3.3 Explicitly Teach 'ai' and 'ay'

In this section we'll show you how to explicitly teach the vowel teams 'ai' and 'ay'. 

Flash cards are a quick, effective way to build automaticity and reinforce what students already know. In this video, literacy coach Ashlea Edwards, M.Ed., demonstrates how to warm up with flash cards for the vowel teams ‘ai’ and ‘ay’, which make the long /ā/ sound, and ‘oi’ and ‘oy’, which make the /oy/ sound. 

Say, 

What ways have we learned to spell the long 'a' sound? [open syllable 'a', 'a' in a magic 'e' syllable] Yes! Today we are going to learn two more ways to represent the long 'a' sound.

Show students the keyword picture card for 'ai'.

Point to the picture of the train on the card. 

Say, 

Say, 

Listen to what we'll say when we see this card.

 'a', 'i', train, /ā/, at the beginning or middle of a word. 

Say and have students repeat, 

'a', 'i', train, /ā/, at the beginning or middle of a word.

Say, 

Now let's look at another vowel team that makes the long 'a' sound.

Take out and show students the keyword picture card for 'ay'.

Point to the picture of the hay on the card. Say, 

Say, 

Listen to what we'll say when we see this card: 

'a', 'y', hay, /ā/, at the end of a word.

Say and have students repeat, 

'a', 'y', hay, /ā/, at the end of a word.

Say,

Hay is grass that has been cut and dried. Some animals eat hay.

Say, 

Today, we will read and spell words that have the vowel teams 'ay' and 'ai'.

On the board write the following:

____d         st_____n         st________         pl______n         tr_________

Begin with the first word. Say, 

When we see the line we are going to make the long 'a' sound. Then we are going to decide if it will be 'ay' or 'ai'. Remember that 'ay' comes at the end of a word and 'ai' can come at the beginning or in the middle of a word. Let's look at the first word. /ā/, /d/, aid. To aid means to help. Which vowel team will we use in the word aid? ['ai'] Why? [because the long 'a' sound is at the beginning of the word]

Fill in the 'ai' and have the students read the word aid.

Continue this process with the rest of the words using these steps:

1. Say the sounds, making the long 'a' sound for the blank line.
2. Discuss where the long 'a' sound is in the word.
3. Have the students decide which vowel team and explain why.

After all words are filled in, have the students read back all of the words. 

When it's time to teach, you'll add in dictation and more reading. We encourage you to use this research-based lesson plan (opens in new window) to teach the vowel teams 'ai' and 'ay'. It's ready to print and use in your classroom right away!