VMG Literacy Long Vowel Spellings

Objective To identify and understand long vowel sound patterns in spelling. To apply understanding of long vowel sound patterns in spelling practice.

Long Vowels Vowels are pronounced using either a long vowel sound or a short vowel sound. When the sound is ‘long,’ it is stretched out. Imagine playing Countdown and asking Carol for an ‘a.’ You would ask her for the letter using the long vowel sound. The long ‘a’ pronunciation is the one you use in secondary school; the short ‘a’ pronunciation is the one you use in primary school. For example, when you say ‘ate’ out loud, the ‘a’ sound is stretched out; however, when you say ‘at’ out loud, the ‘a’ sound is cut short.

Long ‘a’ Our focus today is three different long ‘a’ spelling patterns. ‘ay’ ‘ai’ ‘a-e’ The letters in the last one are separate and it is known as the ‘split digraph.’

Task 1 In groups, list as many words as you can that contain the long ‘a.’

Task 1 - Examples Lake Pain Place Play Pray Rain Rake Ray Sail Same Again Away Bake Blame Brain Came Face Fail Fray Lake Pain Place Play Pray Rain Rake Ray Sail Same Shape Slay Stain Stay Today

Task 2 The words shown on the last slide were relatively easy to spell. Individually, attempt to fill in the gaps in the following, to find the correct long ‘a’ word. d dr m ent rt n f rm l t

daydream entertain formulate Task 2 - Answers daydream entertain formulate

Irregular Spellings There are a number of words in English that have a long ‘a’ sound but have an irregular spelling. For example, ‘eight’ is pronounced the same as the word ‘ate,’ which we studied earlier.

Task 3 Note in your planners the following irregular long ‘a’ spellings. eight great grey neighbour reign sleigh they veil vein weight Learn the spellings for homework in preparation for a test next week.