Level 6-2 continues our work with trickier patterns, this time focusing on three different word endings that can all make a long 'i' sound: y, ie, or igh. The words used in this level are sky, lie, high, sigh, try, pie, fly, dry, tie, and die.

One important minilesson to teach here involves showing the various sounds the letter 'y' can make at the end of a word. When there is a consonant before it, a 'y' ending usually makes a long 'i' sound in a one-syllable word (e.g. shy, sky, fly, why, my) and a long 'e' sound in a multi-syllable word (e.g. happy, snowy, lucky, story -- this is the focus of level 4-9). This is a distinction that students are often not taught, so we recommend making sure that you mention this in conjunction with level 6-2!

Other than that, though, there's no foolproof rule of thumb for distinguishing between 'y', 'ie', and 'igh' endings making the long 'i' sound in words such as those used in this level. Students will have to rely on their visual memory to conquer these ten important-but-tricky words!