Year 1 English: Vowel digraphs: ai, ee and oa, and the trigraph igh
Part of the Year 1 English two letters, one sound (digraphs) chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
Vowel digraphs: ai, ee and oa, and the trigraph igh
Some vowel sounds are written with two letters: ai in rain, ee in tree and oa in boat. Some are written with three letters. These are called trigraphs. igh in light has three letters, but it is one sound.
Put the letters that make one sound in one box, and then blend.
| Letters | Example words |
|---|---|
| ai | rain, train, tail, snail |
| ee | tree, bee, feet, sheep |
| oa | boat, coat, road, soap |
| igh | light, night, high, right |
Key ideas
- ai, ee and oa are vowel digraphs: two letters, one sound.
- igh is a trigraph: three letters, one sound.
- Put each vowel digraph in one sound box.
- The letters in a digraph do not change when you blend them.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.n - igh - t
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: igh.n | igh | t
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. n, igh, t
Check. Push the boxes together again: n + igh + t makes night. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of igh in one box. Do not split igh into separate letters.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a boat.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.b | oa | t
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.boat
Check. Read the sounds back in order: b - oa - t makes boat. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of oa together, in one box.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.t
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.t - r - ai - n
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.train
- Write the answer. train
Check. Split the word back into sounds: t, r, ai, n. ✓
Watch out. Say ai as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Watch out
Watch out: boat has oa, not ai. tail has ai. Look at the letters before you say the sound.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Use two different coloured pens. Colour the vowel digraph ai, ee or oa in one colour, and the other letters in another. Then blend the sounds to read each word together.
Exercise 2C Reading and splitting ai, ee, oa and igh words
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a rain.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.r | ai | n
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.rain
Check. Read the sounds back in order: r - ai - n makes rain. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of ai together, in one box.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a tree.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.t | r | ee
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.tree
Check. Read the sounds back in order: t - r - ee makes tree. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of ee together, in one box.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a boat.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.b | oa | t
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.boat
Check. Read the sounds back in order: b - oa - t makes boat. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of oa together, in one box.
Method. Look for three letters that work together in the word light.
- Say light in sound boxes. The middle box has three letters.l | igh | t
- Find the three letters. i, g and h make one sound with the t after it.igh
- Write the answer. igh
Check. Check the boxes: l | igh | t. The igh box is one sound. ✓
Watch out. igh has three letters but one sound. Keep all three together.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.t - r - ai - n
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: ai.t | r | ai | n
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.4 sounds
- Write the answer. t, r, ai, n
Check. Push the boxes together again: t + r + ai + n makes train. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of ai in one box. Do not split ai into separate letters.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.s - l - ee - p
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: ee.s | l | ee | p
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.4 sounds
- Write the answer. s, l, ee, p
Check. Push the boxes together again: s + l + ee + p makes sleep. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of ee in one box. Do not split ee into separate letters.
Key words. A sound box holds one sound. A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
Method. Say the word slowly. Put the letters for each sound in one box.
- Say the word slowly, one sound at a time. Say each sound on its own, like a robot.n - igh - t
- Put the letters for each sound in a box. Two or three letters that make one sound share one box: igh.n | igh | t
- Count the boxes. Each box is one sound.3 sounds
- Write the answer. n, igh, t
Check. Push the boxes together again: n + igh + t makes night. ✓
Watch out. Keep the letters of igh in one box. Do not split igh into separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.g
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.g - r - ee - n
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.green
- Write the answer. green
Check. Split the word back into sounds: g, r, ee, n. ✓
Watch out. Say ee as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.r
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.r - oa - d
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.road
- Write the answer. road
Check. Split the word back into sounds: r, oa, d. ✓
Watch out. Say oa as one sound, not as two separate letters.
Key words. Blend means to push the sounds together to read a word.
Method. Say each sound, then push the sounds together to make the word.
- Say the first sound. Use the letters for that sound together.f
- Say the sounds in order. Keep going until you reach the last sound.f - ee - t
- Push the sounds together and read the word. Read them quickly, as one word.feet
- Write the answer. feet
Check. Split the word back into sounds: f, ee, t. ✓
Watch out. Say ee as one sound, not as two separate letters.
c?t
Method. Look at the picture, then find the letters for the missing sound.
- Look at the picture. The picture shows the whole word.The picture shows a coat.
- Find the missing sound. The gap is one sound, so it can need two or three letters.Missing sound: oa
- Write the letters in the gap. Fill the gap, then read the whole word again.oa
Check. Put oa in the gap and read the word: coat. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of the digraph in the gap, not just one.
Method. Look at the picture, then build the word from its sounds.
- Look at the picture. Say what it is, in one word.The picture shows a wheel.
- Split the word into sounds. Two letters that make one sound go in one box.wh | ee | l
- Write the word. Write each sound in order, with its letters together.wheel
Check. Read the sounds back in order: wh - ee - l makes wheel. ✓
Watch out. Write both letters of wh together, in one box.
Method. Look at the vowel digraph in each word.
- Look at rain, tail and train. Each one has the letters ai.ai, ai, ai
- Look at road. road has the letters oa, not ai.road: oa
- Write the odd one out. road
Check. rain, tail and train all have ai. road has oa. ✓
Watch out. Read the middle letters of each word, not just the first letter.
Method. Look at the letters in boat.
- Find the vowel letters in boat. The two vowel letters are o and a.b - oa - t
- Check which digraph it is. The letters oa make one sound, not ai.oa, not ai
- Write the answer. No. Boat has oa, not ai.
Check. Sound boxes: b | oa | t. There is no ai box. ✓
Watch out. The word boat looks like a word with ai, but the letters are oa.
Method. Write one word with ee and one word with ai. Check the letters in each.
- Think of a word with ee. Look for two e letters together.tree
- Think of a word with ai. Look for a and i together.rain
- Check the sound boxes. Each digraph is one box.tree: t | r | ee; rain: r | ai | n
Check. Read each word and check the box: tree has ee, rain has ai. ✓
Watch out. ee is two e letters. ai is an a and an i. They are spelled differently, so the letters matter.