Students can sort pictures or words, then write them into a list and highlight the g sound in a specific color – one color for hard g and another for soft g. Hard g sound is more common than soft g sound. The hard g sound produces the /g/ bran as in chewing gum. The soft g sound produces the /j/ sound as in giant. Our little first year students will soon be introduced to the two sounds “c” and “g”. These two consonants are a bit tricky because they produce different sounds depending on the letter following the word. We usually teach students that the “hard” sounds of “c” and “g” are the most common, but they need to know when these letters produce the “soft” sound. We tell students that when the letter “c” is followed by the letters i, e, or y, the “c” makes the /s/ sound exactly like the words “city,” “hundred,” and “ice.” Next, ask students to write down 3–5 words they learned. Choose a mix of words with a hard and soft g. Some common words don`t follow the rules for hard and soft G, such as start, get, and give. Usually, a c or g sound is hard or soft, depending on the vowel that follows. Here`s the general rule: when G or C is followed by E, I, or Y, the sound is low.
Examples: A soft `g` sounds like /j/ in `giraffe`. (The real way to represent the soft `g` in the International Phonetic Alphabet is /dʒ/. An explanation can be found here. /j/ is actually the sound at the beginning of “yes”, but it would be easier if I just typed /j/ for the soft sound. Ask students to find all hard G-words and highlight them in one color, then find the soft G-words and highlight them in another color. Once kids know the rule, they can try the sound anyway if they`re not sure and see what makes a real word. Knowing the rules really helps to read. A soft sound is a long sound produced with sustained breathing, as in: Our giant vs cyclops card game offers students a fun way to practice applying hard and gentle c and g rules. The game includes instructions to play six games of varying difficulty. To ensure mastery, the deck contains real and absurd words (absurd words force players to decipher them instead of memorizing them). Click below for a video demonstration of two fun Giant vs Cyclops card games. Towards the end of the 1st year, I introduce the soft c sound.
Then, at the beginning of the second year, I teach soft g sound. Mastering hard and soft c and g rules is an advanced skill that brings significant rewards. Beginners often encounter hard c and g sounds when learning monosyllabic words (e.g., cat, cloud, Go, and glow). However, soft c and g are commonly found in Greek and Latin roots, so they tend to appear in more complex polysyllabic words. Understanding how to decode c and g allows students to read very complex words (for example: biological and cautious). Find decodable texts targeting hard and soft g sounds. Sorting words or images is another great activity to work on hard and soft gs and c`s. Some words with a double C have a harsh sound followed by a soft tone, such as accent, acceptable and vaccine.
The letter “g” is similar. If the “g” is followed by an i, e or y, the /j/ sounds like in “gem”, “gist” or “gym”. Visuals often help students remember sound rules. You may find these posters helpful if you teach this rule. If you click on the link below, you can download 6 posters! And then there are some funny words that include both a hard letter sound AND a soft letter sound – recycle, reconcile. The pronunciation of “c” and “g” in general – but not always – depends on the letter following these consonants, according to the following rules: Finally, I would post the poster “Is the ground hard or soft?” so that students can see this rule in writing and use it as a reference. I hope this information about hard and soft g and c sounds is helpful to you! If you need more resources to teach these or other phonics skills, check out my phonetics program From Sounds to Spelling. When I first introduce hard g and soft g, I like to use a small activity to see if students can see the difference. You can hand out word cards to students (perhaps with pictures to help them) and see if they can split into two groups. Some students will have words that begin with a soft g, and others will have words that begin with a hard g.
(You can explain the hard and soft g ahead of time, OR you can see if they understand it for themselves first.) If a harsh pronunciation is necessary, but the letter after the “c” or “g” would make it sweet, add “h” after “c” (as in “architect”) or “u” after “g” (as in “guest”). Alternatively, the next letter is doubled to achieve difficult pronunciation, as in “Outrigger”. Nothing is easy when it comes to hard and soft “g” and “c”, and of course, there are some exceptions to the rules discussed earlier. These usually involve difficult pronunciation of words, where the rule indicates that a soft sound is usually used. These exceptions include: Explain: “Some words produce a hard g sound /g/. But others make a soft g like /j/. G and C are delicate letters! If students don`t know the difference between their harsh and soft sounds, “Let`s race!” can easily become “Let`s rake!” Finally, say 1-3 sentences that use words with a hard, soft g. Say each sentence once and give students time to write it. Keep it simple and only use words you`ve taught, as well as words they already know. Note that with the soft g, sometimes the g and the next vowel go into the same soundbox as shown above. This is the case when the vowel does not make a sound afterwards. Say, “The hard thing about the letter g is that the sound changes depending on which letter comes next. Check for letters that make g a harsh sound, as in “gate” (o, a, u, r, l) and letters that make g a soft sound, as in giraffe (e, i, y).
When teaching phonetics and spelling rules, it is very important that the student immediately applies the rules of the text. Unfortunately, there aren`t many books that target this particular skill, but I did find a few. You may want to try these books on Amazon. You can teach soft g towards the end of the first year, after students have learned all the consonants, digraphs, mixes, vowel teams, silent e, vowel-r combinations, floss, and glued sounds. In English, there are two different sounds for the consonants “c” and “g”. A hard “g” sounds almost like a “k”, as in the words big, good, and pig. A soft “g” is more like a “j”, as in the words big, general and huge. In contrast, a hard “c” sounds like a “k”, as in the words cup, class and fact.
A soft “c” sounds like an “s” as in city, receive and cell. Simple rules can help determine whether the pronunciation of these consonants should be hard or soft. I created this activity just for my freshman friends. The sorting activity is ideal for teaching small groups when introducing the concept. It also has a self-monitoring function, making it ideal for additional practice in literacy centres. If you download this activity, you will receive two sorting mats and 69 colorful cards with words and pictures with the “c” and “g” hard and soft. In the first example, each word contains both a hard “c” and a soft “c”. In the second example, the first word “bicycle” first uses a soft “c” and then a hard “c,” but the second word, “vacancy,” uses a hard “c” first, then a soft “c.” The third example uses a hard, soft “c” in “gauge” and “magnificent,” while the second and third words — “geography” and “gigantic” — use a soft “g” followed by a hard “g.” Also add the grapheme -dge when teaching soft g.
This is another way to spell the soft g sound. The map above is from my sound barrier. When an “e” follows “g” at the end of a word, a hard “g” becomes a soft “g”, as in: For these sounds, the most important question is: “What comes directly AFTER the letter g/c?” This helps determine whether it is a harsh or soft sound.
