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Advanced Vowels

Learn how advanced vowel patterns introduce new sounds and spellings and how Hoot supports children as they move into more complex word reading.

What are Advanced Vowels?

The advanced vowels unit covers new vowel sounds and new spellings for sounds your child already knows. The unit marks an important transition in reading development, as children move from early word reading into more complex words and spelling patterns.

When your child is working at this stage, they should already have a strong foundation in:

  • Short vowels

  • Long vowels

  • Basic r-controlled vowels

This unit explains how the same vowel sound can be spelled in many different ways and that English spelling becomes more complex as reading skills grow.

What an Advanced Vowels Lesson Might Look Like

Because this is a large and important unit, instruction is divided into two parts with built-in review along the way.

Part 1 focuses on:

  • Short e spelled ea, as in head

  • Short oo spelled oo or u, as in book and push

  • Long oo spelled oo, ew, ui, or ue, as in moon and blue

Part 2 introduces:

  • Long vowel spelling patterns like -old, -ost, and -ind

  • The aw sound spelled aw, au, augh, a, all, or alk

  • Diphthongs, or “sliding vowel sounds,” such as:

    • oi / oy as in coin and boy

    • ou / ow as in out and cow

In an advanced vowel lesson, your child’s teacher will guide them through carefully structured practice that introduces new patterns, while reinforcing familiar sounds using Hoot's Wise Word books. Practice will continue into a Hoot Decodable passage to focus on decoding accuracy and efficiency in a carefully written story focusing on the skill being practiced.

You may notice more review and repetition throughout this unit. This is intentional to help children apply rules and patterns rather than memorizing words.

Why this Skill Matters

Advanced vowels reflect the reality that English spelling is complex, but it is still learnable when taught systematically. By working through advanced vowels with structured support, children learn that they can successfully decode increasingly complex words.

Resources Used in Lesson to Teach Advanced Vowels

Hoot Wise Words | /o/ a, all and alk

Hoot Decodables | A Fall Walk