magpie
nounA black and white bird with a long tail that belongs to the crow family.
nounAn Australian bird with black and white feathers that makes loud calls.
nounA person who collects or steals things and keeps them hidden away.
verbTo steal or collect and keep things, the way magpies are said to do.
verbTo talk about other people's private business or secrets.
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Letter M
The letter M makes the /m/ sound, like in 'map', 'mud', and 'mop'. Both lips press together with voice through the nose.
M is a voiced bilabial nasal — both lips press together while the voice hums through the nose. Double M (mm) makes the same /m/ sound.
Tip
M hums like mmm — press your lips and hum!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Short A
The letter A makes a short sound, like in 'cat' and 'bat'.
When the letter A appears in a closed syllable (a syllable that ends with a consonant), it usually makes the short A sound /æ/. This is one of the first vowel sounds students learn.
Tip
A says /æ/ like a cat that sat on a mat.
Examples
Phonics Rule: Hard G
G makes the /g/ sound before A, O, U, or a consonant, like in 'go' and 'game'.
The letter G makes the hard /g/ sound when followed by A, O, U, or a consonant. Examples: go, game, give, glad, grab.
Tip
G says /g/ before A, O, U — go, game, glad!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter P
The letter P makes the /p/ sound, like in 'pan', 'pig', and 'pot'. Both lips press together then pop open.
P is a voiceless bilabial stop — both lips press together and release with a puff of air but no voice. It pairs with B (which is the voiced version of the same mouth position).
Tip
P pops open — press your lips and let it POP!
Examples
Phonics Rule: IE Vowel Team (Long I)
When IE is at the end of a word, it says long I, like in 'pie' and 'tie'.
The vowel team IE makes the long I sound /aɪ/ at the end of a word. Examples: pie, tie, die, lie, vie.
Tip
IE at the end says I — pie, tie, die!
Examples
What is SnapPhonics?
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