Vocabulary: Long A

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

By now, you probably know the most common pattern to spell and read the long A sound.

It looks like this: a_e. Example words that follow this pattern are:

• fade
• plane
• name

You might also know some of the other ways long A tries to disguise itself. Another one you probably know is -ay. Example words that follow this pattern are:

• pay
• stay
• clay

You also might know this way of spelling the long A sound: -ai. Example words that follow this pattern are:

• paid
• rain
• paint

Today, you're going to look at yet two more ways you will see the long A represented.

You will need to recognize these patterns as you read to help understand the words you read. Remember, when you read, if you see an unfamiliar word, try to sound it out. If you still don't know it, try saying the word out loud or quietly in your mind.

Today's lesson will help you figure out some of those trickier long A patterns!

You're going to look at two more ways you'll see the long A: A and eigh.

At the beginning of words, sometimes the A is all by itself, just before a consonant. Look at these examples:

• alien
• apron

Did you sound them out? Good job! That's the long A sound at the beginning of a word. It's not a rule, though, (remember, apple starts with the short A sound) but sometimes, it's a long A sound.

The other pattern is eigh. Some examples are:

• eight (sounds like ate)
• sleigh (sounds like slay)
• weigh (sounds like way)

All of those letters together equal the long A sound.

Now that you've seen the examples, it's time to practice!

Continue on to the Got It? section to play a word-sort game.