Long A ai and ay Vowel Team Words- Free List

If you’re introducing vowel teams to your readers, the long a vowel teams ai and ay are the perfect place to start! In this post, you’ll learn how to teach ai and ay vowel team words and the spelling rule that tells us which one to use. I’ll also share phonics activities, decodable passages, and a FREE poster and word list you can use to teach this skill.

👉Click here to jump to the free poster and word list.

The Many Ways to Spell Long A  

It may surprise you that only about 15% of long A words are spelled with ai or ay. That doesn’t mean they aren’t important to teach, but it does mean that other, more common spelling patterns should be mastered first. 

Here’s a breakdown of the different ways to spell /A/ from most to least common:

Open Syllable Long A (45%)

• table
• baby
• paper

a_e (35%)

• cake
• game
• fade

ai (9%) 

• paint
• rainy
• snail

ay (6%)

• clay
• tray
• today

ea, eigh, ei, ey (5%)

• steak
• weigh
• reindeer
• obey 

(Source)

🚨Some phonics programs try to cover all of the long A spellings at once. I definitely do not recommend this! (Cue the flashbacks to my early days teaching second grade and trying to cram in seven spelling patterns in one week – it still makes me shudder!) 

Before learning ai and ay vowel teams, students should already know the two most common ways to spell the long a sound (with an open syllable in a two-syllable word or with a silent e).

Those tricky, less common long A vowel teams (ea, eigh, ei, ey) don’t need to be taught until much later, when students have mastered all of the basic vowel teams. 

The ai and ay Spelling Rule

I mentioned earlier that ai and ay are great vowel teams to introduce first. That’s because they follow a spelling rule that makes it easy to know when to use each one.

➡️Only use “ai” at the beginning or middle of a word. It never comes at the end of a word, because English words don’t end in the letter i. 

• aim
• main
• waist

➡️Only use “ay” at the end of the word. 

• stay
• play
• daytime (with compound words, it may look like it’s in the middle, but it’s still at the end of a word)

It gets a little trickier when deciding whether to use ai or a_e. There isn’t a clear rule for this one, but there are some general patterns that can be helpful:

• If it ends in a /k/, /p/, or /m/ sound, it’s almost always a_e (cake, shape, game).
• Many homophone pairs are spelled with ai and a_e (main/mane, waste/waist, pale/pail, maid/made).

How to Teach ai and ay Vowel Team Words

When introducing a new spelling pattern, we always want to be explicit and systematic. Here’s a step-by-step process you can follow:

1. Introduce the new vowel team using a sound card with a visual and model exactly how you want students to say it. For example, say “a-i spells /A/” and have students repeat. 
2. Explain that this is called a vowel team because the two letters work together to represent one sound, just like in a consonant digraph.
3. Make it multisensory by having students write the new spelling pattern as they say it out loud. They could write it using a sand tray, on a dry-erase board, or even with their finger on their hand. Have them do this a few times. 
4. Practice reading words that contain the vowel teams. First, model segmenting and blending the sounds out loud. Then, have students practice with you. Finally, have them practice on their own. 

💡Quick Tip: When students are successful with reading and spelling one-syllable words with these vowel teams, have them practice with multisyllabic words as well. The free ai and ay word list I made for you includes both one and two-syllable words.

Activities for Teaching ai and ay Vowel Team Words 

Word Sorts

A word sort is the perfect way to teach students the patterns that these vowel teams follow. As students sort the words, ask them what they notice. Direct their attention to the fact that ai only goes at the beginning or the middle of a word, and ay only goes at the end. 

Word Mapping/Spelling

Have students practice spelling ai and ay vowel team words by tapping out the sounds they hear and writing them in sound boxes. Remember to have them place the vowel team in one sound box. 

Word Chains

Make new words by changing one sound at a time. This can be done with magnetic letters, letter tiles, or dry-erase boards. 

Example: day → may → main → pain → paint → saint

Decodable Texts

Once students are successful with decoding ai and ay vowel team words in isolation, be sure to have them practice with connected text. As they read, they can circle or highlight words that contain the vowel teams. 

Ai and Ay Vowel Team Worksheets & Resources

Want to save time? You can grab all the materials you’ll need for teaching these vowel teams in my TPT store! Grab them now for targeted phonics practice that’s simple, engaging, and no prep – just print and go!

⏩Grab my worksheets

⏩Grab my decodable passages

I’ve also created a free printable for you- it includes an ai and ay vowel teams word list (with one and two-syllable words), poster, and sound cards (available in color or black and white).