Photo credit: Nessy Learning LLC
Queen of Witches is a short video from Nessy that teaches students about how the letter combination “qu” changes the short vowel sound of “a” (like in ant) to the short vowel sound of “o” (like in odd). I like this approach because they explain the rule with a short, memorable, visual story, with supportive, brightly colored text added below. The witches hat is also placed over the “qu” in each word before is it spoken, for emphasis. However, it does not address exceptions, like “quake”. These videos from Nessy are created with dyslexic students in mind, but are truly valuable for most, if not all people.
Photo credit: The Bazillions
Another fun video, about the letter combination “qu”, is Q And U, by The Bazillions. This video has a catchier tune, and can help students remember that these two letter frequently can be found together in words, but it is less informative about the rules that impact q & u. I like the chorus, “Hey, there’s q, and his best friend u. Wherever q goes, u goes, too”.
There is another mnemonic devise: Q & U, they stick like glue (from Harry Kindergarten Music LLC)
Here is a follow-up video that explains why “q” and “u” are nearly always paired up together.
Photo credit: Sam O’Neill
Why Does “Q” (Almost) Always Go With A “U” is a video made by Arika Okrent & Sam O’Neill for Mental Floss.
Q Without U, from Between the Lions