Year 1Vowel teams
ay words
The letters a and y work together to make the long /ai/ sound.
ay/ā/ as in mayor
Words with ay
Tap a word to see its sounds and hear it.
ay in the middle
ay at the end
Read ay in a sentence.
Every sentence is checked against the sound.
- 1We play all day.
- 2I may stay all day.
- 3The hay is on the tray.
- 4Today we play in the hay.
How to teach ay
- Introduce the vowel digraph. Explain that a vowel digraph is two vowels that work together to make one sound.
- Model saying the target phoneme three times.
- Students repeat.
- Check articulation and correct mouth placement.
- Identify the phoneme in the example words.
- Explain the spelling generalisation: We usually use ay to spell the long /ai/ phoneme at the end of a word or syllable (e.g. play, day, tray). In the middle of words, we usually use ai instead (e.g. rain, train, paint).
Decodable stories with ay.
From the Phonicspal library. Sign up free to read them.
Make a whole ay lesson.
Slides, words and sentences, matched to the sounds your class has learned.