Same Reading › Advanced phonics and spelling › Vowel teams
What are vowel teams?
A vowel team is two or more letters that make one vowel sound together, like ai in rain, ee in tree and oa in boat. Kids learn each team as one sound, the same way they learned sh and ch.
- oa is one sound: long o.
- b and t make their usual sounds.
- Common teams: ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, igh
Why schools teach it
It replaces a rhyme that often fails
First graders learn common vowel teams for long vowel sounds (RF.1.3c), and second graders add more (RF.2.3b). Teachers present each team as its own spelling of a sound, with a key word like rain or boat.
Many of us learned “when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.” It works for boat but fails for words like bread, chief and could. Learning each team on its own is more reliable.
At the kitchen table
What to say, and what to skip
Say this
Do you see a vowel team? Underline it.
What sound does that team make?
Where is it in the word? ay usually comes at the end.
rain, playWhich spelling looks right: tran or train?
For spelling, ask which team fits.
Skip this
When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.
It often fails. Teach each team as its own sound.- Sounding out each vowel separately./o/ /a/ won't give you boat.
- Expecting one right spelling for each sound.Long a can be a_e, ai or ay. That's normal and taught over time.
See it in action
Reading “train”
Find the team and underline it
trainSay each part: the blend, the team, the end
/t/ /r/ /ā/ /n/Blend
train
Ai usually sits in the middle of a word and ay at the end, which helps with spelling.
Free practice sheet
Make a vowel teams sheet
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Parents also ask
How many vowel teams are there?
Quite a few. First grade usually covers ai, ay, ee, ea, oa and igh. Second grade adds teams like ow, oi, oy and oo.
Why does ea sound different in bread?
Some teams have more than one sound. Kids learn the most common one first, then the others.
Is ow a vowel team?
Yes, with two sounds: snow and cow. That's why it's taught a bit later.
Should my child learn the rules or the words?
The teams. Knowing that oa says long o lets your child read hundreds of words, not just one.