Using this Long Vowel U Puzzle, students match together puzzle pieces showing pictures and long U vowel sounds.
This short and long vowel a CVCe activity gives 1st and 2nd grade readers 24 word cards for a silent e matching game, a sort mat and a practice page. Answer key included.
This short and long vowels matching activity helps preschool to 3rd grade children sort picture cards by vowel sound on a mat, with a practice page. Answer key included.
This short and long vowel o activity has 1st and 2nd graders build picture words with letter tiles and sort them by vowel sound. An answer key is included.
This short and long vowel i CVCe activity gives 1st and 2nd grade readers 24 word cards for a silent e matching game, a sort mat and a practice page. Answer key included.
Using this Short and Long Vowel A Activity, students sort the short and long vowel A word cards.
This vowel letter i activity has kindergarten to 2nd Grade children sort under-the-sea picture cards by the short i or long i sound. Sorting mat, practice page and answer key included.
This short and long vowel u activity has 1st and 2nd grade students read word cards and sort them by short u or long u with a silent e. Answer key included.
This long vowel o puzzle activity for Kindergarten to 2nd Grade has kids match pictures to oa, ow and o_e words, then sort them. Answer key included for easy checking.
This long u matching puzzle activity helps 1st and 2nd graders match pictures to the oo, ew and u_e spellings, then sort the words. Answer key included for easy checking.
This long o matching puzzle activity has children match pictures to the oa, ow, or o_e spelling, then sort and write the words. For 1st and 2nd grade, answer key included.
This vowel letter e activity has kindergarten to 2nd grade children sort under-the-sea picture cards by the short e or long e sound. Sorting mat, practice page and answer key included.
This long vowel i puzzle activity gives 1st and 2nd grade readers 12 self-checking picture and word puzzles for i_e, igh, ie and y, plus a practice page. Answer key included.
Using this Long A Matching Puzzle, students match together puzzle pieces showing pictures and long A vowel sounds.
This vowel letter o activity has kindergarten to 2nd Grade children sort under-the-sea picture cards by the short o or long o sound. Sorting mat, practice page and answer key included.
This short and long vowel i activity has 1st-2nd Grade children build picture words with letter tiles and sort them by vowel sound, with practice and an answer key included.
Using Long Vowel Sounds Activity, students match pictures to the words in order to build their letter sound knowledge.
Using this Short and Long Vowel E Activity, students sort the short and long vowel E word cards.
Using this Vowel Letter U Activity, students match the short and long vowel U sound cards with the matching vowel crab cards.
When vowels say their own names
A long vowel says its own name, like the a in cake or the o in boat. Second graders already know the silent e trick from 1st grade, and now they learn all the other ways to spell each long vowel sound. Long a can be a_e, ai, ay, long e can be ee, ea, y, and long i can be i_e, igh, y. Kids read and spell these patterns in real words and learn which ones usually go at the end of a word. The click comes when a child sees "train" and "play" and knows both say the same long a!
There are a lot of ways to spell each long vowel. These moves help kids keep them straight.
Make an anchor chart for each long vowel sound with every spelling across the top, like a_e, ai and ay. Kids sort word cards under the right spelling. Seeing all the spellings of one sound side by side is the key to long vowels in 2nd grade.
Why it works: the National Reading Panel found that systematic, explicit phonics teaching clearly improves how children learn to read.
Try it withLong Vowels Sorting WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Give kids short-vowel words like "cap," "kit" and "hop" and have them add a silent e to make "cape," "kite" and "hope." Reading the word before and after the change shows exactly what the e does.
Why it works: kids understand an idea best when they touch it, then draw it, then write it, the order the U.S. Department of Education recommends for elementary math.
Try it withShort and Long Vowel A CVCe ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Spend one week on each long vowel, then spiral back every few weeks for a quick review. Short daily practice spread over the year builds stronger spellers than one big long vowel unit.
Why it works: short practice spread over several days beats one long session, according to a large review of learning research (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).
Try it withLong Vowels Sentences WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Long vowels love a little silliness.
ActivitiesMatch pictures to words and decide if each vowel says its sound or its name. Kids make the long vowel "talk" in a silly voice!
Open Short and Long Vowels Matching Activity →
ActivitiesSnap puzzle pieces together to build long u words like "cube" and "flute," then read them to a partner.
Open Long Vowel U Puzzle →
WorksheetsFill in the blanks with ee or ea, then read the silly sentences out loud.
Open EE EA Digraphs Fill in Blanks Worksheet →Teacher favorites right now: Long Vowel U Puzzle, Short and Long Vowel A CVCe Activity and Short and Long Vowels Matching Activity.
A long vowel says its own letter name. The a in "cake," the e in "tree," the i in "kite," the o in "boat" and the u in "cube" are all long vowels.
Second graders learn silent e words (a_e, i_e, o_e) plus vowel teams like ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow, igh and ue. They also learn that y can make a long e or long i sound at the end of a word.
A handy rule is that "ai" usually comes in the middle of a word, like "rain," and "ay" usually comes at the end, like "play." The same goes for "oa" in the middle and "ow" at the end.
Go on a long vowel word hunt in a favorite book and sort the words by their spelling. Play a quick game of "short or long" by saying a word and having your child give a thumbs up for long vowels.
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