Long I Spelling Patterns

We know that the long i sound says its name. But how many ways are there to spell this long vowel sound? There are FIVE different ways to spell the long i sound. (I include 6 examples in the chart below because of the two different spelling rules — or generalizations — about the i spelling pattern.) Knowing these different spelling patterns for this one sound is vital in developing phonemic awareness that will support students on their journey of becoming strong, confident, and fluent independent readers. As students move from picture-heavy readers to more text-heavy books, they need to be equipped to confidently tackle words without guessing or using pictures. Targeted phonics instruction will not only help students decode more fluently, but students who have strong decoding and fluency skills also comprehend what they read more efficiently. In this post, I list each of the five spelling patterns as well as when each spelling pattern is most likely to be used.

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I

Can spell the long i sound at the end of a syllable or when followed by two consonants. Ex: lion; child

I_E

Can spell the long i sound when the silent final e makes the i say its name. Ex: lime

IE

Native English words cannot end in i, and so requires a silent final e to be added. The word pie ends in an ie and makes the long i sound because a silent final e must be added after the i. ie also spells the long i sound when the tense or form of the word is changed. Ex: fry to fries; cry to cried

IGH

Can spell the long i sound in the middle or at the end of a base word. Ex: light; sigh

Y

Can spell the long i sound at the end of mostly  single syllable words. Ex: cry.

* y can also spell the long i sound in the middle or at the end of a few multisyllabic words (ex: cycle; supply; apply), or when the verb suffix fy is added to a word (ex: solidify). This is not to be confused with the adjective suffix fy (ex: goofy; stuffy), which then makes a long e sound. 

For targeted practice with the different spelling patterns of the long i sound, check out this decodable reading resource in my shop.

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Long A Spelling Patterns

We know that the long a sound spells its name. But how many ways are there to spell this long vowel sound? I teach EIGHT different ways to spell the long a sound.

Knowing these different spelling patterns for this one sound is vital in developing phonemic awareness that will support students on their journey of becoming strong, confident, and fluent independent readers.

As students move from picture-heavy readers to more text-heavy books, they need to be equipped to confidently tackle words without guessing or using pictures. Targeted phonics instruction will not only help students decode more fluently, but students who have strong decoding and fluency skills also comprehend what they read more efficiently.

In this post, I list each of the eight spelling patterns as well as when each spelling pattern is most likely to be used.

a

Can spell the long a sound at the end of a syllable. Ex: acorn

a-e

Can spell the long a sound when the silent final e makes the a say its name. Ex: cake

ai

Can spell the long a sound at the beginning or in the middle of a word. Ex: aim; rain.

ay

Can spell the long a sound at the end of a base word. Ex: play

ea

Can spell the long a sound in the middle of a word. Ex: break

ei

Can spell the long a sound in the middle of a word. Ex: their

eigh

Can spell the long a sound at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a word Ex: eight; neighbor; sleigh

ey

Can spell the long a sound at the end of a word. Ex: hey

For targeted practice with the different spelling patterns of the long a sound, check out this decodable reading resource in my shop.

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Word Building Game

Games are a vital part of learning and can support learning in a myriad of ways. This image below is my screen from a recent Zoom session with one of my rising middle school students. We were ending a session playing the asked-for-over-again word building game.

WHAT IS IT?

This is a word building game I play frequently with my students. They love that they’re playing a game, and I love that they are building their vocabulary, spelling, and organization skills.

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HOW DO YOU PLAY?

It’s pretty simple. Choose a word and create 4 columns: one column each for 2-letter, 3-letter, 4-letter, and 5+ letter words. When playing virtually, I create a chart like this on my screen, and my students either a) creates a similar chart on paper or b) creates a document on their devices that they can screen share with me. Once the word is revealed and the grid is created, it’s go time. I allot approximately three minutes for students to build as many words as possible using the letters in the given word. Letters cannot be used more than once, but they can be used in any order.

You’ll notice that I have a FOCUS ON section. I do not use this with every student, but I will if my goal is to target particular spelling patterns, or if I have a student who has particular difficulty with task initiation and / or finding words, particular more complex ones.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE A WORD?

When choosing a word, I typically choose one that is seasonal, relevant to a current events issue, or related to a student’s interest. The word in this example above is from a recent session after Hurricane Isais wrecked havoc through our area and knocked out power, resulting in weeklong (and longer) power outages for many. My family is thankful that when we bought our house, there was already a generator installed. Unfortunately, the generator broke down after day 4 of working as back up. Hence, generator seemed like an appropriate word for many reasons that week: it was relevant, it targeted vocabulary and parts of speech (i.e. What are other forms of the word?: generate, generation, generated, etc…), and it honed particular spelling skills I wanted to focus on with this specific student.

This game can be differentiated for many different learning levels and needs. For extension work, ask students to pick a word to use in a well-written and descriptive sentence.

Happy Playing!

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