Reading and Writing Words With Vowel Teams

Subject Area

English Language Arts

Grade(s)

1, 2

Overview

In this learning activity, the teacher will provide instruction on the vowel team conventions for representing the long vowel a sound. The students will use picture clues to determine words with long a spelled ai or ay and write the words using the correct vowel team. Students will then participate in a read and roll activity to practice reading words with long a vowel teams ai and ay.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Phase

During/Explore/Explain
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 1

ELA21.1.7

Apply knowledge of phoneme-grapheme correspondences and word analysis skills to decode and encode words accurately both in isolation and within decodable, grade-appropriate texts.

UP:ELA21.1.7

Vocabulary

  • Phoneme-grapheme correspondences
  • Word-analysis skills
  • Decode
  • Encode
  • Isolation
  • Decodable, grade-appropriate texts

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Phoneme-grapheme correspondences.
  • Word-analysis skills.

Skills

Students are able to:
In isolation and within decodable, grade-appropriate texts,
  • Decode and encode words by applying phoneme-grapheme correspondences.
  • Decode and encode words using word-analysis skills.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Graphemes (letter symbols) represent specific phonemes (sounds) they can use to decode (read) words.
  • Phonemes (speech sounds) can be represented by graphemes (letter symbols) to encode (spell) words.
  • Word-analysis skills are used to determine how to decode or encode based on position, adjacent letters, etc.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 1

ELA21.1.31

Apply knowledge of grade-appropriate phoneme-grapheme correspondences and spelling rules (or generalizations) to encode words accurately.

UP:ELA21.1.31

Vocabulary

  • Knowledge
  • Grade-appropriate
  • Phoneme-grapheme correspondences
  • Spelling rules
  • Encode
  • Accurately

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Grade-appropriate phoneme-grapheme correspondences.
  • Spelling rules (or generalizations).

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Encode (spell) words accurately by applying knowledge of phoneme-grapheme correspondences and spelling rules.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • They can use spelling generalizations/rules, syllable division principles, and their knowledge of letter-sound correspondences to spell and write words accurately.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 2

ELA21.2.10

Apply knowledge of phoneme-grapheme correspondences, multisyllabic word construction, and syllable division principles to decode and encode (spell) words accurately in isolation and in context.

UP:ELA21.2.10

Vocabulary

  • Phoneme-grapheme correspondences
  • Multisyllabic word construction
  • Syllable division principles
  • Decode
  • Encode
  • Isolation
  • In context

Knowledge

Student know:
  • Spoken words can be represented in print by using letter symbols (graphemes) to represent sounds (phonemes).
  • Printed words can be read by saying the sound (phoneme) that is represented by the letter symbols (graphemes).
  • Multisyllabic words contain more than one syllable, and multisyllabic words can be constructed by combining individual syllables.
  • Syllable division is breaking words apart by the syllables.
  • Decode means to read, and encode means to spell.
  • Decoding and encoding in isolation means reading or spelling a single word, while in context refers to these skills within a larger text.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Read and spell words accurately in isolation and in context based on their knowledge of phoneme-grapheme relationships, multisyllabic word construction, and syllable division principles.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • To read (decode), they must accurately say the sounds (phonemes) that are represented by the letter symbols (graphemes).
  • To spell (encode), they must accurately represent the letter symbols (graphemes) that correspond to the spoken sounds (phonemes).
  • They can use syllable division principles to accurately decode and encode words.
  • They can use their knowledge of the six syllable types to accurately decode and encode words.
  • They will sometimes use these skills in isolation, and other times in context when reading or writing a longer text.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 2

ELA21.2.38

Apply knowledge of grade-appropriate phoneme-grapheme correspondences, multisyllabic word construction, syllable division principles, and spelling rules (or generalizations) to encode words accurately.

UP:ELA21.2.38

Vocabulary

  • Phoneme-grapheme correspondences
  • Multisyllabic word construction
  • Syllable division principles
  • Spelling rules
  • Generalizations
  • Encode
  • Accurately

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Grade-appropriate phoneme-grapheme correspondences.
  • Multisyllabic words are words that are composed of two or more syllables.
  • Syllable division principles.
  • Spelling rules (or generalizations).
  • To encode accurately means to spell a word correctly.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Accurately encode (spell) single syllable and multisyllabic words using their knowledge of phoneme-grapheme correspondences, multisyllabic word construction, syllable division principles, and spelling generalization.
  • Accurately divide words into syllables to spell multisyllabic words correctly.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • To spell (encode), they must accurately represent the letter symbols (graphemes) that correspond to the spoken sounds (phonemes).
  • They can use syllable division principles to break a word apart to make it easier to spell.
  • They can use their knowledge of the six syllable types to accurately encode words.
  • There are spelling rules, or generalizations, in the English language that can help them spell words accurately.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words. 

Students will be able to orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes) including consonant blends.

Activity Details

1. Explain to students that sometimes two vowels work together to make only one vowel sound. Tell students that we call these vowels "vowel teams" because they work together in words. Explain that in this lesson they will be learning about the vowel teams ai and ay.

2. Write the vowel teams ai and ay on the board. Point to the ai and make the sound for long a. Then have each student touch the ai and produce the long a sound. Repeat the process with the vowel team ay.

3. Write the following words on note cards or on the board. Have students decode the words and identify whether the long a sound is spelled with the vowel team ai or ay.

  • hay
  • paint
  • rain
  • pay
  • aim
  • ray
  • train
  • say

4. Tell students that we can listen to the sounds of vowel teams in words. Place pictures from the Vowel Team Ai, Ay Scoot Game tool around the classroom. Give each student a notebook/pencil or whiteboard/marker to use as they visit each picture in the room. Explain that students should visit each picture, whisper the word, break the word into sounds, and write the word on his or her notebook/whiteboard. Tell students they will have 60 seconds* to write the word and show their answer before having to "scoot" to the next picture. Students may work individually or in small group teams.

*Note: Any increment of time may be used based on student need.

Use a timer to time students as they progress through the activity. When the allotted time has expired, have students hold up their notebooks/whiteboards for teacher review. If errors are present, provide a quick reteach by breaking the word into phonemes for the student and having the student write each sound, being sure to include ai or ay for the long vowel a. 

5.  To culminate, give each student a copy of the digital tool Vowel Teams -ai and -ay Roll, Read and Color Freebie. Roll a die or use an online dice roller. Have students whisper read the word that matches each roll of the die. Then give a signal and have the students choral read the word aloud.

Assessment Strategies

Observe students' performance as they progress through the scoot and the roll and read activities in order to judge mastery. Mastery is achieved when students reach 80% accuracy or better in reading and writing words with the long a vowel teams ai and ay.

Background / Preparation

Make at least one copy of the pictures from Vowel Team Ai, Ay Scoot Game and post the pictures around the room. Make one copy of Vowel Teams -ai and -ay Roll, Read and Color Freebie for each student in the group/class. If desired, make note cards to be used in the lesson: hay, paint, rain, pay, aim, ray, train, say.

Owner (Author)

ghenderson
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