Ai words

How do you teach ai words?

Teach ai with ay in the same lesson. "Ai and ay both say /ā/. Ai is in the middle; ay is at the end." Read rain, tail, paid, train, then sort ai and ay words into two columns. Ask the student to circle where the /ā/ falls in each word. Position decides the spelling almost every time.

What mistake do students make with ai words?

Students spell rain as rane or rayn. Both show they heard the vowel. Go back to position: "Is /ā/ at the end? No, n comes after it. So ai or a_e." For choosing between ai and a_e, there's no rule; practice and word families (rain, train, brain) help.

Where do ai words come in the sequence?

Ai and ay are usually the first vowel teams, taught right after the r-controlled vowels. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 84.

Exceptions worth knowing

Said and again use ai but don't say /ā/. In words like mountain and captain, ai is in an unstressed syllable and sounds like schwa. Air words (fair, hair) have their own r-controlled sound.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 84 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

• Wait for the rain to stop.
• The snail has a long tail.
• Paint the train red.