Download Vowel Teams

THE
READING
ROAD
Chapter 8:
Regular Vowel Teams
Contents
Introduction to Regular Vowel Teams .........................2
Long Vowel Sounds ....................................................3
The Vowel Team oa .....................................................4
The Vowel Teams ai & ay .............................................7
Hair We Go ................................................................11
The Vowel Team ee ...................................................20
The Vowel Teams oi & oy ..........................................24
Bacon 2 .....................................................................28
Detective Game ........................................................42
Review .......................................................................43
Tower Game ..............................................................44
1
Introduction to Regular Vowel Teams
You already know a lot about the sounds vowels make when they
are on their own or paired with silent-e. Now it’s time to learn about
the sounds vowels make when you group two of them together into
vowel teams.
Some vowel teams make the same sounds almost all of the time,
with very few exceptions. Because their sounds are easy to predict,
these vowel teams are called regular.
In this section, we will explain the sounds vowel teams make by
giving examples of words you already know. Some of the information
might seem hard to learn at first, since vowel teams can use different
letters to make the same sounds. Don’t worry! With some practice,
you’ll be decoding vowel teams like a pro.
In this section, the words with regular vowel teams are colored
magenta. The colored words are the most important ones for you
to practice reading.
2
Long Vowel Sounds
Remember how silent-e changes a short vowel into a long one?
Well, there are other ways of making long vowel sounds besides
using silent-e. In some words, the long vowel sound is spelled with a
regular vowel team. Regular vowel teams can do the work of silent-e
without silent-e!
The vowel teams oa, ee, ai, and ay make long vowel sounds.
The vowel team oa sounds like long-o.
The vowel team ee sounds like long-e.
The vowel teams ai and ay sound like long-a.
See the teams in action!
Here are some words spelled with the oa, ee, ai, and ay vowel teams.
Practice reading the words with your tutor.
pray
pail
goat
bee
3
The Vowel Team oa
The vowel team oa sounds like long-o.
Words with oa can rhyme with silent-e words that have long-o.
oak rhymes with joke
coat rhymes with vote
soap rhymes with hope
4
Word Math: Adding letters to oa
The vowel team oa almost always sounds like long-o.
First say the sound that ai and ay make.
Then add different consonants to ai and ay to make words.
oa + t =
s + oa + p = l + oa + n = g + oa + l =
r + oa + d = f + oa + m =
Can you think of any other words with oa?
5
Word Detention: oa
These oa words are in Word Detention because they do not have the
long-o sound:
boa
broad
koala
The oa team in broad sounds like the squawk vowel. The squawk
vowel is the vowel sound in hawk and dog.
In boa and koala, the o and the a don’t team up to make a single
vowel sound. In those words, the o sounds like long-o and the a
makes a different sound. What is it?
6
The Vowel Teams ai & ay
The vowel team ai sounds like long-a.
Words with ai can rhyme with silent-e words that have long-a.
rain rhymes with cane
paid rhymes with fade
Sometimes there are two words that sound exactly the same, but
one is spelled with ai and the other is spelled with silent-e. Do you
know the different meanings of these words that sound the same?
mail sounds the same as male
fair sounds the same as fare
sail sounds the same as sale
main sounds the same as mane
The vowel team ay also sounds like long-a. You can think of ai and ay
as one vowel team that can be spelled two different ways. The only
difference is the ai team appears in the middle of a word, and the ay
team is usually at the very end of a word.
7
Word Math: Adding letters to ai & ay
Remember, both ai and ay sound like long-a.
First say the sound that ai and ay make.
Then add different consonants to ai and ay to make words.
s + ay = g + ai + n =
w + ay = w + ai + t = d + ay = m + ai + n =
p + ay = t + ai + l =
Can you think of any other words with ai or ay?
8
Practice Reading Words with ai and ay
My brother and I went to Grandma’s house yesterday. It
was cold and rainy so she told us to stay in. My brother was
sad because he wanted to play outside. I said “Don’t worry!
We can still have fun!” I got some paint and we started to
decorate the walls. I drew a daisy and he made an ugly gray
snail. When grandma saw the walls, she got really mad. I tried
to say that it wasn’t my fault it had rained, but she made us
both sit in the time-out chairs anyway.
9
Word Detention: ai
Now you know the basics about the ai and ay vowel teams. Most
words with these vowel teams have the long-a sound, but some
troublemakers do not follow the rule. This word is in Word Detention
because it does not have the long-a sound:
said
Said is a really common word that does not follow the rule. It’s so
common that you might already know to ignore the rule without
even thinking about it! The ai vowel team in said sounds like short-e.
10
Introduction to Hair We Go
This story is about the good side and the bad side of getting a new
hair style. It has plenty of words that will help you practice reading
regular vowel teams.
Challenge Words
ready
shrug
classic
maintain
through
imagine
reason
yanking
accidentally
11
12
Every three weeks it’s Hair Day for us.
That’s when my brother Shayne and I get our haircuts.
Until our parents are ready, Mom lets us play with the foam.
I like to spray it on Shayne’s head but he just moans and groans.
13
Mom calls me to the kitchen and sits me in a chair.
She asks if I want braids, curls, or twists. I shrug, “I don’t care!”
“Micro braids then!” she says, “Classic but not plain.”
I’m okay with braids because they are easy to maintain.
14
Mom runs her fingers through my hair to help me relax.
Then she says “Okay, sweetie, time for you to kick back.”
I rest my head in her hands, grit my teeth and shut my eyes.
As soon as she starts pulling braids, I feel the pain rise.
15
I imagine Dad and Shayne at the barber on Main…
(Mom’s yanking so hard, it’s hurting my brain!)
16
Shayne’s lucky, there’s no reason for him to be afraid.
Though I think he gets scared when he sees the sharp razor blades.
One time the barber accidentally clipped Shayne’s ear.
He started to bleed and moaned, “No way! Get me out of here!”
17
Later Shayne said that braids, not fades, were the way to go.
I said, “Just ’cause there’s no clippers? Boy, you don’t even know!”
At the end of the day our hair looks really good.
That’s why we put up with Hair Day—
because we knew that it would.
18
That night, we pray our new looks will stay put for a year.
The styles look good now, but it’s a pain getting here!
THE END
19
The Vowel Team ee
When you see the vowel team ee in a word, that word has the longe sound. It’s the same vowel sound as in the names Pete, Zeke, and
Steve.
Practice reading these ee words:
beet
feet
bee
deer
20
Word Math: Adding letters to ee
First say the sound that ee makes.
Then add different consonants to ee to make words.
s + ee = s + ee + n =
f + ee = n + ee + d = t + ee =
m + ee + t =
Now try reading these ee words:
seem beep seed keep weep
Can you think of any other words with ee?
21
Practice Reading Words with ee
The queen sat under a huge evergreen tree, eating a block of
cheese and drinking sweet tea. A light breeze blew by and made
some pine needles fall on her food. As she brushed them off,
the queen heard a loud buzzing sound. She looked up and saw a
big black cloud rushing toward her with great speed. “I’ve got to
get out of here before I’m stung by those bees!” she yelled. She
jumped in her jeep and drove away as fast as she could, leaving
the bugs to finish her cheese.
22
Word Detention: ee
This word is in Word Detention because it does not have the long-e
sound even though it looks like it has the vowel team ee.
been
The vowel in the word been sounds like short-i.
23
The Vowel Teams oi & oy
Both oi and oy make
the vowel sound you
hear in the word boy.
Here are some more words spelled with oi and oy:
coin
toy
voice
Can you hear how oi and oy make the exact same sound, even
though they have different letters?
24
Word Math: Adding letters to oi & oy
First say the sound that oi and oy make.
Then add different consonants to oi and oy to make words.
b + oy = f + oi + l =
t + oy = v + oi + d = j + oy = j + oi + n =
s + oy = s + oi + l =
Can you think of any other words with oi or oy?
25
Practice Reading Words with oi & oy
A boy named Roy got twenty coins to buy a toy. He asked his sister
Joy to join him for a ride to the toy store on their bikes. Joy went
with him, hoping to get a toy for herself. Joy got annoyed when Troy
picked out a toy for only himself. “He is so selfish and spoiled!” she
said in a quiet voice. Then Roy gave Joy six coins. “Pick out any toy
you want,” he said. “And enjoy it!”
26
Word Detention: oi and oy
These words are in detention because they do not have the regular
vowel sound you hear in the word boy.
doing
going
choir
When you add the suffix -ing to words that end in o, you get words
like doing and going. Even though i comes right after o in these
words, the oi is not really a vowel team because the i is part of the
-ing suffix.
The oi team in choir is pronounced like the word
why. Also, the ch sounds like k.
27
Introduction to Bacon 2
Here is another story about Bacon and Clara. Remember that Clara
jumped into the purple book at the end of the first story about
Bacon. Do you remember what page it was?
It was page 34! Well, here is Clara now, on page 34, where she gets
into some real trouble. Let’s see what happens to her.
Keep an eye out for words with the regular vowel teams oa, ee, ai,
and ay. They are magenta so you will be able to find them. Make
sure you use what you learned in this chapter to read those words.
Challenge Words
ouch
break
surprised
donkey excuse
tunnel
Here is a word that you know how to read, but maybe you don’t
know what it means: moat.
Do you know what a moat is? It’s important in this story. Maybe you
can draw one before you get started.
28
29
Bacon: Let me see. What
happened after Clara jumped
into the book? She found
herself in a room on the top
floor of my house.
30
Clara: Where am I? Let me peek out the window.
I don’t see any other houses. It’s just green fields.
Bacon: That girl just won’t stay put! She had to go
downstairs. The stairs were steep, so she had to
hold on to the railing, tight.
31
The Railing: Groan! Don’t
squeeze me!
Clara: This railing looks
good to eat. I’m going to
break off a piece of it.
The Railing: Ouch! Don’t break me!
Clara: You taste like Bacon. This must be Bacon’s house.
The Railing: Don’t you dare eat me!
Clara: I like you. I want another piece.
The Railing: Don’t squeeze me, you
nasty girl! And don’t break me!
32
Clara: I really am in a cartoon. How do I
get out?
Bacon: Clara got down
the stairs at last. She
peeked out the front
door and was surprised
to see my moat.
33
Clara: There’s water, water everywhere. And no boat!
The Railing: Put me down! I hate water.
Clara: Maybe I can float across.
Bacon: It’s hard water; those points are are sharp.
Clara: Ouch! It hurts my butt!
34
The Railing: Good. I’m glad.
Clara: I better walk on my
bare feet.
Clara: This green field feels
good on my feet. But I’m
still hungry.
The Railing: Why don’t you
eat the grass, donkey?
35
Clara: But where am I?
The Railing: You’re on the road, dummy!
Clara: I’m going to shut
you up in this bag.
36
Clara: Excuse me, you are in my way.
Boy One: You don’t have a way.
Clara: Yes I do. This road is for everybody.
Boy Two: You aren’t everybody. Who are you?
Clara: I’m a friend of Bacon’s.
Boy Three: Don’t believe her. Bacon doesn’t
have any friends.
37
Clara: Yes he does. See? I got this in his house.
The Railing: She’s a thief! She stole me out of
Bacon’s house.
38
Boy One: I knew she was no good. Get her out of here!
Clara: Yes, that’s what I want to do. Get out of here.
Boy Three: Let’s put her into page 35. NOBODY wants
to be on page 35.
39
Clara ran up the road.
The road turned into a
street.
The street
turned into a path.
The path turned
into a trail.
The trail turned into a slide.
The slide went through a
tunnel.
40
Clara: Where am I?
41
The Detective Game
It’s time to play the Detective Game!
Detective Mack Jackson is very busy, so he needs more people on
his team to help get the facts straight. He prepared some worksheets
you can use to help him get some answers.
Find a worksheet about a story from this
chapter. Before you get started, you might
want to spend a couple minutes reviewing
the story with your tutor. Also, you might
want to re-read some parts of the story
after you start the questions. That’s okay!
The better you know the story, the better
your answers will be.
When you are done reviewing the story, read
the directions on the worksheet and make
sure you know the meaning of all of the
words in the Detective Game Dictionary.
42
Regular Vowel Team Review
The vowel team oa sounds like long-o.
The vowel team ee sounds like long-e.
The vowel teams ai and ay sound like long-a.
The vowel teams oi and oy make the sound like in boy.
43
The Tower Game
Let’s play the Tower Game! You get two
dominoes to start. Every time you read
a word right, you get another domino
from your tutor. See how tall you can
make your tower and don’t let your
tutor win!
44
1. coin
2. paid
3. goat
4. seed
5. pray
6. moan
7. keep
8. soy
9. main
10. deep
11. foam
12. road
13. seek
14. voice
15. feed
16. soap
17. jail
18. gain
19. pain
20. join
The Tower Game 2
Let’s play the Tower Game! You get two
dominoes to start. Every time you read
a word right, you get another domino
from your tutor. See how tall you can
make your tower and don’t let your
tutor win!
45
1. void
2. laid
3. goal
4. need
5. play
6. coat
7. deep
8. joy
9. vain
10. seek
11. loan
12. oat
13. peek
14. cheese
15. deer
16. boat
17. fail
18. rain
19. oak
20. join