Vowel Power

The Power of Vowels! Yesterday I got on the topic of vowels with my son, how we got on this topic I have no idea.  I started to talk to him about R-Controlled vowels and how vowels are very special and can sound differently. After our conversation it got me thinking about sharing why and how we teach vowels-besides just their sounds. 



Here's a little background information for you;

The alphabet contains 26 letters, 5 of these letters are vowels (a,e,i,o,u) and the rest are consonants, except y which can be both.

A vowel sound is a sound that is made by allowing one breath of air to flow out of the mouth without closing the mouth or throat.

A consonant sound is made by blocking air from flowing out of the mouth with your teeth, lips, tongue or palate.

Y is a consonant when it is found at the beginning of a word (yellow) and a vowel when it is at the end of a word. 

Y makes the long i sound when it is at the end of a one syllable word (by, my, cry)
Y makes the long e sound when it is found at the end of a two syllable word (baby, crazy)

When children begin to learn their letters and sounds short vowel sounds are typically taught first. (cat, met, hut, hot, hit)

Now, on to teaching what the vowels are-it is important for children to be able to identify which letters are the vowels for a number of reasons.

• Every word in the English language has at least one vowel in it
• Every syllable has a vowel in it
• Children will learn to identify syllables in words in order to decode and spell-all by knowing where the vowels are located in the word. 
• Children will learn that vowels can come as teams (ai, oa, ee ...)
• Children will learn that vowels can be controlled by other letters (ar, or, ir..)

A song to help learn the names of the vowels;

The Vowel Song

(song to the tune of BINGO)

There are 5 vowels in the alphabet let's sing them all together

A-E-I-O-U

A-E-I-O-U

A-E-I-O-U

and sometimes Y's a vowel too.

Tips

·        Hold the sounds and blend

Mmmmmmaaaaaaap

·        Letter/Word/Picture clues

·        Use hand signs for the long and short sounds.

Stretch out arms long for the long sound and bring hands in quick and together for the short sound. 

·        Look for patterns and sort (word families-at, it, on, up, en). 

·        Use a mirror to show mouth position

Use symbols to show long and short vowel sounds