Vowel team words list
Printable list of vowel team words · 3 pages
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A vowel team is two or three letters that work together to spell one vowel sound: ai in rain, ee in tree, oa in boat, igh in night. Many vowel teams spell long vowel sounds, which is why "when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking" became a classroom saying, even though it's true only part of the time.
This list has about 150 vowel team words in eight teams: ai and ay (long a), ee and ea (long e), oa and ow (long o), igh (long i) and oo as in moon. For teams with more than one sound, we chose only one: ea words here all say long e (no head or bread), ow words all say long o (no cow), and oo words all say the sound in moon (no book).
Position matters: ai usually comes in the middle of a word and ay at the end, which is a handy spelling clue.
Tips for using it
- Sort ai and ay words by where the team sits: middle (rain) or end (play).
- When your child meets ea in a word like bread later, call it the second sound of ea, not a mistake.
Variations
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What are vowel teams?
Vowel teams are letter pairs (or triples) that spell one vowel sound together, such as ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow, igh and oo.
Are vowel teams the same as vowel digraphs?
Mostly. A vowel digraph is two vowel letters making one sound. Vowel team is a broader term that includes spellings like igh and ow.
Does the 'two vowels go walking' rule work?
Only some of the time. It fits ai, ee, oa and many ea words, but not words like bread, said or chief. Teaching each team's sounds works better than the rhyme.