Welcome to our comprehensive guide on teaching the floss rule! In this blog post, you’ll find everything you need to confidently introduce and reinforce this essential phonics concept to your beginning reader. We’ll explain what the rule is, show you engaging ways to teach it, and offer fun activities and resources to keep learning exciting. By following these steps, your little learner will master this important phonics skill and strengthen their foundation for reading success.
The floss rule is a spelling rule that states: when a one-syllable word has a short vowel and ends with the letters  f, l, s, or z, the last letter is doubled.
Here are some examples:
You should teach this phonics rule after your learner masters all consonant letter sounds, short vowel sounds, and consonant digraphs. Once they can read three-letter words like “cat,” “hop,” and “sun,” they’re usually ready to learn the floss rule.
As with all spelling rules in English, this rule has exceptions. Some of the most common exceptions include:
pal, us, if, yes, this, has, gas, gal, bus, plus, quiz
The best way to help your learner practice reading words and sentences with the floss rule is by using fun and engaging activities. At Little Lions Literacy, you’ll find a fantastic selection of free activities and resources, perfect for practicing this skill.
To make learning even more exciting, download these FREE worksheets and activities and let your learner dive in!
Thank you so much for reading this post today. You might also be interested in reading our previous posts:
All About Phonemic Awareness: A Guide for Parents and Teachers
What is a Consonant Digraph in Phonics?
Explore our collection of decodable books, where your little learner can practice reading words and sentences with the floss rule. Answering comprehension questions will help them understand what they’ve read, and there are also fun extension activities at the end of each book to keep learning exciting and engaging.
