Math Games: Telling Time on Analog Clocks

The grade threes enjoyed learning how to tell time on digital and analog clocks. They were especially excited on the day when they got to practice their new skills with games on the iPad!  Here are some games to practice at home.

Hickory Dickory Dock - Can you make the mouse run up the clock by choosing the correct clock representation? 

When converting 12 hour time (what we commonly use) to 24, remember to add 12. When converting 24 hour back to 12 hour time, remember to subtract 12.

Diphthongs: oi/oy and ow/ou

 A diphthong, also known as a gliding/sliding vowel,  begins on one sound and moves to another vowel sound, all in one syllable. 

OI spells the /oi/ sound at the begining or middle of a syllable or word, like in "choice" or "joint." OY spells the /oi/ sound at the end of a syllable or word, as in "employ" or "toy."

OU spells the /ow/ sound at the beginning or middle of a syllable or word, as in "sound" or "house." OU spells the /ow/ sound at the beginning, middle, or end of a syllable or word, as in "down" or "crowd." 

Games to Practice

Practice reading to match up a variety of oi and oy words.

Can you practice you ow/ou spelling to complete this crossword puzzle?

Decodable Texts to Practice

This cute tale of a cow with superstar dreams has plenty of opportunities to practice the ow and ou diphthongs!

This very interesting book is the true story of Margaret Strong, whose legacy is a modern day toy museum! Practice the oi and oy diphthongs as you read about her.

Heart Words to Review

Monday....(remember, the irregular o looks like a full moon, and Monday originally meant 'Moon's Day!')

Wednesday...(originally "Woden's Day," after Woden, a god in Germanic/Norse mythology!) - we like to remember the irregular spelling with a cute video of 2 owls getting married (wed) in their nest (nes).

February... (originally named after Februum, a festival with a purification ritual during that month in the Ancient Roman calendar.) -- the "ar" makes an irregular sound.

eye... all 3 of the letters are irregular! It helps to remember that the two E's look like eyes

heart... We learned that in Old English, it actually was pronounced with this spelling (like "heert"), but over hundreds of years vowels shifted and now we don't say it that way, but the traditional spelling remains.

ea spelling short /ĕ/, a spelling short /ŏ/

 We previously learned that the EA vowel team can spell the long E sound, as in "team," but now we know it can also spell the short E sound, like in "feather" or "bread."

We had previously learned some irregular/heart words featuring a making the short O sound, like "water" or "father."  While not the most common spelling pattern, it is prevalent enough to spend time practicing spelling and decoding! Interestingly, A most commonly makes the short o sound when following a W -- like in "want" or "waddle."

Games to Practice

For spelling practice in particular, click on the "Switch Template" side bar, and click on "show all" at the bottom, then select "Anagram."

Try your hand at unscrambling to spell short O sounds with w+a words!

AW, AU, and AUGH

 These 3 graphemes make a sound that is very similar to the short O sound. 

AW is the most common vowel team spelling. It usually comes in the middle of a word, like "lawn" or "hawk," but can also come at the end of a word (like in "paw") and sometimes at the beginning of a word, as in "awesome!"

The AU vowel team usually comes in the middle of a word, such as in "haul" and "fault."

AUGH is the least common spelling, and comes in the middle of a word, like "caught" or "taught."

Games to Practice

Practice reading AW/AU/AUGH words with this memory match game:

Practice spelling AU and AW words with this fun crossword puzzle:

Decodable Text

This text about the Sonoran Desert Seasons offers plenty of opportunities to practice reading AW and AU words. Click the image below:

Irregular "Heart" Words to Review

son, won, month, poor, floor, door, hour, minute

Other Long U Vowel Teams: EW, UI, and UE

 We were well acquainted with U with a "magic E" (as in "June") and OO (as in "spoon"), but there are 3 other spellings of the Long U sound! We have a fun way to remember EW -- e looks like they are chewing with their mouth open, and this really grosses out w, who is quite prim and proper, which is why when e is right before w it says "ew!" EW comes at the end of words, like in "few" or "flew."  UE also (but less commonly) comes at the end of words, as in "blue" and "true." UI is not a very common spelling, and is usually found in the middle of a word, like "fruit" or "juice." 

We know as spellers, that in addition to recalling the frequency of a given spelling and the placement of the vowel sound, we must consider what "looks right" when we are writing Long U words and double check with spelling tools as necessary.

Put your Long U spelling skills to the test with this quiz game!

The Sounds of OO!

The "double" vowel team OO can spell the /oo/ sound, as in "book." It can also serve as another spelling of the long /U/ sound, as in "spoon." 

OO spells the /OO/ sound in the middle of a word, like in "good" and "look." U can also spell this sound (though less commonly does), like in "push," "put," and when followed by a double LL, like "pull" or "full."

OO can spell the Long /U/ sound in the middle of a word (like "food,") but can also be at the end of a word like in "too" and "boo," or sometimes at the beginning of a word like in "oops" or "ooze."

Games to Practice

Practice your spelling with these jumbled OO anagrams:

Here's a great spelling challenge: can you unscramble all of the words in the sentences?

Can you sort the OO words based on the sound the vowel team makes?

How quickly can you spot the OO words hidden in the word search?

Challenge your memory with this OO word memory game...

Irregular (Heart) and High Frequency Words to Review

 High Frequency Words: Long I & O, /OO/ and Long U

between	own
today	grow
each	follow
leave	below
please	took
right	put
might	good
light	too
high	soon
show	food

Words (irregular spelling) To Review: May 3

 

always	above
another	very
almost	today
because	against
won	again
son	*Which parts of these words do not follow typical spelling rules, and we must know by heart? Draw hearts to show the irregular parts.
floor
door
poor
among

Vowel Teams: Long O and Long I

 OA, OW, and OE Spell the Long O Sound

We previously learned that the open syllable O (as in "go"), and o with a magic E (as in "home") make the long O sound, but there are vowel teams to spell it, too.

OA usually comes in the middle of a word, like "boat" or "road." It can also come at the beginning of a word like in "oat" and "oak."  

The vowel team OW usually comes at the end of the word like in "show" or "grow," but can also come in the middle of a word like in "bowl" or "flown."

The vowel team OE (less common) comes at the end of a word, like in "toe."

IE and IGH Spell the Long I Sound

We previously learned that the open syllable i (as in "tiger"),  i_e with a magic E (as in "kite"), and sneaky, sly Y at the end of a 1 syllable word (like "sky") make the long I sound, but there are vowel teams to spell it, too.

IE comes at the end of a word like in "pie" and "tie."

IGH usually comes in the middle of a word like in "like" or "might," but can also come at the end of a word like "high" or "sigh." 

Games to Practice

Review the long I spellings with this memory match game:

Practice spelling IGH words in this crossword puzzle!

As writers, we need to be able to apply the spelling patterns we know and ask ourselves, "does that look right?" -- can you choose the correct long O spelling?

Can you unscramble these sentences full of long O words?

This fun unscramble gives clues to help you correctly order and spell the long O words: