Vowel Digraphs & Diphthongs Teaching Resources
Explore vowel digraphs lists and worksheets and vowel diphthongs games, activities and more — all created by teachers for teachers like you!
Aligned with the Australian English V9 curriculum, the resources in this collection were designed with your lesson plans — and your students — in mind. Best of all, each digital and printable resource has undergone a thorough review by the expert teachers on the Teach Starter team to ensure it's classroom-ready.
New to teaching this section of the curriculum? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including definitions you can use with your students to explain each of these phonics concepts.
What Is a Vowel Digraph?
Introducing vowel digraphs to your class for the first time? Here's a simple definition to explain their meaning.
Vowel digraphs are groups of two or more vowels that work together to make a specific sound. These vowels work just like a sports team or a team of superheroes, joining forces to create new sounds.
You may also hear these called vowel teams.
What Is a Vowel Diphthong and How Is It Different From a Vowel Digraph?
If a vowel digraph is the same as a vowel team, does that mean it's the same as a vowel diphthong, too?
The short answer is not necessarily!
The longer answer? Digraphs and diphthongs don't just have the 'di' prefix in common. They're also both names for combinations of vowels found in words.
In fact, a diphthong is a type of digraph!
But these two building blocks of the English language have some key differences that are worth visiting before you dive into teaching them.
Here are their key differences.
Vowel Digraphs
When two vowels that are side-by-side in a word work together to represent a single, specific sound or phoneme, it's called a 'vowel digraph' or a 'vowel team.'
When it comes to vowel teams or digraphs:
- The vowels in the team create a single, unified sound.
- They often represent long vowel sounds, short vowel sounds or other specific vowel sounds.
Examples:
- ai in rain (pronounced as a long a sound)
- oa in boat (pronounced as a long o sound)
Vowel Diphthongs
Vowel diphthongs are pairs of adjacent vowels that combine to produce what's called a glide or a blending of two distinct vowel sounds within a single syllable.
When it comes to vowel diphthongs:
- The pronunciation starts with the sound of the first vowel and glides into the sound of the second vowel without a clear break between them.
- They often create a unique sound that's different from the individual vowel sounds.
Examples:
- oi in coin (the o sound glides into the i sound, rather than them being separate sounds)
- ou in cloud (the o sound glides into the u sound, rather than them being separate sounds)
Common Vowel Digraphs to Teach Your Students
We have already touched on some vowel digraphs or teams, but if you need a handy list of examples to share with your students, we've got you covered! Here are some of the more common vowel teams we teach our students, plus some examples of words with each digraph.
ai
- This vowel team makes the long a sound.
- Examples include rain, train, pain, sail and mail.
ea
- This vowel digraph can represent different sounds — including the long e and short e sounds — depending on the word.
- Examples with the long e sound include eat, sea, team and read.
- Examples with the short e sound include bread, head and thread.
ee
- The ee vowel digraph produces the long e sound.
- Examples: tree, bee, see and meet.
ie
- This vowel digraph can make the long i sound.
- Examples of the ie digraph include pie, tie and lie.
oa
- The oa vowel digraph typically makes the long o sound.
- Examples in this vowel team include boat, toast and road.
oi
- The oi vowel team creates the oy sound.
- Examples include coin and voice.
The vowel team "oi" is commonly found in words like noise and poise.
ue
- This digraph often makes the long u sound.
- Examples include blue and clue.
oo
- The oo vowel team can produce two different but distinct sounds — the long u sound and the short oo sound.
- Examples with the long u sound include moon, soon and spoon.
- Examples with the short oo sound include book, look and cook.
au
- The au vowel team typically makes the aw sound.
- Examples include autumn, cause and pause.
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Long Vowel Digraph Sort Cut-and-Paste
Reinforce your students' knowledge of long vowel digraphs with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
- Free Plan
Diphthongs Worksheets
Practice diphthongs with this set of fun and engaging worksheets.
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AI, AY and A_E Vowel Team Lesson Resource Pack
Introduce students to AI, AY, and A_E vowel digraphs with this set of teaching slides and mini activity book.
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Diphthongs Mini-Book Pack
Learn and practise the different diphthongs with this set of mini activity books.
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Long Vowel Digraph Writing Worksheet
Learn to encode long vowel digraphs with this set of writing worksheets.
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EE, EA and EY Vowel Team Lesson Resource Pack
Introduce students to EE, EA and EY vowel digraphs with this set of teaching slides and mini activity book.
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IE and I_E Vowel Team Lesson Resource Pack
Introduce students to IE and I_E vowel digraphs with this set of teaching slides and mini activity book.
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Vowel Digraphs Poster Pack
Expose your students to the most common vowel digraphs with this set of 24 posters.
- Free Plan
Diphthongs Maze Worksheet
Excite your students to practise their knowledge of diphthongs with this fun clue-based maze worksheet.
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Long U Graphemes - SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore words containing graphemes that make the ‘long u’ sound with this active classroom game that will get your students moving!
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Long A Vowel Digraph Interactive Activity
Practise identifying the different graphemes that spell the long /a/ sound with this fun space-themed interactive activity.
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Long E Vowel Digraphs Interactive Activity
Practise identifying the different graphemes that spell the long /e/ sound with this fun space-themed interactive activity.
- Free Plan
My Diphthong Cheat Sheet
Help students learn all about diphthongs with this handy diphthong student reference sheet.
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Long Vowel O Teams Interactive Activity
Practise identifying the different graphemes that spell the long /o/ sound with this fun boat-themed interactive activity.
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Long I Vowel Digraphs Interactive Activity
Practise identifying the different vowel digraphs that spell the long /i/ sound with this fun iceberg-themed interactive activity.
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Vowel Digraph Dominoes - EE, EA, and EY
Decode words with ee, ea, and ey vowel digraph conventions for representing long vowel sounds using this set of 26 dominoes.
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Long or Short OO? - SCOOT! Task Cards
Identify the long and short 'oo' sound in one- and two-syllable words with this active classroom game that will get your students moving!
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OI Graphemes - SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore words containing graphemes that make the diphthong ‘oi’ with this active classroom game that will get your students moving!
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Short OO Graphemes - SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore words containing graphemes that make the ‘short oo’ sound with this active classroom game that will get your students moving!
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Vowel Teams Sorting Activity (EE, EA and EY)
Decode words with the EE, EA and EY vowel teams using 18 picture cards with sorting mats.
- Free Plan
Sounds of OO - Glasses Template
Review the long and short ‘oo’ sound by creating a pair of ‘sOOper’ funky glasses!
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Long I Graphemes - SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore words containing graphemes that make the ‘long i’ sound with this active classroom game that will get your students moving!
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The OW Digraph - Sorting Activity
Practise reading words containing the 'ow' digraph using this hands-on sorting activity.
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Vowel and Consonant Digraph Spin Games
A fun phonics game for students to consolidate their knowledge of some vowel and consonant digraphs.
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Yes or No? Phonics Sorting Activity
Use this phonics activity to help your students identify the different phonemes that make up a word.
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Vowel Teams Sorting Activity (OA, OW and OE)
Decode words with the OA, OW and OE vowel teams using 18 picture cards with sorting mats.
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Vowel Team Digraph Poster Set
Display this poster set in your classroom when teaching children about different vowel team digraphs.
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Diphthongs Classroom Posters
Display this set of posters highlighting the main diphthongs with word examples and mouth articulation images.
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Diphthongs Sound Wall Cards
Use these diphthong cards as visuals on a sound wall or as flashcards during your phonics lessons.
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Vowel Digraph Dominoes - AI and AY
Decode words with vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds using this set of 26 dominoes.
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Vowel Digraph Dominoes - OA, OW, and OE
Decode words with oa, ow, and oe vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds using this set of 28 dominoes.
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Digraph Coding Robot Mat
Practise identifying digraphs with the help of a coding robot and mat.