Vowels Teaching Resources
Explore printable vowel worksheets, games and more to help elementary students build their understanding of these letters and their place in the English language.
Aligned with both TEKS and Common Core, these teacher-created resources help students define a vowel, distinguish vowels from consonants, and learn and apply different vowel rules and patterns to improve their reading accuracy.
Download printable and digital resources for your reading centers, to use as a whole class or for independent activities.
Has it been quite a while since you've taught individual phonics skills in your classroom? Our teacher team knows what it’s like to suddenly teach a new grade level after years away, so we’ve put together a quick refresher on vowels! Read on for a quick primer on what a vowel is and how they are used to build and formulate words.
What Is a Vowel? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Let's start with a kid-friendly definition: Vowels are special letters in the alphabet that make a sound when you say them out loud. The letters A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y are all vowels. Vowels are different from the other letters of the alphabet (i.e., B, C, D, F, etc.), which are known as consonants. These special letters are important because every word must have at least one vowel. How the vowel sounds in a word depends on whether there is a short or long vowel.
Short Vowel Sounds
Let's take a look at the meaning of a short vowel sound. These sounds are typically introduced first when students begin to read CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words. If you think of the word "cat" and "sip," the vowels "A" and "I" are spoken with a short vowel sound. The vowel is surrounded by a consonant before and after the vowel.
Long Vowel Sounds
So what is a long vowel sound? On the contrary, long vowel sounds sound exactly like how you would say the letter name in the alphabet. These vowels are accompanied with a "Magic E" at the end of a word or a combination of vowels (also known as vowel teams). The words "cake" and "boat" are words that have long vowel sounds.
How Many Vowels Are in the Alphabet?
In the alphabet, there are five vowels: A, E, I, O and U. Sometimes, the letter Y can also act as a vowel and make a vowel sound, such as in the words "cry" and "myth." Let's dive a little more into how the letter Y is used in English.
Is Y a Vowel?
This is a question that always seems to come up for debate. Y is a special letter because it actually has 3 different sounds it can make! When the letter Y is used at the beginning of a word, such as yellow or yarn, it acts as a consonant. When it is in the middle or end of a word it can act as a vowel and sound like "I" or "E". Some words where the letter "Y" functions as a vowel include "try," "type," and "lucky."
Is W a Vowel?
This may be a question that is not as popular as the preceding question with Y, but it is a question that may pop up from inquisitive students. In most cases, the letter "W" acts as a consonant. In some rare cases, this letter does act as a vowel. The words "cwm," pronounced as /coom/ and "crwth," pronounced as /crooth/are pronounced with the letter "W" as a vowel. While these words are in the English dictionary, these words originated from the Celtic language of the Welsh.
So while this is not something you will probably integrate into your standard reading instruction, it may be a fun fact for your students!
What 5 Letter Word Has the Most Vowels?
If your students are into word and letter play, this may be a fun question to ask your students. Encouraging them to come up with words that use a specific number or letters is a great way to foster their critical thinking and spelling skills. So where are some 5 letter words that are filled with vowels?
- audio
- queue
- Louie
- adieu
- aurei
Challenge your students to see if they can come up with any of these words that use 4 different vowels!
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Long E Words - Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “long e” graphemes with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Long Vowel Words - Long A Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “long a” vowel teams with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Long I Words - Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “long i” spelling patterns with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Long U Words - Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “long u” graphemes with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Long O Words - Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “long o” graphemes with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Short OO Words — Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “short oo” graphemes with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Long A Word List
Introduce and explore words containing letter combinations that make the “long a” sound with this printable long A word list.
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Phoneme Spotter Story – Long 'a' Sound
A decodable text featuring various graphemes that make the long 'a' sound.
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Word Study List - Long E Words
Explore and practice the many ways to spell the long E sound with a list of 50 long E words.
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Long U Words - Printable Word List
Introduce and explore words containing graphemes that make the “long u” sound with this extensive list of words.
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Word Study List - Long O Words
Introduce and explore words containing graphemes that make the “long o” sound with this extensive list of words.
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Word Study List - Long I Words
Introduce and explore words containing spelling patterns that make the “long i” sound with this long I words list.
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Short Vowel Worksheets (Middle Sounds Practice)
Identify medial or middle vowel sounds with this set of three worksheets.
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FIND IT! Long and Short Vowels - Task Cards
Practice distinguishing between short vowel sounds and long vowel sounds with this set of 16 task cards.
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Phoneme Spotter Story – Long 'u' Sound
A decodable text featuring various graphemes that make the long 'u' sound.
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Phoneme Spotter Story – Long 'o' Sound
A decodable text featuring various graphemes that make the long 'o' sound.
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Phoneme Spotter Story – Long 'i' Sound
A decodable text featuring various graphemes that make the long 'i' sound.
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Phoneme Spotter Story – Long 'e' Sound
A decodable text featuring various graphemes that make the long 'e' sound.
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Letter Sound Worksheets - Initial, Medial, and Final Positions
Practice isolating beginning, medial, and final letter sounds with a fun set of Letter Sound Worksheets for Kindergarten and First Grade.
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EA Vowel Team Bingo Game
Practice decoding words that include the EA long /e/ vowel team sound with this BINGO game for up to 20 players.
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Color By Vowel Sound (Winter Worksheet for Kindergarten & 1st Grade)
Use a "cool" color by vowel sound worksheet to bring a bit of Winter into the classroom this season.
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Short and Long Vowels Activity Pack
Segment and sort these words into their vowel sounds.
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Pop Phonemes — Segmenting Short Vowel Words
Review phoneme segmentation by popping each phoneme using these task cards.
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Pop Phonemes - Segmenting Long Vowel Words
Review phoneme segmentation by popping each phoneme using these task cards.
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Spring Short and Long Vowel Sort
Practice distinguishing short and long vowels with a Spring-themed short and long vowel sorting activity.
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My Magic E Story - Silent E Words Mini-Book
Practice reading and writing sentences with silent e words with this magic e-mini-book.
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Gingerbread Vowels - Printable Vowels Worksheets
Use coloring and Christmas to engage your students with printable long and short vowel worksheets like these!
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Word Study List - Long Vowels
Introduce and explore words containing graphemes that make long vowel sounds with this extensive list of words.
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Words With Y as a Vowel - Word List
Introduce and explore words containing the letter “y” making a vowel sound with this y vowel word list.
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Thanksgiving Color by Code - Vowels
Use this color by vowel sound Thanksgiving worksheet as for a bit of Turkey Day fun in the classroom.
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Spelling Long A Words - SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore the different ways to spell the “long a” sound with a game of Scoot!
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Apple Activities - Short and Long Vowel Sort
Supplement your phonics lessons with an apple-themed initial sound sorting activity.