The word 'pool' is driving me potty!

[18yearstooold]

Trying to identify alternatives to /ue/ in a list of words

I have a stupid accent and when I say pool it is neither an /u/ or an /oo/

Gah!!!!!

Zoo? You? Glue? Rule? Do? Flew? Shoe? Suit? Pseudo? Flu?

I've been given the words Mrz

I've got

Pool
Blue
Rude
New
Dune
Noon
Glue
Flew
Crew
Spoon

I need to say whether they contain grapheme that spells the /ue/ phoneme

I think I've just been looking at it too long with my stupid hybrid accent

What exactly does the question say?

Circle the words that contain the /ue/ phoneme -consider alternative graphemes

There are other words on the list but they are obviously incorrect, like 'boy'

I think all of those are although pool isn't in my accent really either. But if you imagine an RP accent it is I think? :-/

What you've written doesn't make sense?
Grapheme means spelling so it's asking which words contain the spelling

If they are asking about words containing the sound (phoneme) /oo/ then the word new is the only one in the list you posted

We've been taught

Oo -moon
Ew -screw
Ou -soup
Oe -shoe
U_e -tune

Are alternative graphemes for the same phoneme -the long u vowel sound

Oo can also be a short vowel sound like in book

But to my ear, pool doesn't sound like either pronunciation

Am I barking totally up the wrong tree?

Pool down my way is the short 'oo' sound as in book. So, not a 'oo' or 'yoo' sound if that answers your question!

'If they are asking about words containing the sound (phoneme) /oo/ then the word new is the only one in the list you posted'

Not in my accent-
Blue
Crew
Glue
Noon
Spoon
Flew
Rude

These all contain the /oo/ phoneme when I say them. 'new' does as well, but with a /y/ added- like 'nyoo'

I would say 'pool' so it would be almost the same as 'Paul' so no /oo/ here, but I can see that it would have an /oo/ in other accents.

"New does as well but with a /y/ added nyoo" ... exactly! The grapheme (spelling) in new represents the phoneme (sound) /yoo/ not the sound /oo/

OP, could you vaguely tell us where your "stupid accent" (?!) is from and where you are studying these sounds?

I'm wondering if you're in teacher training or trying to help your child with school

My accent is a hybrid of Manchester, York and Lincoln (don't ask)

I'm studying in Leeds but i'm only first year and very open to being told i'm wrong, it's all part of learning

I'm much more confident in maths and science but i'm sure I'll get there

Can I ask you who taught you 18years?

The sound /oo/ can be spelt

as in moon as in blue as in flu as in rule as in crew as in fruit as in do as in shoe as in pseudo and as in you

The sound /yoo/ can be spelt
as in unit as in useful as in pneumonia as in new and as in Tuesday

As you can see same spelling represents different sounds

It was group discussion in a uni lesson Mrz -we've only had 2 lessons so far to cover phases 1-6 so i'm doing some extra work to plug the gaps

The last dealings I had with phonics were when my 13 year old was doing jolly phonics and pretending there were ants running up and down her arm!

These words do sound different depending on your accent.
I pronounce 'dune' and 'new' with a dipthong, a bit like 'you'. But many Americans don't.

When I say it, the vowel in 'pool' sounds different from all the other words on the list. But I have heard some people pronounce it with a dipthong, sort of like 'cruel'.

In my accent, all the words on the list have the same sound apart from pool, new and dune.

I'm sure someone will be along soon to point you to the MN book reviews but you can get a free really detailed overview of English phonemes beckclasswiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/SpellRead+Lexicon.pdf and English Alphabetic Code - complete picture chart.pdf

dune, tune, tube, amuse, dispute, new, pew, few, newt, pewter all contain the sound

Have a look in letters and sounds, phase 5. There should be some words lists for alternate graphemes.

Letters and Sounds doesn't give enough detail for teaching phonics,I'm afraid. Teachers need a much better knowledge of phonics if they are to teach children to read and spell.

Thanks for the links Mrz

Cake I have 'ahem' acquired a copy of letters and sounds, i'm working my way through it but I work better hearing the sounds rather than reading lists of words, I need to find a nice, cheerful website

Get family and friends to say the words it's often easier to hear the sounds when you aren't trying to work out how you say it.

Has your university provided you with any real reading materials for phonics or is Letters & Sounds it? It's a really basic document certainly not enough to teach phonics effectively

The majority of our recommended reading focuses on comprehension and inference

I'm doing 7-11
There is a parallel course doing early years and KS1, I know they've done a lot more work on phonics than us so I'll see if I can track down their reading list

Thanks it would be interesting to know if ITTs have got their act together re phonics (teachers in KS2 & 3 will have pupils who need direct phonics teaching IME)