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Step 9: Irregular Vowel Teams: Diphthongs and Digraphs

Irregular vowel teams poster: diphthong and digraphs
oo, oi, oy, au, augh, aw, ui, ue, ew, ou, ow
Irregular Vowel Teams: Diphthongs/Digraphs

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Definitions

Irregular Vowel Team Definitions:
VV stands for Vowel, Vowel, which is the Vowel Team syllable.
Digraph: One sound made represented with 2 or more letters. Can be a consonant digraph like sh in she, a vowel digraph like the ui in fruit, or a combination like the igh in light.
Diphthong: A gliding (or changing) sound formed by two or more letters in a syllable. Can be vowels like oi in boil, or a combination of vowels and consonants like augh in daughter.

Teaching Videos and Written Stories

We recommend you watch videos in order, and practice each sound after each video.

oo Pumpkin story
oi, oy Boil that Boy in Oil story
oo, oo The Bus Broke Down
story
ou, ow OW That Hurts story
oo, ui, ue, uw The Moose in the Dew story
au, augh, aw Awwww Babies story

Written Stories

Google Slides and PowerPoints PowerPoints for teaching short vowel words CVC

For the formatting of PowerPoints to be correct, click FILE, then DOWNLOAD, and download in Microsoft PowerPoint.

Teach Along the Way with Irregular Vowel Teams Teach along the way with short vowels

TEACH ALONG THE WAY ●●●

Teach and add the irregular vowel teams (oo, oo, oi, oy, au, augh, aw, ui, ue, ew, ou, ow) from the Big Sounds Pack to daily practice as they are learned.

Tips Tips

TIP: Teach and practice each sound group together. For example teach the au, augh and aw together as all ways to spell the /aw/ sound.   (The 2 sounds for oo can be taught together.)  Teach the sounds in the order we present them in, or teach each sound as it comes up in your students reading.  If your student asks about the oo in book, teach and practice the two sounds for oo right then when it is relevant to the student.

Map Sounds to Letters

Map the sounds in the word to the letter(s) representing the sounds, even if it is not a letter combination that has been taught yet. Only an unusual sound/letter combination needs to be remembered “by heart.” Mapping the sounds to the letters is how we remember what words look like. See example below:

Map Sounds To Letters examples

Be sure to reinforce what you know and are learning about words, for example:
Schwa Sound: Any vowel might say /ŭ/. Point out that this happens in many common words like: the, of, was, some, from…

Key and Directions for Materials Key


KEY:
Blue Heart: Beginning, grades K-1K-1 Beginning
Green Star: Growing, Grades 1-21-2 Growing
Pink Plus: intervention, challengeIntervention/Challenge

Bundle: Multiple types of materials (games, activities, stories…) bundled together.
Pack: Multiple pieces of the same type of material, for example a pack of books.

Directions for everything else:

More on the Directions Page

Sample Bundle


Practice Reading Practice Practice Reading


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Beginning Reader Word Family BUNDLES and PACKS! Bundle

Irregular Vowel Team Bundles

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Bundle oo (boot) Words words, phrases, pyramids, games, stories
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Bundle oo (foot) Words words, phrases, pyramids, games, stories
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Bundle oi, oy Words words, phrases, pyramids, games, stories
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Bundle au, aw Words words, phrases, pyramids, games, stories
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Bundle ew Words words, phrases, pyramids, games, stories
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Bundle ue, ui Words words, phrases, pyramids, games, stories
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Bundle ou Words words, phrases, pyramids, games, stories
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Bundle ow Words words, phrases, pyramids, games, stories

Irregular Vowel Team Pack

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Pack Full Page Story with List ALL

Word and Phrase Lists Lists icon

See Highlighting Word Lists.

Highlighting the target sound within each word helps students train their brains to automatically identify these unique letter combinations.  Using the specific color that is represented in our posters and stories helps remember the sound.  Asking students to do the actions with the sounds helps memory also.

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo, oo word list by type School Book
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo,oo phrases list A White Tooth
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo mixed words and phrases
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ew ue ui word list Fruit
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ew ue ui phrase lists by type
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ew ue ui phrase list He Grew Fruit
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oi oy word list and phrases
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oi, oy phrase stories Flag Pix
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow words and phrases by type The Pinch Sounds
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow phrases list Owl Pix
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV au, aw, augh word list Paw Prints
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV au augh aw words by type and phrases
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV au, aw, augh phrases Astronaut
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challenge* Irregular Vowel Team VV ui,ue,ew au,aw,augh words with prefix.suffix endings (Use a different color highlighter to highlight the prefixes and suffixes)
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV mixed list to highlight
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV mixed word and sentences Flowers
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV mixed word list and sentences Coins
Pink Plus: intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV mixed advanced Highlight the Diphthong in the correct color
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeReview: Changing vowel drills 1-4 combined cvc cve vv vr

Flashcards Flashcard icon

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeVV Regular and irregular sound flashcards from Big Sounds Pack
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV flashcards oo oo
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV flashcards oo ui ue ew
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV flashcards oi oy
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV flashcards au augh aw
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV flashcards ou ow

Fluency Pyramids Fluency Pyramid

Pyramids are great for automaticity with words, feeling successful and fluency.

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo fluency pyramid look cool wool hoodie hook
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo fluency pyramid stood stool took cookies too
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo fluency pyramid took good look crook wood
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo fluency pyramid wood spoon cook good food
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo fluency pyramid ALL 4 oo oo pyramids on one sheet
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ue ew fluency pyramid jewel crew threw blew true
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ue ew fluency pyramid Sue argue knew drew true blue
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ui ue ew fluency pyramid cruise new knew blue hue suit

Games Games Icon

Game Directions

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo word game Loose Boots
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo word game Look What the Dogs Took
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo, oo mixed word game Football Fun
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo phrase game A Foot in the Brook
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo phrases game The Good Rooster
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo comparing words game Can You See the Difference?
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo sentences dice game Silly OO’s
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ew, ue, ui word game Stuck on You, Glue
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ew, ue, ui phrases Game Looking For Clues
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ew, ue, ui game Bingo
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oi, oy word game Enjoy the Coins
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oi, oy phrases game Destroy the Poision
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV au aw word game (older)
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV aw augh words game I Saw a Fawn Yawn
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow word game How Now Brown Cow
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow word game Flower Power
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou, ow word game Lightning Bug Power

Spelling Lists icon

Practice with words from the lists, games etc., or use the lists below.
* Having learners spell with word chains where the coach says “change one sound in (chop) to spell (chip), now change one sound in (chip) to spell (sip)” is a powerful way to draw student’s attention to individual sounds in the words!

Spelling Review 2: -cle, Diphthongs/Digraphs, multiple syllable words

Small Books Small Books icon

Small Book: 8 page assembly directions, 4 page folding directions, OR use horizontal format for reading on screen in distance learning.

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo 4 page The Loose Tooth horizontal and foldable formats
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo small book The Hot Air Balloon Ride horizontal and foldable formats
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo small book The Goose, Moose and Rooster Escape horizontal and foldable formats

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo ue small book Hodan horizontal and foldable formats
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ew ue ui small book Don’t Ever Eat Sue’s Stew foldable formats

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oi oy small book Roy’s Toy horizontal and foldable formats

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV aw au augh small book The Sometimes Naughty Daughter horizontal and foldable formats
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV aw au augh 4 page At Dawn horizontal and foldable formats

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow 4 page My Brother The Grouch horizontal and foldable formats
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow small book My House horizontal and foldable formats
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow small book Bad Dog horizontal and foldable formats

Full Page Stories with Lists Full Page Stories with Lists

See Highlighting Word Lists

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV Pack Full Page Story with List ALL

Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV au augh aw full page story with list The Author’s Daughter
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV aw augh full page story with list Fishing
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ew full page story with list Mew
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oi oy full page story with list Troy’s Oyster
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo full page story with list Fireworks
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo full page story with list Boots
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow full page story with list Brown Cow
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow full page story with list Downtown
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ue ui ew full page story with list Cruise the Avenue

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