1. Spelling for Older Students
SOS
Lesson 17 ai, ay, a-e
Created for SPELD SA by Jan Polkinghorne

2. Sounds in a word A-n-t-e-l-oe-p 7 ai-n-j-e-l 5 t-r-ai-n 4
Say the names of these pictures. Use your fingers to count how many sounds in each word. NOTE that is sounds not letters.
Click for answers
A-n-t-e-l-oe-p ai-n-j-e-l t-r-ai-n 4

3. Rhyming words. Find 4 words to rhyme with each of these.
stick
sick
trick
lick
mick
kick
nick
dog
log
hog
bog
cog
smog
slog
duck
truck
stuck
luck
muck
puck
suck

4. What is the same about these pictures. Say the words aloud.
Blue box have short vowel a :- anchor, angry, axe, ant, add, amplifier, ambulance, ass, apple, antenna, alligator, antlers, astronaut .
Yellow box have long vowel ai:- angel, train, waist, chain, nail, rain, tail, drain, mail, paint, snail.
Click the box for the answer.

5. Sort all of your bottle top letters into vowels and consonants.
ai is a long vowel All letters in our alphabet belong to one of two groups
The vowel a has 3 pronunciations:
short vowel a as in cat
long vowel ai as in train and able
schwa – the grunt vowel as in ago, again
Sort all of your bottle top letters into vowels and consonants.
We need to know whether a letter is a vowel or consonant to help us apply spelling rules.

6. Doubling Rule- the most common rule in English.
Why do we often see double letters in the middle of words.? We have been learning about vowels and consonants . Now we find out why. Vowels interact with each other. If they are only separated by one consonant the second vowel makes the first say its long vowel name. gate snake ambulance alligator If we double the consonant it stops this from happening. How would we say these words ? rag sag slag slate

7. How to write the letter ‘ai, ay, a-e’
Linked script is far better to write than printing. It is faster, easier, more comfortable to write for long periods and your brain learns the words better if they are linked.
ai ay fate 1 1 4 2 3 3 2
Many people find it faster to form a c then add the stick than to do the reverse. The aim for older students is to have them writing, quickly and legibly in link script rather than accurate letter formation.

8. Put a in each space and say what the word is.
a is found at the beginning, middle and end of words. A is very rarely doubled in English – aardvark
Put a in each space and say what the word is.
j-m
g-te
s-nd
h-ve
-dd
-pple
-ss
n-me
c-mp
s-me
Click the box for the answer.
Jam, gate, sand, have, add
Apple, ass, name, camp, same.

9. date Why is the e on the end? alligator Why is the l doubled?
Apply your knowledge
date Why is the e on the end?
alligator Why is the l doubled?
alligator Why is the 2nd a long?
ass Why is the ss doubled?
To make a long vowel.
To keep a a short vowel.
The o makes it a long vowel because there is only 1 consonant between.
S, l, f, z are usually doubled on the end after a short vowel.
Click after discussing each to check your answers.

10. Complete the requirements for the next screen before proceeding
Complete the requirements for the next screen before proceeding. See Instructions.

11. Use your ears and listen carefully.
BEWARE!
Use your ears and listen carefully.
Ainsley has been having trouble with his hearing. Whenever his mother speaks to him, he puts his hand to his ear and says, “ai?” His mother tells him, “You should say ‘pardon’, not ‘ai’.” After awhile, his mother takes him to the doctor to have his hearing checked. In the waiting room is a box of toys. Ainsley plays with a whale and a sailing boat and a train. As he is pushing the train around the room, Dr Ail comes out and calls his name. Dr Ail looks in Ainsley’s ears. “You have a lot of wax in your ears. That’s why you’re having trouble with your hearing.” She gives him some eardrops. “Not another ‘ai’ now, Ainsley,” says his mother.

12. How many words can you make using these letters
How many words can you make using these letters? d, s, t, n, p, ai, e, ay, ck You may use a letter as many times as you like in a word. What is the longest word you can make?
You might be able to apply the doubling rule if you think of longer words.

13. ai is used at the beginning and middle of words.
What do you notice about the ai used in these words? Think about where the ai is in the word:- beginning, middle, end.
play
stay
hay
day
pay
lay
may
bay
clay
say
aim gain train aid rain nail pail sail snail
Click for the answer
ai is used at the beginning and middle of words.
ay is used on the end of words and syllables.

14. Search books etc. for as many ai, ay, ae words as you can find.
a-e is the most common way to make long vowel ai in English. It is found at the beginning and middle of words and very rarely on the end.
ate gate late mate Kate date fate hate
rate
grade
plate
blaze
maze
chase
grape
Skate
frame
sundae
Search books etc. for as many ai, ay, ae words as you can find.

15. Tricky Words – non phonetic Point out old is not a non phonic word.
Click to reveal the word
Click to reveal the word
old
here
Click to reveal the word
down

16. Click for Set 17 Tricky Word revision

17. Instructions.
Slide 2 counting sounds in a word. The answer is frequently not the same as the number of letters in the word.
Slide 3 Rhyming words
Slide 4 Differentiating between short vowel a and long vowel ai.
Slide 5– knowing vowels and consonants is vital for learning spelling rules. Multisensory learning (feeling the formation of a sound) is useful for many students. Rule 1: If the short vowel pronunciation doesn’t work to make a word try the long vowel. 3 ways to pronounce letter a.
Slide 6 – Doubling rule. The most common rule applied in English. If two vowels are separated by only a single consonant, the second vowel usually makes the first say its long vowel name. This rule is important for both reading and writing. It tells us when to double when writing and how to pronounce when reading.
Slide 7–writing A and a and linking. Handwriting I have used Sego Script because it is freely available on most computers . Research is now showing that linked script is more ergonomic and helps with retention of spelling. Many prospective employers are expecting job applications to be handwritten and many exams have to be handwritten. It is still a necessary skill.
Slide 8- writing a in the space and working out what the words are. Some words may be tricky words they have already learnt.
Slide 9- students need to be encouraged to apply their growing knowledge of how our language works. Ask the questions. Examine the answers. Can they think of other words applying the same rules?
Slide 10 and 11. Read the story for ’ai’ aloud. Ask each student to keep a tally of how many ‘ai’ sounds they hear in the story. Compare results. They need to use ears not eyes.
Hand each student a copy of the story. Read it aloud again and have students mark each ‘ai’ sound as they go.
Slide 12 Students are asked to build words ( use bottle top letters) – it is more fun and easier to correct if it is not a word. A letter sound can be repeated as many times as they like in a word. Encourage multi syllable words. Don’t worry if they do not double consonants we will learn this later. Encourage them to try to apply the doubling rule.
Slide 13 and 14 When to use ai, ay, and ae.
Slide 15 and 16 Tricky words. These words are high frequency, often non phonetic and have to be learnt by rote for both spelling and reading. Spell with alphabet names. Do not sound. Old is a phonetic word and can be sounded out. Here needs to be linked with there and where as place words. Down is phonetic once they learn ow for ou.