Sneaky, Sly Y!

 So here's the story...

Sneaky Sly Y gets tired of making its consonant sound /y/ all the time, and wishes he were a superhero vowel who can say their own name! So...sometimes he slyly sneaks and steals the super capes of long I and long E -- but *only* at the end of words, so he won't get caught! At the beginning of a word (which is like the front of the line, where everyone can see), he makes his regular consonant sound. BUT at the end of a short / one syllable word (like "try" or "why,") Y makes the long /i/ sound. At the end of a two (or more!) syllable word, Y makes the long /e/ sound, as in "baby" or "happy." We learned that in a short vowel 2 syllable word ending in Y (like "puppy" or "silly", we almost always have to double the consonant to keep the vowel short. This is because of how the word breaks into syllables. Without a double consonant, those words would sound really strange or funny! 

Enjoy these videos to review the pattern(s):

Games to Practice Sneaky Sly, Y:

Click on the picture below to practice unscrambling and spelling Sneaky Y (long E) words. For an extra challenge, you can click on the "Crossword" template option on the right side bar to spell the words without the help of an anagram scramble!

Click on the picture below to practice spelling Sly Y (long I) words with a hangman game. Alternatively, you can click on the right sidebar to change it to a crossword template (the students love practicing spelling patterns as crosswords when we have a spare moment in class!).

High Frequency Words to Practice:

funny, only. family, lucky, study, fly. try. why, myself