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Year 1Vowel teams

ew words

The letters e and w can work together to make the /oo/ sound.

The letters e and w can work together to make the long /u/ sound.

Plan a lesson on ewSee the words

Words with ew

Tap a word to see its sounds and hear it.

ew in the middle

ew at the end

See every ew word in Phonicspal

Read ew in a sentence.

Every sentence is checked against the sound.

  1. 1The crew flew.
  2. 2The newt is new.
  3. 3I drew a screw.
  4. 4I knew the news.

How to teach ew

  1. Introduce the vowel digraph. Explain that a vowel digraph is two vowels that work together to make one sound.
  2. Model saying the target phoneme three times.
  3. Students repeat.
  4. Check articulation and correct mouth placement.
  5. Identify the phoneme in the example words.
  6. Explain the spelling generalisation: We usually use oo to spell the /oo/ phoneme in the middle of words (e.g. moon, food, spoon). We usually use ew to spell the /oo/ phoneme at the end of words (e.g. flew, grew, threw).
  7. Explain that the vowel digraph ew can also represent the long /u/ phoneme (e.g. new, few, stew).
  1. Introduce the vowel digraph. Explain that a vowel digraph is two vowels that work together to make one sound.
  2. Model saying the target phoneme three times.
  3. Students repeat.
  4. Check articulation and correct mouth placement.
  5. Identify the phoneme in the example words.
  6. Explain the spelling generalisation: We usually use u_e to spell the long /u/ phoneme in the middle of words (e.g. cube, mule, tube). We usually use ew to spell the long /u/ phoneme at the end of words (e.g. new, few, stew).
  7. Explain that the vowel digraph ew can also represent the long /oo/ phoneme (e.g. flew, grew, threw).

Other ways to spell /ōō/

Decodable stories with ew.

From the Phonicspal library. Sign up free to read them.

Make a whole ew lesson.

Slides, words and sentences, matched to the sounds your class has learned.

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