Grade by Grade
B. Foundations of Language · Printing, Spelling and Sentences

Vowel Teams: ai or ay, oi or oy, and New Ways to Spell Vowels

B2.2 B2.1About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can use ai in the middle of a word and ay at the end.
  • I can use oi in the middle and oy at the end.
  • I can choose ou or ow for the /ow/ sound.
  • I can spell new vowel patterns: eigh and ey (eight, grey), air, are, ear (hair, care, bear) and ew, ue (new, blue).

Words to know

vowel team
Two or more letters that work together to spell one vowel sound, like ai in rain.
position
Where something is in a word: the beginning, the middle or the end.
long vowel
A vowel that says its name, like the a in rain or the o in boat.

Remember from Grade 1

In Grade 1 you learned vowel teams like ee (tree), oa (boat), ai (rain) and ay (play). Two letters work together to make one sound. You also learned that ai usually goes in the middle of a word and ay at the end.

Now you'll use that idea to choose between more teams, and learn some brand-new teams.

Middle or end?

Some vowel sounds have two teams: one for the middle of a word and one for the end.

  • Teams with i (ai, oi) go in the middle. English words don't like to end with i!
  • Teams with y (ay, oy) go at the end.

So: rain but play. coin but boy.

MIDDLE of a wordi teams: ai · oiraincoinEND of a wordy teams: ay · oyplayboyEnglish words don't like to end with i, so the end gets the y team.
Where is the sound? In the middle, use the i team (rain, coin). At the end, use the y team (play, boy).
SoundIn the middleAt the end
long a /ā/ai: rain, paint, snailay: play, day, tray
/oy/oi: coin, soil, pointoy: boy, toy, enjoy
/ow/ou: cloud, house, mouthow: cow, now, how
Where is the sound? That tells you the team.

ou or ow?

ow can also come in the middle, usually right before n or l: town, brown, clown, owl, growl.

And careful: ow can also say long o, like in snow and grow. Read the word back to check that it makes sense.

Worked example

Let's spell "paint"

Spell paint. 🎨

  1. Tap the sounds: /p/ /ā/ /n/ /t/.
  2. The long a sound is in the middle (there are sounds after it).
  3. Middle, so use ai.
  4. Write p-ai-n-t. Read it back: paint.

paint

Worked example

Let's spell "enjoy"

Spell enjoy.

  1. Clap it: en · joy. Spell en first.
  2. In joy, the /oy/ sound is at the very end of the word.
  3. End, so use oy.
  4. Join: en + joy = enjoy.

enjoy

New vowel teams for Grade 2

Here are some new ways to spell vowel sounds. You will see them in lots of books!

SoundNew spellingWords
long a /ā/eigheight, weigh, sleigh, neighbour
long a /ā/eythey, grey, obey
/air/airhair, chair, fair
/air/arecare, share, square
/air/earbear, pear, wear
/oo/ or /ū/ewnew, few, grew, chew
/oo/ueblue, glue, true
New spellings to learn this year

Which one looks right?

Some sounds have several spellings, like /air/ (hair, care, bear). When you're not sure:

  1. Write the word two ways.
  2. Ask: Which one looks right? Have I seen it in a book?
  3. Check a word wall or a dictionary.

Some words sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things: pair (two of something) and pear (a fruit). The spelling tells you the meaning!

pairtwo of somethinga pair of mittenspeara fruit
pair and pear sound exactly the same. The spelling tells the reader which one you mean.
Worked example

Let's spell "chair"

Spell chair. 🪑

  1. Tap the sounds: /ch/ /air/. Two sounds.
  2. /ch/ is at the start, so it's just ch.
  3. /air/ can be air, are or ear. Try writing chair and chare.
  4. chair is the one we see in books.
  5. Read it back: ch-air.

chair

Just for fun

What did one pear say to the other pear?

"Together we make a great pair!" 🍐🍐

Hands-on activity

Vowel team hopscotch

You need: 3 sheets of paper, a marker and a little floor space (or sidewalk chalk outside).

  1. Write MIDDLE on one paper and END on another. Write NEW TEAMS on the third.
  2. A grown-up says a word. Hop to MIDDLE if the vowel sound is in the middle, or END if it's at the end.
  3. Spell the word out loud while you stand there.

Words: rain, play, coin, boy, cloud, cow, snail, toy, house, tray, point, now.

  1. For the NEW TEAMS paper, a grown-up reads: eight, they, hair, care, bear, new, blue. Write each one on the paper.

Your turn

1

Fill in ai or ay: tr__ (something to carry food on)

2

Fill in ai or ay: sn__l 🐌

3

Fill in oi or oy: c__n 🪙

4

Spell toy.

5

Spell cloud. ☁️

6

Spell eight.

7

Spell blue.

More practice: warm-up

1

Spell day.

2

Spell rain.

3

Spell boy.

4

Spell cow. 🐄

5

Spell new.

More practice: on your own

1

Spell point.

2

Spell mouth.

3

Spell they.

4

Which is right for the fruit: pear or pair?

5

Spell share.

Challenge

1

Spell enjoy and avoid. Why are the /oy/ sounds spelled differently?

2

Write the sentence: The bear sat on a chair.

3

Ali wrote I plai in the snow. Fix the mistake and explain.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which word is spelled correctly?

2.

Which word is spelled correctly?

3.

Which team usually goes at the end of a word?

4.

Which spelling is right?

5.

Which word has the new Grade 2 spelling eigh?

6.

A fruit that grows on trees is a...

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 2 students use position-based tendencies to choose vowel spellings (B2.2): ai/oi/ou tend to come in the middle of a word, ay/oy/ow at the end. They also meet new spellings for familiar sounds, such as eigh and ey for long a, air/are/ear for /air/ and ew/ue.

How to help at home:

  • Ask "Is the sound in the middle or at the end?" before your child chooses a vowel team.
  • Keep a list of "new team" words on the fridge and add words found in books.
  • For sounds with several spellings (hair, care, bear), encourage writing both and asking "Which looks right?" This builds visual memory for words.

Common difficulties:

  • Ending words with i (plai, boi). Remind them that y teams go at the end.
  • Mixing ou and ow. This is a tendency, not a law (town, owl). Praise sensible attempts and show the correct spelling.
  • Homophones (pair/pear, there/their). Focus on meaning: "Which one do you mean?"
  • Over-using one spelling for /air/. Exposure through reading is the best teacher. Re-read favourite books and point out the words.