Teaching vowel digraphs
Aim: Choose between vowel pairs that make the same sound.
How to explain it
Two vowel letters together often make one sound, and some sounds have two spellings. Where there is a position clue, use it: ai and oi go inside a word, ay and oy go at the end (rain, day; coin, boy). Where there is no clue (ee or ea, er or ir or ur) the word has to be learned. For ie and ei, 'i before e except after c' works when the sound is 'ee': believe, receive, ceiling.
Starter (5 minutes)
Show 'rain' and 'day', 'coin' and 'boy'. Ask children to spot where in each word the pair sits. Can they make a rule?
Main activity
Beginning, middle or end: children sort ai/ay and oi/oy words by where the sound falls, then test the rule on new words. For the no-clue pairs, make a 'word wall' for each spelling (ee words, ea words) and add to it through the week.
Dictation sentences
- The boy found a coin on his way to the train.
- I believe she will receive a prize.
- The girl turned her brown hat round.
Watch out for
- Using the end spelling in the middle of a word (rayn, boyl).
- Swapping ie and ei (beleive, recieve).
- Guessing between er, ir and ur (gerl, tirn).
Quick check
Ask children to spell these without help:
- paint
- enjoy
- shirt
- ceiling
Example words
- rain
- day
- coin
- boy
- boat
- cloud
- brown
- her
- girl
- turn
- believe
- receive
- ceiling
- seat
- feet