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Basic Vowel Teams

Learn what vowel teams are, how they represent long vowel sounds, and how Hoot helps children read words with these spelling patterns.

What are Basic Vowel Teams?

Vowel teams are two vowels that appear together in a word to make one long vowel sound. Instead of each vowel making its own sound, the two letters work together to represent a single vowel sound.

In this unit, children learn several common vowel teams that spell long vowel sounds, including:

  • Long a spelled ai and ay, as in rain and play

  • Long o spelled oa and ow and oe, as in boat, snow, and toe

  • Long e spelled ee and ea, as in tree and beach

  • Long i spelled igh and ie, as in light and pie

At this stage, there are no vowel teams for the long u sound. Those patterns are introduced later as reading skills continue to grow.

What a Basic Vowel Teams Lesson Might Look Like

In a lesson focused on vowel teams, your child’s teacher will help them recognize specific vowel patterns and connect them to the correct long vowel sound. These lessons build on earlier phonics work with long vowels and r-controlled vowels, reinforcing what your child already knows while introducing new spelling patterns.

A basic vowel team lesson may include:

  1. Learning a specific vowel team and its long vowel sound.
  2. Decoding (sounding out) words with this vowel team in a Hoot’s Wise Words book with teacher support.
  3. Reading a Hoot Decodable book that matches the skill being taught.
  4. Re-reading the same Hoot Decodable text using the fluency practice page to build smooth and accurate reading.
  5. Reviewing various long vowel sounds on a whiteboard and practicing them aloud.

Teachers point out each vowel team sound (for example, “This is the long e sound”) and show how it works in words. Practicing this repeatedly helps children recognize the spelling pattern and apply the sound accurately.

Why this Skill Matters

Vowel teams are an important step toward reading more advanced texts. Learning these patterns helps children build flexibility as they encounter different spellings for the same sound. This supports better decoding as they encounter more complex word patterns later on.

Resources Used in Lesson to Teach Basic Vowel Teams

Hoot Wise Words | /ā/ ay

Hoot Decodables | Zayn's Big Day