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  • 1st Grade
  • Reading & Phonics
  • About 10 minutes
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Vowel Team Chart

When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking!

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Vowel Team ChartName:Date:When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking!aisays long arainsnailtrainpaintaysays long atrayhayplaydayeesays long ebeetreefeetsheepeasays long eleafsealpeacheatoasays long oboatgoatcoatsoapowsays long osnowbowlgrowshowai and ee and oa are usually in the middle of a word. ay and ow are usually at the end.k5printables.com · Sheet #17624601 · Aligned with Common Core RF.1.3c

How to do it

  1. Read the team at the top.
  2. Say the long sound it makes.
  3. Read the words with the team.

Teaching tip

Teams that make the same sound sit side by side, so it's easy to compare them. This sheet is aligned with Common Core RF.1.3c.

Vowel Team Chart for 1st grade phonics (long vowels: vowel teams), free printable
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About this chart

The six first-grade vowel teams (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow) with pictures and words.

What kids practice

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.

Watch for

  • 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.

It's free to print, as many copies as you need. See the full long vowels: vowel teams phonics guide for 1st grade.

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