ELA G1:S4:C22:L111

Decoding: Vowel Teams "ay" and "ow"

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Daily Learning Targets

Opening A: I can identify different spelling patterns that represent the /ō/ and /ā/ vowel sounds. (RF.1.2)

I can listen to a single-syllable word and identify the long vowel sound it contains.

Work Time A: I can read and spell CVC, CCVC, and CVCC words with vowel teams. (RF.1.2, L.1.2)

I can decode regularly spelled one-syllable words by mapping graphemes and phonemes.
I can decode a word with a vowel team (two vowels that make a long vowel sound) in the middle.

Ongoing Assessment

Observe students during Work Time.
Determine whether they can identify long vowel words using the patterns learned in this cycle.

Agenda

Agenda
1. Opening (3–5 minutes) A. Vowel Sounds: Known Patterns for /ā/ and /ō/ (Open Syllable, Silent “e,” and Vowel Teams “ai” and “oa”) B. Vowel Sounds: Introducing New Patterns for /ā/ and /ō/ (Vowel Teams “ay” and “ow”) 2. Work Time (10 minutes) A. Decoding: Words with Vowel Teams “ay” and “ow” (“may,” “stay,” “day,” “Sunday,” “row,” “bowl,” “snow,” “snowball,” “grow,” “throw”) 3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes) A. Reflecting on Learning 4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40-45 minutes)

1. Opening (3–5 minutes)

A. Vowel Sounds: Known Patterns for /ā/ and /ō/ (Open Syllable, Silent “e,” and Vowel Teams “ai” and “oa”)

B. Vowel Sounds: Introducing New Patterns for /ā/ and /ō/ (Vowel Teams “ay” and “ow”)

2. Work Time (10 minutes)

A. Decoding: Words with Vowel Teams “ay” and “ow” (“may,” “stay,” “day,” “Sunday,” “row,” “bowl,” “snow,” “snowball,” “grow,” “throw”)

3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes)

A. Reflecting on Learning

4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40-45 minutes)

In Advance

Prepare:

Work Time Word List
Add vowel teams "ay" and "ow" to the Vowel Team anchor chart (introduced in Cycle 21, Lesson 106)
Snapshot Assessment (optional)

Write the following sentence on a sentence strip: "We can play in the snow with Pat."
Gather materials for differentiated small group instruction (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T)

blend, decode, proficient, vowel team (L)

Materials

Sentence for Opening B: "We can play in the snow with Pat." (on sentence strip for teacher to display)
Work Time Word List in sheet protectors (one per student or for partners)
Clipboards (if not working at a table)
Whiteboard markers (one per student)
Whiteboard erasers (or tissues, socks, etc.; one per student)

Opening

Opening	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Vowel Sounds: Known Patterns for /ā/ and /ō/ (Open Syllable, Silent “e,” and Vowel Teams “ai” and “oa”) (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The More We Get Together”): “Sit down and come together, together, together. Sit down and come together, together, right now. Open up your ears now, and listen for the vowel sounds. It’s time to hear the vowel sounds we’re making right now.” Begin the Vowel Sounds instructional practice: 1. Teacher says: “Today, let’s start by listening to some words that have the same vowel sound. We’ll identify that sound and then examine all the ways we’ve learned this year to spell that sound. Knowing the different ways that a sound can be spelled will help us become better readers and spellers.” 2. Teacher says the following words aloud, pausing between each word: “go,” “joke,” “boat.” 3. Teacher asks: “What sound do we hear in these words?” (/ō/) 4. Teacher writes the words in a list on the board and says: “Let’s examine these words to see how the sound /ō/ is spelled.” 5. Teacher asks: “How is the sound /ō/ spelled in the word ‘go’?” (open syllable, not closed by a consonant) “How is the sound /ō/ spelled in the word ‘joke’?” (The magic “e” is making the “o” say its name.) “How is the sound /ō/ spelled in the word ‘boat’?” (It’s a vowel team; the “o” is the first letter in the vowel team, so we hear its name.) 6. Teacher repeats steps 2–5 with the words “a” (pronouncing it /ā/), “make,” and “rain.” 7. Teacher says: “We have learned three ways that the long ‘a’ can be spelled: open syllable, magic ‘e,’ and the vowel team ‘ai.’ And we have learned three ways that the long ‘o’ can be spelled: open syllable, magic ‘e,’ and the vowel team ‘oa.’ When we look at the vowel letters ‘a’ or ‘o’ in a word and see that it is an open syllable, is with a magic ‘e,’ or is the first letter in a vowel team, we know that we will hear the long sound. I wonder if those are the only ways to spell those sounds.”	If students are unfamiliar with the academic vocabulary word "examine," unpack this term in step 2. Having students understand that to "examine" a word is to look carefully to discover something about it echoes the important concept of deep analysis of words in order to commit patterns to memory. Consider creating an anchor chart to capture the ways in which students have learned to spell each vowel sound (see sample in supporting materials).
B. Vowel Sounds: Introducing New Patterns for /ā/and /ō/ (Vowel Teams “ay” and “ow”) Begin the Vowel Sounds instructional practice: 1. Teacher posts and reads aloud the Sentence for Opening B: “We can play in the snow with Pat.” 2. Teacher asks: “Which word in this sentence has the /ā/ sound in it?” (play) 3. Teacher circles the word “play.” 4. Teacher says: “Let’s examine this word to see how the /ā/ sound is spelled.” 5. Teacher asks: “Is it an open syllable?” (no) “Is there a magic ‘e’ making the ‘a’ say its name?” (no) “Is it the vowel team ‘ai’?” (no) “Then how is the /ā/ sound spelled in this word?” (ay) 6. Teacher says: “That’s right! It looks like we’ve found another way to spell the /ā/ sound: ‘ay.’” 7. Teacher repeats steps 1–6 with the sound /ō/ and the word “snow.”	The word "play" is a known high-frequency word. Consider using this as a mnemonic for the "ay" spelling pattern.

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Vowel Sounds: Known Patterns for /ā/ and /ō/ (Open Syllable, Silent “e,” and Vowel Teams “ai” and “oa”)

(Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The More We Get Together”):

“Sit down and come together, together, together. Sit down and come together, together, right now. Open up your ears now, and listen for the vowel sounds. It’s time to hear the vowel sounds we’re making right now.”

Begin the Vowel Sounds instructional practice:

1. Teacher says: “Today, let’s start by listening to some words that have the same vowel sound. We’ll identify that sound and then examine all the ways we’ve learned this year to spell that sound. Knowing the different ways that a sound can be spelled will help us become better readers and spellers.”

2. Teacher says the following words aloud, pausing between each word: “go,” “joke,” “boat.”

3. Teacher asks:

“What sound do we hear in these words?” (/ō/)

4. Teacher writes the words in a list on the board and says: “Let’s examine these words to see how the sound /ō/ is spelled.”

5. Teacher asks:

“How is the sound /ō/ spelled in the word ‘go’?” (open syllable, not closed by a consonant)

“How is the sound /ō/ spelled in the word ‘joke’?” (The magic “e” is making the “o” say its name.)

“How is the sound /ō/ spelled in the word ‘boat’?” (It’s a vowel team; the “o” is the first letter in the vowel team, so we hear its name.)

6. Teacher repeats steps 2–5 with the words “a” (pronouncing it
/ā/), “make,” and “rain.”

7. Teacher says: “We have learned three ways that the long ‘a’ can be spelled: open syllable, magic ‘e,’ and the vowel team ‘ai.’ And we have learned three ways that the long ‘o’ can be spelled: open syllable, magic ‘e,’ and the vowel team ‘oa.’ When we look at the vowel letters ‘a’ or ‘o’ in a word and see that it is an open syllable, is with a magic ‘e,’ or is the first letter in a vowel team, we know that we will hear the long sound. I wonder if those are the only ways to spell those sounds.”

If students are unfamiliar with the academic vocabulary word "examine," unpack this term in step 2. Having students understand that to "examine" a word is to look carefully to discover something about it echoes the important concept of deep analysis of words in order to commit patterns to memory.
Consider creating an anchor chart to capture the ways in which students have learned to spell each vowel sound (see sample in supporting materials).

B. Vowel Sounds: Introducing New Patterns for /ā/and /ō/ (Vowel Teams “ay” and “ow”)

Begin the Vowel Sounds instructional practice:

1. Teacher posts and reads aloud the Sentence for Opening B: “We can play in the snow with Pat.”

2. Teacher asks:

“Which word in this sentence has the /ā/ sound in it?” (play)

3. Teacher circles the word “play.”

4. Teacher says: “Let’s examine this word to see how the /ā/ sound is spelled.”

5. Teacher asks:

“Is it an open syllable?” (no)

“Is there a magic ‘e’ making the ‘a’ say its name?” (no)

“Is it the vowel team ‘ai’?” (no)

“Then how is the /ā/ sound spelled in this word?” (ay)

6. Teacher says: “That’s right! It looks like we’ve found another way to spell the /ā/ sound: ‘ay.’”

7. Teacher repeats steps 1–6 with the sound /ō/ and the word “snow.”

The word "play" is a known high-frequency word. Consider using this as a mnemonic for the "ay" spelling pattern.

Work Time

Work Time	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Decoding: Words with Vowel Teams “ay” and “ow” (“may,” “stay,” “day,” “Sunday,” “row,” “bowl,” “snow,” “snowball,” “grow,” “throw”) (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The More We Get Together”): “Now it’s time to be detectives, detectives, detectives. Now it’s time to be detectives, detectives, let’s go!” Distribute the Work Time Word List, clipboards, whiteboard markers, and whiteboard erasers. Begin the Decoding instructional practice: 1. Teacher says: “Now we’ll be decoding detectives and search for the long 'o' spelled ‘ow’ and the long 'a' spelled ‘ay.'” 2. Teacher leads students in the analysis of words: Students locate the vowel in the word. Students look at the letters around the vowel to search for clues (open syllable, magic “e,” or vowel team). Students circle the letters in the word that produce the long vowel sound. 3. Students whisper read the list of words. 4. Teacher says: “The ‘ay’ and ‘ow’ in these words are vowel teams. When the ‘a’ is with the ‘y,’ we just hear the ‘a’ say its name. When the ‘o’ is with the ‘w,’ we just hear the ‘o,’ not the ‘w.’” 5. Teacher writes “ai,” “oa,” and “ea” in a list and then writes “ay” next to “ai” and “ow” next to “oa.” 6. Teacher asks: “How are the vowel teams ‘ay’ and ‘ow’ similar to the vowel teams ‘ai,’ ‘ea,’ and ‘oa’ we learned about last week?” (two letters, make one sound; hear just the first sound.) “How are they different?” (“Ow” and “ay” have a consonant after the vowel; the others have two vowels.) 7. Teacher says: “That’s right. The ‘y’ is sometimes a vowel and sometimes a consonant, and the ‘w’ is usually a consonant. When ‘a’ and ‘y’ are teamed up, they make one sound, /ā/, and when ‘o’ and ‘w’ are paired up, they make one sound, /ō/.”	Consider extending the level of analysis with the Work Time Word List to include words with the other known patterns for making the long vowel sounds /ā/ and /ō/ (examples: “make,” “so,” “cone”). After the analysis of the words is complete, consider asking: “What do we notice about most of the words with ‘ay’ and ‘ow’?” (They are at the end of the word.)

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Decoding: Words with Vowel Teams “ay” and “ow” (“may,” “stay,” “day,” “Sunday,” “row,” “bowl,” “snow,” “snowball,” “grow,” “throw”)

(Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The More We Get Together”):

“Now it’s time to be detectives, detectives, detectives. Now it’s time to be detectives, detectives, let’s go!”

Distribute the Work Time Word List, clipboards, whiteboard markers, and whiteboard erasers.
Begin the Decoding instructional practice:

1. Teacher says: “Now we’ll be decoding detectives and search for the long 'o' spelled ‘ow’ and the long 'a' spelled ‘ay.'”

2. Teacher leads students in the analysis of words:

Students locate the vowel in the word.
Students look at the letters around the vowel to search for clues (open syllable, magic “e,” or vowel team).
Students circle the letters in the word that produce the long vowel sound.

3. Students whisper read the list of words.

4. Teacher says: “The ‘ay’ and ‘ow’ in these words are vowel teams. When the ‘a’ is with the ‘y,’ we just hear the ‘a’ say its name. When the ‘o’ is with the ‘w,’ we just hear the ‘o,’ not the ‘w.’”

5. Teacher writes “ai,” “oa,” and “ea” in a list and then writes “ay” next to “ai” and “ow” next to “oa.”

6. Teacher asks:

“How are the vowel teams ‘ay’ and ‘ow’ similar to the vowel teams ‘ai,’ ‘ea,’ and ‘oa’ we learned about last week?” (two letters, make one sound; hear just the first sound.)

“How are they different?” (“Ow” and “ay” have a consonant after the vowel; the others have two vowels.)

7. Teacher says: “That’s right. The ‘y’ is sometimes a vowel and sometimes a consonant, and the ‘w’ is usually a consonant. When ‘a’ and ‘y’ are teamed up, they make one sound, /ā/, and when ‘o’ and ‘w’ are paired up, they make one sound, /ō/.”

Consider extending the level of analysis with the Work Time Word List to include words with the other known patterns for making the long vowel sounds /ā/ and /ō/ (examples: “make,” “so,” “cone”).
After the analysis of the words is complete, consider asking:

“What do we notice about most of the words with ‘ay’ and ‘ow’?” (They are at the end of the word.)

Closing & Assessments

Closing	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Reflecting on Learning Emphasize that successful learners keep track of and reflect on their own learning. Point out that they are doing this each time they consider how what they did today helps them to become more proficient readers. Invite students to reflect and share with a partner (or whole group). Ask: "What did you do today that is helping you become a more proficient reader?" (Responses will vary. Example: "I looked for the vowels. If I saw a 'y' after an 'a,' I thought about how I just hear the 'a.'")	For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Examples: "When I made the sounds for the word _____, I _____." "When I wrote the letter _____, I _____." "When I blended the sounds ______, I _____."

Closing

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning

Emphasize that successful learners keep track of and reflect on their own learning. Point out that they are doing this each time they consider how what they did today helps them to become more proficient readers.
Invite students to reflect and share with a partner (or whole group). Ask:

"What did you do today that is helping you become a more proficient reader?" (Responses will vary. Example: "I looked for the vowels. If I saw a 'y' after an 'a,' I thought about how I just hear the 'a.'")

For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Examples:

"When I made the sounds for the word _____, I _____."
"When I wrote the letter _____, I _____."
"When I blended the sounds ______, I _____."

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

Suggested Plan: Teacher works with the Pre-Alphabetic and Partial Alphabetic groups. Teacher may meet briefly with the Full and Consolidated groups to provide a weekly Word List and exit ticket or possibly set up a management system allowing these students to find the list and exit ticket and begin work independently.

Note: Groups not working with the teacher at a given time should be engaged in purposeful independent rotation work. Refer to the Independent and Small Group Work Guidance document for more details (see K-2 Skills Resource Manual).

Pre-Alphabetic:

Aim small group instruction at building students' knowledge and skills of letter identification and phonological awareness.
Use the Assessment Conversion chart to determine appropriate Kindergarten lessons and Activity Bank ideas to use in daily small group instruction.

Partial Alphabetic:

Consider continuing the Work Time decoding activity to include any words that weren't analyzed during the whole group lesson. Consider adding to the list:

more long "o" and long "a," "ow," and "ay" words
long "o" and long "a" words spelled with CVCe pattern

Consider using the Assessment Conversion chart to determine if there is a previous cycle(s) that needs to be revisited. If so, consider using lessons from that cycle to develop mastery before moving on to vowel teams.
Related Activity Bank suggestions:

Any Activity Bank activity from the Vowels category (V)

Full and Consolidated Alphabetic:

Establish weekly Word Lists and exit tickets for independent work time (see supporting materials).
Additional Supporting Materials:

Word List Guidance (for teacher reference)
Word List (one per student or per pair)
Word Card Template (one per student or per pair)
Sorting Words Template (one per student or per pair)

EL Education Curriculum

ELA G1:S4:C22:L111

Decoding: Vowel Teams "ay" and "ow"

In this Lesson

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Help us improve!

Daily Learning Targets

Ongoing Assessment

Agenda

In Advance

Vocabulary

Materials

Opening

Work Time

Closing & Assessments

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

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