Long vowels: vowel teams phonics worksheets
Aligned with Common Core RF.1.3c
Printable vowel team phonics worksheets for first grade: ai, ay, ee, ea, oa and ow with picture words, spelling choice, a sort and find-the-team sentences.
The worksheets
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Vowel Team Chart
The six first-grade vowel teams (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow) with pictures and words.
Which Team?
Ten picture words with the vowel team missing. A hint shows the two teams to choose from.
Circle the Spelling
Eight pictures with three spellings each. Only one is right.
Vowel Team Sort
Twelve words to sort into ai/ay, ee/ea and oa/ow.
Find the Team
Eight sentences with one to three vowel team words each.
Color by Vowel Team
A hidden picture made of vowel team words like rain, play, tree, leaf and boat. Includes an answer key.
Print the whole packet
One copy of every sheet above, in order. Tap + for more copies (up to 10).
For the parent or teacher
What it is
A vowel team is two letters that work together to make one long vowel sound: ai and ay say /ā/ (rain, play), ee and ea say /ē/ (tree, seal), and oa and ow say /ō/ (boat, snow). First graders start with these six common teams. Vowel teams are a key phonics pattern for reading longer words.
What comes next
Endings -s, -ed and -ing, which change how a word is used.
How to teach it
- Teach the rhyme: when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking. It works for these teams.
- Group teams by sound: ai and ay, ee and ea, oa and ow.
- Point out where they go: ay and ow often come at the end of a word, ai and oa in the middle.
- Highlight vowel teams in books you read together.
Common mistakes
- Reading each vowel separately, like ra-in.
- Mixing up which team to use when spelling. That's normal; it takes lots of reading.
- Reading ow as in cow for snow. Both are right in different words, so try both.