Vowel Digraph Adventures: Exploring New Sounds!

English Language Arts Grades Kindergarten 4:22 Video
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Lesson Description

Join us on a fun adventure to learn about vowel digraphs - when two vowels team up to make a special sound! We'll discover how 'ai,' 'ee,' 'oa,' and more create exciting new sounds in words.

Video Resource

What are Vowel Digraphs?

Miacademy Learning Channel

Duration: 4:22
Watch on YouTube

Key Concepts

  • Vowel Digraphs: Two vowels working together.
  • Long Vowel Sounds: Vowel digraphs can make a long vowel sound.
  • New Sounds: Vowel digraphs can create completely different sounds.

Learning Objectives

  • Students will be able to identify that vowel digraphs are two vowels together.
  • Students will be able to recognize examples of words containing vowel digraphs.
  • Students will be able to associate some vowel digraphs with their sounds.

Educator Instructions

  • Introduction (5 mins)
    Begin by asking students what they already know about vowels. Review the basic vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u). Explain that sometimes vowels team up to make new sounds!
  • Watch the Video (7 mins)
    Play the "What are Vowel Digraphs?" video from Miacademy Learning Channel. Encourage students to listen carefully for the different vowel digraphs and their sounds.
  • Digraph Discovery (10 mins)
    After the video, write some of the vowel digraphs on the board (ai, ay, ee, ea, ie, oa, oe, ow, oi, oy, ou, aw, au, ew, ue, oo). Say each digraph aloud, and have students repeat. Brainstorm words with each digraph as a class.
  • Sound Sort (10 mins)
    Prepare cards with pictures of objects that contain the vowel digraphs presented in the video. For example, 'rain,' 'bee,' 'boat,' 'coin,' 'cloud,' 'book,' 'saw,' 'new.' Have students sort the pictures into groups based on the vowel digraph sound they hear.
  • Wrap-Up and Review (3 mins)
    Quickly review the vowel digraphs and their sounds. Encourage students to look for vowel digraphs in books and around them.

Interactive Exercises

  • Vowel Digraph Word Hunt
    Give students a simple storybook or worksheet with several sentences. Have them circle all the words that have two vowels together. Then, have them try to read those words aloud.
  • Sound Matching Game
    Create pairs of cards with vowel digraphs (e.g., 'ai' and 'ay', 'ee' and 'ea'). Shuffle the cards and have students match the pairs that make the same sound.

Discussion Questions

  • What happens when two vowels are next to each other in a word?
  • Can you think of any words that have two vowels together making one sound?
  • Do the two vowels always make the same sound, or can they make different sounds?

Skills Developed

  • Phonological Awareness
  • Decoding Skills
  • Vocabulary Building
  • Listening Comprehension

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1:

Which letters are vowels?

Correct Answer: a, e, i, o, u

Question 2:

What are two vowels together in a word called?

Correct Answer: Vowel digraph

Question 3:

Which word has the 'ee' sound, like in 'sleep'?

Correct Answer: bee

Question 4:

Which word has the 'oa' sound, like in 'boat'?

Correct Answer: coat

Question 5:

Which word has the 'ai' sound, like in 'rain'?

Correct Answer: train

Question 6:

Which word has the 'oy' sound, like in 'boy'?

Correct Answer: toy

Question 7:

Which word has the 'ow' sound, like in 'cow'?

Correct Answer: house

Question 8:

Which word has the 'oo' sound like in 'boot'?

Correct Answer: spoon

Question 9:

Which word has the 'aw' sound like in 'saw'?

Correct Answer: paw

Question 10:

Which word has the 'ue' sound like in 'glue'?

Correct Answer: blue

Fill in the Blank Questions

Question 1:

Two vowels that go together are called a vowel _________.

Correct Answer: digraph

Question 2:

'Rain' has the vowels _____ together.

Correct Answer: ai

Question 3:

'Sleep' has the vowels _____ together.

Correct Answer: ee

Question 4:

'Boat' has the vowels _____ together.

Correct Answer: oa

Question 5:

'Toy' has the vowels _____ together.

Correct Answer: oy

Question 6:

'Cloud' has the vowels ____ together.

Correct Answer: ou

Question 7:

'Cow' has the vowels _____ together.

Correct Answer: ow

Question 8:

'Book' has the vowels _____ together.

Correct Answer: oo

Question 9:

'Saw' has the vowels _____ together.

Correct Answer: aw

Question 10:

'Blue' has the vowels _____ together.

Correct Answer: ue

Educational Standards

K.2.PWS.3:Students will produce the sounds for short and long vowels and the most common sound for consonants (e.g., a = /ă/ & /ā/, f = /f/, s = /s/, x = /ks/). K.2.PWS.4:Students will blend letter sounds to decode simple Vowel/Consonant (VC) and Consonant/Vowel/Consonant (CVC) words (e.g., VC words = at, in, up; CVC words = pat, hen, lot). K.2.F.3:Students will begin to develop a sight word vocabulary by decoding and reading regularly- and irregularly-spelled words in isolation and context with increasing automaticity. K.4.R.3:Students will begin to acquire new vocabulary and relate new words to prior knowledge.

Teaching Materials

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