Vowel Sounds

We all know learning to read and write is tricky for young learners.

Learning vowel sounds is also super tricky for our students. 

I noticed that when I was listening to students read that they didn't always know or weren't able to recall the letter-sound relationships and specifically what sounds that vowels can make.  

By second grade, these become particularly vital as students are expected to be reading independently. It is vital that a strong foundation of vowel and letter-combinations is laid. 

We know that reading skills inform writing skills, so one inherently affects the other. 

If students aren't able to make the connection between the sounds that particular letters make, then students' writing potential will not be realized. They will also have gaps in their learning which can be difficult to resolve down the track.  I find that the vowel phonemes are trickiest and often students need a concrete source to refer to. 

I created these posters and other helpers to aid the acquisition of both reading and writing. I believe it is vital to have a go-to source for the sounds that vowels make and their tricky letter combinations.  What do you think? 

This image above was taken from @learningtothecore (on Instagram) who posted about how the posters have helped her students with learning vowel combinations. 

When children are writing, they may be able to hear that there is an long a sound in a word.  However, they may not know if they spell it with an :ai, eigh, ei, ay, a-e or even ea (like steak).  

Having these posters on hand makes this process so much easier for the students whilst building knowledge, skills and self-esteem. 

Ready to go strips for your writing sessions.

Having an overview for all letter-combinations is useful for both the teacher and students! It sure does save time having it right there in front of you! 

Display sounds under vowel headings: a, e, i, o and u. 

Representing letter combinations in clusters under vowel headings will help children find the right spelling. 

Students may need to have the charts as a desk chart/strip, as a ready to go reference.

All posters come in black and white for quick printing.  

  You can read the positive feedback and down the full-page preview file by clicking here. 

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Here are some more ideas for word work, spelling and reading I have collected on our Pinterest boards. Click the images to go to the Pinterest boards.