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LESSON PLAN
for Lesson 55
Vowel Digraphs Long /a/, Part 1

Materials
Lesson plan and
teaching materials

To view the teaching materials, click on "Lesson plan and teaching materials." Then scroll to the end of the lesson to find the following materials:

  • Long /a/ digraph picture cards
  • Word cards
  • Long /a/ digraph cards
  • Word-family cards
  • Letter cards
  • Bingo card
  • Workmats

Please note that this lesson does not have an accompanying decodable book. The most common long /a/ digraphs are taught in lesson 55. Additional long /a/ digraphs are taught in lesson 56. The decodable book, Jake and Gail Go to Spain, incorporates the long /a/ digraph letter combinations taught in both lessons. This book is available with lesson 56.
Background

When two vowels combine to make one sound, it is called a digraph. Long /a/ digraphs can be tricky. They can be written as ai as in nail, ea as in bear, eigh as in eight, ey as in grey, or ay as in tray. The long /a/ vowel sound is also expressed in the VCe spelling pattern, as in hare. It can be challenging for children to recognize and spell digraphs because they must recognize two letters that combine to make one sound, rather than recognize a one-sound, one-letter correspondence.