The long phoneme ‘A’
What graphemes can we use?
ai
a-e
ay
Year Two, Term One
When two vowels go a-walking,
The one in front does the talking.
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Now in this next list of words, the ‘e’ at the end of each word and the a
before it, together make the ‘A’ phoneme.
came
gave
brave
blame
name
make
safe
take
taste
wave
face
• Laura’s middle name is Jane.
Next comes the grapheme ai
• rain
• pain
• paint
• wait
• again
• explain
• afraid
• chain
• nail
• sail
• pail
Last of all is the grapheme ay
and it is not at the end of our list, without good
reason.
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day
today
Tuesday
Wednesday
May
stay
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away
hay
tray
stray
railway
Now it’s your turn, list all the a-e
words you can spot in the
passage.
• The tramp gave himself a shake and came
down to the water’s edge. A red faced man
was in the water. He made the tramp jump
with surprise. The brave tramp stepped
forward and let the man take his hand. He
pulled the man to safety.
• “I’d like to thank you. What’s your name?” said
the man, dripping on the grass.
• “Peter Goodfellow,” replied the tramp.
Well did you spot 9 words with
the a-e grapheme?
• The tramp gave himself a shake and came
down to the water’s edge. A red faced man
was in the water. He made the tramp jump
with surprise. The brave tramp stepped
forward and let the man take his hand. He
pulled the man to safety.
• “I’d like to thank you. What’s your name?” said
the man, dripping on the grass.
• “Peter Goodfellow,” replied the tramp.
Now look for words with the ai
grapheme.
• Now the tramp and the man were cold and
wet. The smart man looked afraid as he crept
into his house to explain to his wife.
• “I’m wet,” explained the man, “but not from
the rain, I fell into the river again.”
• His wife had a pail of paint and a paint brush
in her hands. She had a look of pain on her
face. She was not in the mood for more
washing.
• So the man was in trouble and Peter, the
tramp moved on down the road.
Did you find 8 words?
• Now the tramp and the man were cold and
wet. The smart man looked afraid as he crept
into his house to explain to his wife.
• “I’m wet,” explained the man, “but not from
the rain, I fell into the river again.”
• His wife had a pail of paint and a paint brush
in her hands. She had a look of pain on her
face. She was not in the mood for more
washing.
• So the man was in trouble and Peter, the
tramp moved on down the road.
Last time, are you ready?
Now spot the words with the ay
grapheme. Go!
• It was now Wednesday at the railway station.
Tuesday had been a lovely May day but now it
was dull. Peter had been given a pie on a tray
by the canteen lady. Suddenly a mouse jumped
onto it followed by a stray cat. The cat
missed the mouse and landed in the pie. Oh,no!
• “It’s just not my day, today,” said Peter.
• “Go away, and stay away!” shouted the canteen
lady to the cat, “and I’ll get you another pie,”
she said to Peter.
• The poor, old tramp, smiled.
Well did you manage to find
10?
• It was now Wednesday at the railway station.
Tuesday had been a lovely May day but now it
was dull. Peter had been given a pie on a tray
by the canteen lady. Suddenly a mouse jumped
onto it followed by a stray cat. The cat
missed the mouse and landed in the pie. Oh,no!
• “It’s just not my day, today,” said Peter.
• “Go away, and stay away!” shouted the canteen
lady to the cat, “and I’ll get you another pie,”
she said to Peter.
• The poor, old tramp, smiled.
Did you notice that the ‘A’ phoneme,
ay is usually at the every end of a
word?
• Now which spelling
choices could you
use to make the ‘A’
phoneme?
• a-e
• ai
• ay