You probably know that, in English, the main vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. (We’ll cover the letter y a bit later.) Still, what actually are vowels? How do they affect reading and writing?
Vowels are the sounds you make when you speak without closing your mouth or touching your tongue to your teeth or the roof of your mouth. Nothing restricts the air flow. Think of them as the “open” sounds in words. When you sing, the note you hold is almost always a vowel sound. (Try it!) The same is true of shouting—the vowels are the sounds you can make louder. (No need to try it.) Connecting these special letters to their sounds is an important part of any phonics program.
Check out our free printable vowel worksheets.
What Are Consonants?
The other letters in English are called consonants. Consonants are the sounds you make by closing or narrowing your mouth in some way. Think of consonants as the “blocked” sounds in words. Consonants are blocked by the tongue, teeth, or lips. For example, while you can hum the sound of the letter m, you can’t truly sing it or shout it.
Syllables
Both types of letters are parts of syllables. A syllable is a unit of sound that contains a vowel and often begins and/or ends with consonants. Importantly, every syllable must have a vowel. Understanding the sounds letters make and putting syllables together are key steps in learning to read.
For example, when a child first learns to read, they often start with one-syllable words, such as fin or kit. These words follow a consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pattern. As the child’s reading skills develop, they begin reading two-syllable words—such as muffin (muf/fin) or kitten (kit/ten). Although these words are longer, they still follow the same CVC spelling pattern, but with two syllables, or “chunks,” put together.
Short vs Long Vowels
However, mastering vowels can be more challenging than it seems. While English has only five vowel letters—six if you count y—those letters represent over fifteen distinct sounds, depending on accent and pronunciation. This complexity is why learning spelling patterns is both important and tricky for beginning readers.
Each vowel has a short and a long sound. Short ones are pronounced quickly, and long ones are drawn out. By starting with short vowel sounds and gradually introducing long vowels and other common vowel patterns, children can build key decoding skills to support their reading development.
Short Vowels
Short vowels typically appear in closed syllables, where a consonant follows the vowel. When a child is learning the alphabet, the short vowel sound is taught first.
Short vowel words include:
- A: can, sad, hat, bag, man
- E: bed, pen, jet, web, leg
- I: sit, pig, lip, bit, kid
- O: pot, fox, top, log, box
- U: rug, cup, bus, mud, sun
Long Vowels
Long vowels are pronounced like the vowel’s name. There are different long vowel spelling patterns that are important for kids to learn and are typically introduced after short vowels words and consonant blends. For example, the final “e” rule for words that end in an “e” that isn’t pronounced (the “silent e”). Though the final “e” is not heard, it changes the word’s vowel sound to a long vowel. This rule is present in words such as cape, tone, kite, and cube.
Long vowel words include:
- A: cake, face, gate, tape
- E: theme, eve, key, piece
- I: time, find, flight, cry, by
- O: globe, home, broke, stone, froze
- U: tune, cube, rude, flute, mule
Vowel Teams
In addition to the final “e” rule, there are other important long vowel spelling patterns for kids to master. Vowel teams are pairs or groups of vowels that work together to create a single vowel sound in a word. Common vowel teams include:
- ai: rain, train
- ay: day, play
- ee: see, tree
- ea: bead, peak
- ie: pie, lie
- oa: boat, soap
- oe: toe, foe
- ou: loud, house
- ow: snow, bow
- ui: fruit, juice
- ue: blue, glue
Diphthongs
Diphthongs are a special kind of vowel team because they are gliding vowel sounds. They begin with one vowel sound and glide into another within the same syllable. This makes diphthongs different from standard long vowel sounds. For example, the /oi/ sound in boy and coin is a diphthong. Other examples of diphthongs include:
- ai: ride, fly
- au: house, out
- ei: day, say
- ou: how, loud
R-Controlled Vowels
Another common vowel pattern is r-controlled vowels. R-controlled vowels occur when a vowel is followed by the letter “r,” which changes the way the vowel is pronounced. The “r” modifies the vowel sound, creating a unique sound. The sound of r-controlled vowels is different from standard long or short vowel sounds. Common r-controlled vowel patterns include:
- ar: car, star
- or: fork, born
- ir: bird, shirt
- er: her, term
- ur: fur, burn
Y as a Vowel Sound
While there are technically five vowels, y can also act as a vowel in words. When y appears in the middle of a word, it can make a short i sound (gym, myth, cylinder) or a long i sound (type, cry, fly). When y appears at the end of a word, it usually makes a long e sound (baby, city, happy).
Tips and Tricks for Teaching Vowels
When your child is learning the alphabet, introduce them to the short vowel sound for each vowel letter first. As they move onto words, start with CVC words, which are easier to read because the short vowels have only one spelling. Once your child is familiar with short-vowel words, introduce long-vowel words starting with the final-e pattern. You can then help your child learn and practice vowel teams, diphthongs, and r-controlled vowels.
It’s important to remember that learning these vowel rules spans from kindergarten until second or third grade. Try to stick with covering vowel sounds and rules that are developmentally appropriate for your child, moving on when they ready for the next skill.
- Point out different vowel patterns as you read together. Invite your child to notice different vowel patterns and discuss the vowel sounds that you hear in words. When your child writes, encourage them to use their knowledge of short vowels, long vowels, and vowel patterns. Learning about vowel sounds in context helps children to deepen their understanding and realize the importance of learning all of the different sound/spelling patterns.
- Using materials like sand or paint is a great way to have your child write vowel sounds while saying words out loud. For instance, say a word aloud that emphasizes a vowel sound (such as “bat” for short a), and have your child trace the vowel (or the whole word) in sand or paint with their finger as they say it out loud.
- Try interactive vowel games with your child. You might play vowel hopscotch, where you make hopscotch squares with different vowel sounds, and your child jumps to the “correct” square based on the word you call out.
- Vowel matching games can be a fun way for your child to match words with similar vowel sounds or match short vowel pairs and long vowel pairs.
- You can also have a vowel scavenger hunt, where your child finds objects around the house that match certain vowel sounds.
- Incorporating physical movement and sensory learning is also helpful for many children. You can have your child “act out” vowel sounds with gestures. For example, have them stretch their arms wide/long for long vowels and keep them closer for short vowel sounds.
Teaching and learning about vowels can be enjoyable and memorable. Try out different methods to find what works best for your child. With a mix of practice and play, your child will likely find it to be an exciting adventure!
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