3.2 Explicitly Teach 'y' as a Vowel
‘y’ as a Vowel Skill Explainer
Now it's time to teach!
Teacher Tip
Telling the Alphabet Queen story (based on The Alphabet King (opens in new window), an original story by dyslexia therapist Jennings Miller) is a great way to kick off this new material. The story often quickly becomes a favorite with young students! You'll tell new versions of the story as you teach other syllable types and phonics skills. In this version of the story, 'y' is the "Sneaky Thief" who slips into the vowels' pen and steals the sounds of long /ī/ and long /ē/.
Telling the Alphabet Queen story (based on The Alphabet King (opens in new window), an original story by dyslexia therapist Jennings Miller) is a great way to kick off this new material. The story often quickly becomes a favorite with young students! You'll tell new versions of the story as you teach other syllable types and phonics skills. In this version of the story, 'y' is the "Sneaky Thief" who slips into the vowels' pen and steals the sounds of long /ī/ and long /ē/.
1. Teach 'y' as a Vowel at the End of One-Syllable Words (Long 'i')
sh _
2. Teach 'y' as a Vowel at the End of Multisyllabic Words (Long 'e')
Let's practice dividing the syllables and reading this word. First, we're going to underline the vowels in our word:
I'm going to start at the beginning of the word and underline the vowels and mark them with a 'v'.
- I'm going to look between those two vowels and mark the consonants with a 'c'.
Next, we're going to divide our word into syllables:
When we have two consonants between the vowels, we draw a line and divide between the consonants.
Now we're going to label each syllable type:
Look at the first vowel. Is it closed in by a consonant? [yes]
What does that tell you about the vowel? [The vowel will make its short sound.]
Look at the next vowel. Is it closed in by a consonant? [no]
What syllable type is this? [open]
What sound does the 'y' make? [/ē/, the 'y' says /ē/ at the end of a multisyllabic word]
Now that I have divided it into syllables, the word will be much easier to read.
Look at the first syllable. Since we know that the first syllable is closed, we know how to read it! Let's read it together [can-].
Now look at the next syllable. This is an open syllable because 'y' is a vowel and there are no consonants after it. We just learned that when the /ē/ sound is at the end of a multisyllabic word it is spelled with a 'y'. Let's read that syllable. [-dy]
