by 'r'?” (The tilde ĩ).
• Spelling Rule Application: “Why do we double the 'r' in 'stirred' but not in 'chirped'?” (Rule: stir ends in a single consonant after a single vowel; chirp already ends in two consonants, r and p).
• Sangster's Lyric Reflection: “Why is the bird hurrying away if the sunshine is still warm and sweet? What season is arriving?” (Autumn migration; leaves turning red).