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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

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 and ough in thought.

TIP: Teach and practice these unique letter combinations one sound at a time.  (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.

Jump to:

Teaching Videos
BundleBundles and Packs
Lists icon Word & Phrase Lists
Flashcard icon Flashcards
Fluency Pyramid Fluency Pyramids
Games Icon Games
Lists icon Spelling
Syllable Sort Icon Syllable Sorts
Small Books icon Small Books
Full Page Stories with Lists Full Page Stories with Lists
Teacher Resources

Teaching icon Teaching/Learning to Read Teaching icon 2

teachingvideos

Teaching Videos

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

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.

Book Shelf Practice Reading Book Shelf

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

Bundle: Additional various activities to practice a specific skill
Pack: Additional multiple versions of a specific activity to practice a specific skill

bundlesandpacks

oo bundle cover page Irregular Vowel Team Bundles!

Bundles revised and added to on 4/3/22

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



Individual Materials including materials for more advanced learners:

Lists

Lists icon Word and Phrase 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
Review: Changing vowel drills 1-4 combined cvc cve vv vr

Flashcards

Flashcard icon Flashcards

VV Regular and irregular sound flashcards from Big Sounds Pack
Irregular Vowel Team VV flashcards oo oo
Irregular Vowel Team VV flashcards oo ui ue ew
Irregular Vowel Team VV flashcards oi oy
Irregular Vowel Team VV flashcards au augh aw
Irregular Vowel Team VV flashcards ou ow

Fluency Pyramids

Fluency Pyramid Fluency Pyramids

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 Games

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 Spelling

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

Syllable Sorts


Syllable Sort Icon Syllable Sorts

See syllable sort directions and headings and a strategy page in Teacher Resources below.

Big Words with all syllable types to break up, read and sort

Small Books

Small Books icon Small Books

Small Book assembly directions, 4 Pager 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 Loose Tooth foldable format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo 4 page The Loose Tooth horizontal format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo, oo small book The Hot Air Balloon Ride foldable format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo small book The Hot Air Balloon Ride horizontal format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo oo small book The Goose, Moose and Rooster Escape foldable format
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 format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo ue small book Hodan foldable format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oo ue small book Hodan horizontal format
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 format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oi oy small book Roy’s Toy foldable format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV oi oy small book Roy’s Toy horizontal format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV augh small book The Sometimes Naughty Daughter foldable format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV au augh aw small book The Sometimes Naughty Daughter horizontal format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV aw au augh 4 page At Dawn foldable format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV aw au augh 4 page At Dawn horizontal format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow 4 page My Brother The Grouch both formats
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow small book My House foldable format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow small book My House horizontal format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou, ow small book Bad Dog foldable format
Green Star, Pink Plus: Grades 1,2 and/or intervention, challengeIrregular Vowel Team VV ou ow small book Bad Dog horizontal format

Full Page Stories with Lists

Full Page Stories with Lists

Highlighting Word Lists directions

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

Teacher Resources

Teacher icon Teacher Resources

Visuals

Teaching Stories

PowerPoints

Directions

More on the Directions Page

Map Sounds to Letters

First 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 the letters that spell those sounds. Teach spelling

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

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