Star Phonics includes the following phonics categories:
| Star Phonics Category | Definition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Contractions | A shortened form of a group of words. Letters are omitted and replaced by an apostrophe. | did not, didn't can not, can't |
| CVC | Consonant-vowel-consonant. | bat cat |
| CVCC | Consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant. | milk |
| Digraphs (sh, ph, wh) | Two letters making one sound. | "ph" makes the /f/ sound in phone |
| Blends (fl, bl, st) | Two letters making both sounds blended together. | "sl" in sled "fl" in flat |
| R-Controlled (ar, er, ir) | R sticks to the vowel so you don't hear the vowel separately. | car has two sounds: /c/ /ar/ |
| Vowel Teams (ai, ee, oe) | Two vowels together that make a long or unique sound and sometimes a short sound. | ai in paid (long) oa in boat (long) oy in toy (unique) ea in bread (short) |
| CVCe | Consonant-vowel-consonant followed by a silent e. | mine cake ride note |
| Short Vowel Suffix (ful, less, ing) | Suffixes are letters at the end of words that change the meaning. | kiss with the suffix "ing" is kissing hop with the suffix "ed" is hopped (need to double the consonant "p" to keep the vowel short) |
| CVCCVC | Consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant: A longer word with two CVC words combined. | rabbit has "rab" and "bit" |
| Prefix (pre, un, mis) | Letters at the beginning of words that change the meaning. | "happy" with the prefix "un" is "unhappy,"; "un" means "not,", so the word means not happy |
| Long Vowel with Suffixes (est, tion) | Suffixes are letters at the end of words that change the meaning. | "hope" with the suffix "ed" is "hoped" (the past tense of hope; note that the consonant "p" is singular to keep the vowel long) |