
Use a variety of activities to teach these long A spellings! Hands-on activities and multisensory activities are best. Be sure to explicitly teach these long A patterns one at a time, in sequential order. Before teaching long vowels, students should have a firm command of the five short vowel sounds, including all consonants, blends, and digraphs. This comprehensive book offers over 120 pages of delightfully illustrated activities involving each vowel sound along with rhyming, riddles, letter substitution. Words with Vowel Team EY to spell long A: Words with Vowel Team EIGH to spell long A: Words with Vowel Team EA to spell long A: Words with Vowel Team EI to spell long A: Be sure students have mastered the first four most common spellings for Long A before introducing these patterns. Phonemic drills are short tune-ups that include games such as reverse-a-word (Say teach then say it with the first sound last and the last sound first-cheat.). These next four vowel teams are not commonly used to spell the long A sound. The great thing about this vowel team is that if they hear /ā/ at the end of a base or root word, it will most likely be spelled with AY.Ĭommon words with long A at the end, using the vowel team AY: day I know if you are reading this, you are probably a teacher of older students, or a parent of a struggling reader who has been told that their child can’t read. I use this jingle with my students: “A Y at the end says /ā/.” (Again, make sure you say the letter names “A” and “Y” when saying the jingle.) The vowel team AY is another way to spell long A, and this pattern is used at the end of base words. It is common to teach this spelling along with the vowel team AY (keep on reading below!).Ĭommon words with long A in the middle, using the vowel team AI: rain
I teach my students this jingle: “A-I in the middle says /ā/.” Make sure you say the letter names “A” and “I” when saying the jingle. This is a spelling that usually comes in the middle of words. For Parts E through K students must read both real and pseudowords (made-up words). The vowel team AI is another way to spell long A. Short vowel sounds (count the number of ss above). This spelling pattern is used at the end of base words. That is why we hear the long A sound in these words. Phonics for Older Students, Designed specifically for the student who has been introduced to vowel sounds but still needs further practice to reach mastery.
The E is magic, stays silent, and it makes the A say its name. The letter A will say its name when it follows a Vowel-Consonant-e (VCe) pattern. When you make the sound, you use your lips, tongue, or teeth to stop or limit airflow. Consonants (letters like p, t, and l) make sounds that are crisper and clearer than vowel sounds.
It has to do with how the sounds are formed. Long A sound word examples that include open syllables: acorn Vowels are tricky, so it’s not surprising that some early readers have trouble with them.