short vowels long vowels



The ABCs have two kinds of letters: consonants and vowels. There are six vowels:  Aa,  Ee,  Ii,  Oo,  Uu,  Yy.           

Consonants are all of the other letters.                                                                               
Vowels can work in teams which have a special sound, as with oi and oy heard in boy, toy, boil, coil. 

Vowels can also be long or short.  
When a vowel is long, your child can hear the vowel say its letter name, as in snake.

Long vowels have two letter patterns: 1) side-by-side, as in air, flea, weasel, pie, goat.

Or, 2) two vowels separated by only one consonant, as in cane, line, hope, style.

When a vowel is short, your child will not hear the vowel say its name. Say these words with your child. Help your child hear the difference:

at / ate, tap / tape,  can / cane,    best /  beast,  met / meet,  fed / feed,    pin / pine, pill / pile, 

hop /hope,   sop / soap,  not / note,   tub / tube,  mull / mule,  hug/ huge  ge team says j.

A vowel is usually short if it is the only vowel in the word, as in man, raft, hen, fish, hop, tub.

And, it is short when there are two or more consonants between two vowels, as in father,

catcher, battle,   better,  whisper,   pitcher,  wiggle,  pickle,  mother, bother,  puddle, puppy.

Being smart with vowel rules becomes important in the upper grades. The upper grades do not teach vowels and rules.  Try to get enough practice in the early grades; and remind your upper-grade student of the rules.  Schools do not have enough time for the practice needed. Being a powerful reader starts early.  

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Have a great day, Mary Maisner