How to Teach Long Vowel A: Different Ways Vowel A Can Spell its Name

In this post you will find:

-long a words

-long a spelling patterns

-long a songs

-long a stories

-long a worksheets

-long a extension ideas

Long Vowel A Spelling Patterns:

Every child has a name. Every child has a way to spell that name. Letters also have a name, and letters also have a way to spell that name.

When I teach long vowel sounds I tell my students that when a vowel says its name in a word, the vowel almost always spells its name in the word.

The tricky thing about vowels is that they have many ways to spell their names. For example, sometimes the letter Aa spells its name a-e. Other times it spells its name ay, ai or even eigh.

I very rarely ask a child if a vowel is long or short. Instead I ask if the vowel says its name or says its sound.

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You can find my free long vowel A worksheets here:

https://thevowelcoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Long-A-Masters.pdf

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https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Long-Vowel-Activities-with-links-to-songs-stories-and-extension-topics-12915220

When I begin teaching long vowel A, I start with a video that shows some of the ways that A can spell its name.

Long A video:

After the video, I have my students sort words according to how long vowel A spells its name.

Long A word sort:

Now it is time to dive deeper into the different ways that the vowel A can spell its name.

I teach long vowel a spelling patterns in this order:

a-e
ay
ai
eigh

Here are the steps I follow to teach each way a vowel spells its name.

1. Listen to the song.

2. Read the word cards.

3. Watch and read the story.

4. Have your child spell some words using the fingers and boxes method.

5. Play memory.

6. Extend the fun with the extension activities.

Introduce a-e with a song.

Watch and listen to the a-e story then mute the video and read the story aloud

For each a-e word that you want to practice, have the student stretch the word and count how many sounds s/he can hear.

Make a box for each sound then have the student fill each box with the letter for the sound. Ask the child how we can make the letter A spell its name. In this case, we have a magic E. The letter E does not get a box because we cannot hear it.