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: