Vowel teams chart
A vowel team is two or more letters that work together to spell one vowel sound, like ai in rain or oo in moon. This chart lists the common teams with their sounds, three words each, and where each team usually sits in a word.
Free printable PDF, 1st grade to 3rd grade.
One page, black and white, prints the same every time.
What is on the sheet
Teams that spell a long vowel
| Team | Sound | Words | Where it usually goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ai | long a | rain, paint, train | middle of a word |
| ay | long a | day, play, stay | end of a word |
| eigh | long a | weigh, weight, sleigh | middle or end |
| ee | long e | feet, tree, sleep | middle or end |
| ea | long e | eat, team, sea | start, middle or end |
| igh | long i | night, light, high | middle or end |
| ie | long i | pie, tie, lie | end of a short word |
| oa | long o | boat, coat, road | start or middle |
| ow | long o | snow, grow, slow | end of a word |
| oe | long o | toe, hoe, tiptoe | end of a word |
| ue | long u | blue, glue, true | end of a word |
| ew | long u | new, few, grew | end of a word |
| ui | long u | fruit, suit, juice | middle of a word |
More vowel teams
| Team | Sound | Words | Where it usually goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| oo | as in moon | food, spoon, zoo | middle or end |
| oo | as in book | look, foot, wood | middle of a word |
| ou | as in out | cloud, house, mouth | start or middle |
| ow | as in cow | now, town, owl | end, or before l or n |
| oi | as in coin | oil, boil, point | start or middle |
| oy | as in boy | toy, joy, enjoy | end of a word |
| au | as in saw | sauce, launch, haul | start or middle |
| aw | as in saw | paw, draw, straw | end, or before l, n or k |
| ea | short e | bread, head, feather | middle of a word |
Reading the chart
The first table lists the teams that spell a long vowel, the sound that says the letter's name. The second lists the teams with sounds of their own, like oi in coin and ou in out. Long u has two sounds, the one in few and the oo in blue, and its teams spell both. A few teams are on the chart twice because they spell two sounds: ow is long o in snow and a different sound in cow, and oo sounds one way in moon and another in book. When one sound does not make a word, try the other.
The last column is the spelling help. Pairs such as ai and ay spell the same sound, and the position in the word tells you which one to use: ai in the middle (rain), ay at the end (day). The same goes for oi and oy, ou and ow, and au and aw. Most English words do not end in i or u, which is why the end-of-word partners use y and w instead.
Which grade learns which
1st grade learns the common teams that spell the long vowels, such as ai, ay, ee, ea, oa and igh (CCSS RF.1.3c). 2nd grade adds more teams (RF.2.3b), and most programs bring in oo, ou, ow, oi and oy there. By 3rd grade children read them in longer words of two or more syllables.
Common questions
- What is the difference between a vowel team and a digraph?
- Many programs use the two names for the same thing. Where they differ, vowel team is the wider name: a digraph is exactly two letters, and a vowel team can be three or four, like igh in night and eigh in sleigh.
- Does the two vowels go walking rule work?
- Only some of the time. "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking" fits rain, boat and team, but not bread, book, cloud or coin. It is better to learn each team's sound from words like the ones on the chart.