Wouldn’t it be nice if each sound had one way to spell it? Multiple spellings for the same sound—like a-e, ai, and ay for the long A sound—can be tricky for kids, so these sound/spelling patterns deserve extra practice.
Introduce 3 ways to spell the long A sound
Here’s one way to introduce both the sound and the spelling:
- Say three words with a long A sound—cake, tail, day
- Ask: What vowel sound do you hear? Assuming you’ve already taught the sound, students should recognize the long A sound.
- Write each word on the board—cake, tail, day.
- Underline the long A digraph—cake, tail, day.
- Explain that there are different ways to spell that long A sound.
- Ask if students can think of other words with the long A sound. Group them with the correct spelling pattern.
Practice 3 ways to spell the long A sound
Here are 3 ways to practice different ways to spell the long A sound.
Draw the word
Write these words on the board: hay, mail, pail, plane, rain, rake, say, snake.
Have students write the first word on a piece of paper and draw a picture illustrating the word. They can continue this way until they have written and drawn all the words.
Make this activity even easier with the long A digraph pack.
Choose the correct spelling
Again work with these words: face, hay, mail, pail, plane, rain, rake, say, snake, train, whale or other a-e, ai, ay long A sound words.
Write the words without the long A digraph on the board. Ask students to add the correct spelling of long A to complete the word. For a small group or individual activities, put the words on individual white boards or print them out and have students work on their own papers.
Get this activity done for you as part of the long A digraph pack.
Long A spelling word sort
Give students a paper with three columns labeled a-e, ai, and ay. Read aloud long A practice words and ask students to write them in the correct column.
Review the answers and note any words that students are still struggling with for additional practice.
Additional practice
For more practice activities, worksheets, and games for long A digraphs, the Long A Digraph Pack has you covered. You get 3 posters for each digraph /a-e/, /ai/ and /ay/ and 15 word wall cards plus activities and games:
- Cut and Match
- Draw the Words
- Draw and Match
- Un-Jumble the Words
- Choose the Correct Spelling
- Find the Words
- Word Hunt
- Word Triangles
- Finish the Sentence
- 3 Jumbled Sentences
- Simple and advanced bingo
Order and download your copy here—or get the Ultimate Digraph Teaching Kit.
The Long A Digraph Pack is perfect if these three digraphs are the only ones you need to work on, but if you need these and other common digraphs (ch, ck, wh, sh, th, ng, qu), you’ll want to check out the The Ultimate Digraph Teaching Kit. You get posters and word wall cards plus worksheets, activities, and games for 10 common digraphs. That’s more than 200 pages of resources ready to print and use!
Learn more about The Ultimate Digraph Teaching Kit and get yours here.
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