5. Videos: See Spelling with 'c' vs. 'k' in the Classroom
Spelling with 'c' vs. 'k' Skill Explainer
Word Recognition x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension
Assessment
The process of measuring students' progress and providing information to help guide instruction
(active)
Word Recognition
The ability to see a word and know how to pronounce it without consciously thinking about it
Phonological Awareness
A group of skills that enable you to recognize and manipulate parts of spoken words
Articulation
The production of speech sounds.
Articulation Skill Explainer
Syllables
Part of a word organized around a single vowel sound
Onset-Rime
Two parts of a word: onset is the initial sound; rime is the vowel and any consonant sounds that follow it.
Phonemic Awareness
The ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds within a spoken word
Phoneme Segmentation and Blending
- Overview of Phoneme Segmentation and Blending
- When to Teach Phoneme Segmentation and Blending
- How to Teach Segmentation and Blending
- Videos: See It in the Classroom
- Lesson Plans for Phoneme Segmentation and Blending
- Assessing Your Students
- What the Research Says
- Resource Hub: Phoneme Segmentation & Blending
(active)
Phonics
A method for teaching children the relationship between spoken sounds and written letters so they can learn to decode and encode
Sound-Letter Correspondence
The relationship between a phoneme and the grapheme that spells it
Letter Names and Sounds Skill Explainer
- Overview of Letter Names and Sounds
- When to Teach Letter Names and Sounds
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- What the Research Says
- Resource Hub: Videos, Lessons, Activities
(active)Phonics Patterns
Common letter combinations found in words.
Short Vowels Skill Explainer
- Overview of Short Vowel Sounds
- When to Teach Short Vowel Sounds
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- Videos: See it in the Classroom
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Closed Syllables Skill Explainer
- Overview of Closed Syllables
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Glued Sounds Skill Explainer
Open Syllables Skill Explainer
Spelling with 'c' vs. 'k' Skill Explainer
- Overview of Spelling with 'c' vs. 'k'
- When to Teach Spelling with 'c' vs. 'k'
- How to Teach Spelling with 'c' vs. 'k'
- Lesson Plans for Spelling with 'c' vs. 'k'
- Videos: See It in the Classroom
- Student Practice Activities
- Assessing Your Students
- Students Who Need Additional Support
- Resource Hub: Videos, Lessons, Activities
Consonant Digraphs Skill Explainer
‘-ck’ Spelling Rule Skill Explainer
- Overview of the '-ck' Spelling Rule
- When to Teach the '-ck' Spelling Rule
- How to Teach the '-ck' Spelling Rule
- Videos: See It in the Classroom
- Lesson Plans for the '-ck' Spelling Rule
- Student Practice Activities
- Assessing Your Students
- Students Who Need Additional Support
- Resource Hub: Videos, Lessons, Activities
FLoSS(Z) Spelling Rule Skill Explainer
- Overview of the FLoSS(Z) Spelling Rule
- When to Teach the FLoSS(Z) Spelling Rule
- How to Teach the FLoSS(Z) Spelling Rule
- Videos: See It in the Classroom
- Lesson Plans for the FLoSS(Z) Spelling Rule
- Student Practice Activities
- Assessing Your Students
- Students Who Need Additional Support
- Resource Hub: Videos, Lessons, Activities
‘y’ as a Vowel Skill Explainer
Coming soon.
Soft 'c' and Soft 'g' Skill Explainer
Coming soon.
R-Controlled Vowels Skill Explainer
Coming soon.
Vowel Teams and Diphthongs Skill Explainer
Coming soon.
'-tch' Spelling Rule Skill Explainer
- Overview of '-tch' Spelling Rule
- When to Teach '-tch' Spelling Rule
- How to Teach '-tch' Spelling Rule
- Videos: See It in the Classroom
- Lesson Plans for '-tch' Spelling Rule
- Student Practice Activities
- Assessing Your Students
- Students Who Need Additional Support
- What the Research Says
- Resource Hub: Videos, Lessons, Activities
'-dge' Spelling Rule Skill Explainer
- Overview of '-dge' Spelling Rule
- When to Teach '-dge' Spelling Rule
- How to Teach '-dge' Spelling Rule
- Videos: See It in the Classroom
- Lesson Plans for '-dge' Spelling Rule
- Student Practice Activities
- Assessing Your Students
- Students Who Need Additional Support
- What the Research Says
- Resource Hub: Videos, Lessons, Activities
Consonant '-le' Skill Explainer
Coming soon.
Schwa Skill Explainer
Coming soon.
Irregularly Spelled High-Frequency Words
High-frequency words that have a part of their spelling that has to be memorized
Irregularly Spelled High-Frequency Words Skill Explainer
- Overview of Irregularly Spelled High-Frequency Words
- When to Teach Irregular Words
- How to Teach Irregular Words
- Videos: See It in the Classroom
- Lesson Plans for Irregular Words
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- Resource Hub: Videos, Lessons, Activities
Multisyllable Words
Words that have more than one word part
Prefixes
How to add meaningful beginnings to words
Suffixes
How to add meaningful endings to words
Language Comprehension
The ability to understand the meaning of spoken words
Reading Comprehension
The ability to understand the meaning of printed text
Text Considerations
Characteristics of a text that impact the ease or difficulty of comprehension.
Strategies and Activities
How a reader approaches a specific text, depending on their purpose for reading
Reader’s Skill and Knowledge
The skills and knowledge a reader brings to the reading task that are necessary for comprehension
Sociocultural Context
Elements in a classroom that affect how well a child learns to read
Fluency
The ability to read accurately with automaticity and expression
Fluency: Accuracy, then Automaticity
Reading or decoding words correctly (accuracy) and reading at an appropriate rate (automaticity)
Accuracy, then Automaticity Skill Explainer
Coming soon.
Fluency: Expressive Text Reading
Reading characterized by accuracy with automaticity and expression
Expressive Text Reading Skill Explainer
Coming soon.
Writing
The act of putting thoughts into print using transcription and composition skills
Handwriting, Spelling, and Typing
Methods for translating speech into written words
Handwriting and Letter Formation Skill Explainer
Sentence Writing
Composing a complete statement, question, exclamation, or idea with proper grammar and punctuation
Writing a Simple Sentence Skill Explainer
Sentence Expansion Skill Explainer
- Overview of Sentence Expansion
- When to Teach Sentence Expansion
- How to Teach Sentence Expansion
- Video: See It in the Classroom
- Lesson Plan for Sentence Expansion
- Student Practice Activities
- Assessing Your Students
- For Students Who Need Additional Support
- What the Research Says
- Resource Hub: Videos, Lessons, Activities
Features of Structured Literacy
A systematic and explicit approach to teaching reading based on research
These two videos present a whole group and one-on-one intervention for explicitly teaching students when to use 'c' or 'k' to spell the /k/ sound.
In this first video, Ashton Smith, a kindergarten teacher at Hope-Hill Elementary School in Atlanta, reviews the curvy 'c' and straight 'k' spelling rules with her students. The class then uses them to spell words with short vowels.
A Review Lesson: Spelling with Curvy ‘c’ or Straight ‘k’

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Ashton Smith: We are going to do our deck. Are you ready?
Students: Yes. 'e', Ed, /ĕ/ ...
Ashton Smith: Lemme hear it.
Students: /ĕ/ ...
Narrator: As these kindergartners write more and more, they'll often have to decide how to spell the /k/ sound as in cat and kite. Should it be a 'c' or a 'k'? Today, teacher Ashton Smith is reviewing a simple and memorable way for them to make that decision.
Ms. Smith and students: 'c', cat, /k/ ... 'k', kite, /k/ ... /k/, /k/, /k/ ...
Ashton Smith: Do they make the same sound?
Students: Yeah.
Ashton Smith: Right. Okay. So how do we know when to use it? Let's see. Curvy 'c' goes with ...
Ms. Smith and students: ... curvy 'a', curvy 'o', curvy 'u'.
Ashton Smith: And straight 'k' goes with ...
Ms. Smith and students: ... straight 'i', straight 'e', straight 'y' ...
Ashton Smith: Very nice, very nice.
Narrator: To help it stick, Ms. Smith combines repetition with a visual.
Ashton Smith: All right. We know that curvy 'c' goes with ...
Students: ... curvy 'a', curvy 'o', curvy 'u' ...
Ashton Smith: Very good. Straight 'k' goes with ...
Students: ... straight 'i', straight 'e', straight 'y' ...
Narrator: Now it's time to put the rule into practice.
Ashton Smith: All right. I'm going to write some words on the board. I want you to raise your hand and tell me what letters we're going to use. Okay, my first word is cup. Let's tap it ...
Ms. Smith and students: /k/, /ŭ/, /p/ ...
Ashton Smith: With a quiet hand, who can tell me where is my /k/ sound? Quinson, is it the beginning of the word or the end of the word?
Quinson: Beginning of the word.
Ashton Smith: The beginning of the word. So we need to look at our vowel. What's our vowel sound?
Ms. Smith and students: /ŭ/ ...
Ashton Smith: Is it a short vowel? Is it a short vowel?
Students: Yes.
Ashton Smith: So Noah, what letter do I need to put for ...
Noah: 'c' ...
Narrator: 'c' ... Kiss your brain. My last word is kit. Let's tap it.
Ms. Smith and students: /k/, /ĭ/, /t/ ... kit ...
Ashton Smith: All right. What is my vowel? Everybody tell me my vowel. What's my vowel?
Students: /ĭ/ ...
Ashton Smith: /ĭ/ ... Is it a short vowel or a long vowel?
Students: Short.
Narrator: Short. All right. Who can tell me what I use for my /k/ sound? Hugo ...
Hugo: 'k' ...
Narrator: 'k' ... Why did you pick 'k'?
Hugo: Because 'k' goes with straight 'i', straight 'e', straight 'y' ...
Ashton Smith: Yes. Very good.
Narrator: Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim & Donna Barksdale, the Hastings/Quillen Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the AFT, The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and anonymous donors. Special thanks to Hope Hill Elementary, Reading Is Essential for All People, and Atlanta Public Schools. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington, D.C., the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.
Ashton Smith: My name is Ashton Smith and this is Reading Universe.
This second video shows a one-on-one intervention with teacher Nicole Ormandy explaining to a second grader how to decide between 'c' and 'k' when the /k/ sound comes right before the vowel. She uses pictures with embedded mnemonics to help the student remember that 'c' comes before 'a', 'o', and 'u', and 'k' comes before 'e' and 'i'. They also practice reading words that start with /k/ fluently. (Notice that Ms. Ormandy uses a mnemonic with a cat and kite to teach the rule, which is a slightly different method than what we share in our Explicitly Teach the Skill section.)
How to Spell the /k/ Sound Before a Vowel

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Nicole Ormandy: We've got our two letters that represent /k/. Now when it comes to spelling, that can be tricky, right? What do I use? 'C' or 'k'?
Narrator: In this one-on-one session, you'll see Nicole Ormandy guide second grader Bea through a lesson on how to spell the /k/ sound before a vowel with the letter 'c' or the letter 'k'. This is likely the first time Bea has had to decide between two possible letters to spell a sound.
Nicole Ormandy: Alright, Bea. Today we're going to learn a spelling pattern for the sound /k/. Alright, so listen first to these words and tell me the first sound you hear in the word. Cab.
Bea: /k/
Nicole Ormandy: Cub.
Bea: /k/
Nicole Ormandy: Cut.
Bea: /k/
Nicole Ormandy: Cut.
Bea: /k/
Nicole Ormandy: Kid.
Bea: /k/
Nicole Ormandy: Exactly, right? We keep hearing /k/ at the beginning of those words and there are two ways that we can represent /k/. We've been reading words that have /k/, and they typically start with which two letters?
Bea: 'C' and 'k'.
Nicole Ormandy: Exactly. They typically start with 'c' and 'k'. To warm up let's trace each letter and say /k/. /K/. We'll do each letter two times.
Narrator: Bea uses multiple senses — sight, touch, and sound — while tracing the letters. This type of multisensory learning reinforces the connection between the letters and the sounds they produce.
Nicole Ormandy: Now let's try the 'k'.
Bea: /k/
Nicole Ormandy: Excellent. Alright, well done tracing our /k/ sounds with 'c' and 'k'. What I want to show you now is that to help us remember when we use 'c' versus when we use 'k' when we're spelling, we can think about our cat and our kite images. Look at our cat. What letters do you see on the cat?
Bea: A 'u' and 'a'?
Nicole Ormandy: Yeah, I see the 'a'. What letter is this?
Bea: 'O'.
Nicole Ormandy: Yeah. And 'u', right? So we made our eyes out of 'a's, our little nose is an 'o', and the cat's little mouth is a 'u'. So I'm going to try to remember this little image to help me think, "oh, yeah. 'C' is used before 'a,' 'o', or 'u'."
Narrator: Ms. Ormandy helps Bea remember this pattern by using pictures with embedded mnemonics. Little clues attached to the letters.
Nicole Ormandy: What about the kite? What letters do we have at the center of our kite?
Bea: 'E' and 'i'?
Nicole Ormandy: This is because when we're spelling /k/ before 'e' and 'i', we use the letter 'k'. So I'm going to say a few words and you're going to fill it in, whether it's 'c' or 'k'. If you have to look up here to think about whether it's 'a', 'o', or 'u' or whether it's 'e' or 'i' to help you know whether to use 'c' or 'k', feel free to do that. Okay? Let's look at this one. The word is supposed to be "cub." What's the vowel in this word? Cub.
Bea: 'U'.
Nicole Ormandy: 'U'. So which one? 'C' or 'k'? For cub? What did you choose?
Bea: 'C'.
Nicole Ormandy: Perfect. Why did you choose 'c'?
Bea: Because there's a 'u'.
Nicole Ormandy: Exactly. We see our 'u' with 'c'. All right, the next word's going to be kin. Kin. Now you've got it. What was the vowel in kin?
Bea: 'I'.
Nicole Ormandy: Right? And 'i' has a 'k' before it. If 'i' is my vowel, I'm spelling that /k/ with 'k'. What I'm going to ask you to do now is read back all of these words that you just filled in the /k/ sound for.
Narrator: Ms. Ormandy ends her lesson by asking Bea to read each word with accuracy.
Bea: Kit. Cub. Kin. Cup.
Narrator: Reading words accurately is an important step toward becoming a fluent reader.
Nicole Ormandy: Well done. So let's just reiterate then. When do I use 'c' for my /k/ sound?
Bea: 'A', 'o', 'u'.
Nicole Ormandy: Perfect. Right before an 'a,' 'o,' or 'u'. When do I use 'k' for my /k/ sound?
Bea: 'I' or 'e'.
Nicole Ormandy: Right. Before 'i' or 'e'. Excellent. So I'm going to think about my cat and my kite to help me remember 'c' before 'a', 'o', or 'u'. 'K' before 'e' or 'i'.
Narrator: The next step for Bea and Ms. Ormandy will be to practice this new rule during dictation.
Nicole Ormandy: Nicely done. Good job.
Narrator: Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale, the Hastings/Quillen Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the AFT, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and anonymous donors. Special thanks to AIM Academy and the AIM Institute for Learning and Research. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington , D.C, the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.