Monthly Teaching Tip: Correctly teaching the sound to Q!

Monthly Teaching Tip: Correctly teaching the sound to Q!

Most of us were taught that the sound to Q is /kw/.

Very likely, many of you are teaching the sound to Q that same way.

But… please take a moment to read these words:

  • Guava
  • Guar
  • Guacamole
  • Cuatro (musical instrument)
  • Cuisine
  • Suave
  • Suede
  • Suite

In the above words, the letter U is acting as a consonant and making the W sound, just as it is in so many Q words like, queenquack and quiz.

It is the U making the W sound, not the Q.

So why are so many people teaching the Q sound as KW?

If you teach your student that the U in quitquarter and quilt makes the W sound, when they come across other words with a different letter just before the U making the W sound, such as G, C or S, they will more likely be able to decode those words faster!

Another reason to teach them the Q sound as just K is so that they won’t automatically add the W sound when reading words like liquor or torque.

 

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