Long A Words

What is a Long A Word?

To put it simply, the long a sound is part of 5 long vowel sounds: a, e, i, o, and u. All of these ‘long’ vowel sounds say their name, unlike short vowel sounds. Long a says /a/ like in “day”. There are several spelling patterns of long vowel ‘a’ sounds including a_e (or silent e), ai, ay, eigh, ei, ea, and a. All of our posters and charts include examples to help kids identify long a sounds easily.

Examples of Long A Words

As a teacher, it’s essential to have short and relatable examples of long ‘a’ words that kids can remember easily. Consider words like “face” with one open syllable or fa/ce. This word along with “plate” and “mane” showcase the long ‘a’ sound using the silent e rule. Yet, the word “plate” includes the blend “pl”. Utilizing our charts and lists breaks down the long a sounds to help students recognize the spelling patterns and long ‘a’ sounds, building strong vocabulary and reading comprehension.

7 Spelling Patterns for Long A

Below is a list of vowel team words based on spelling patterns of long a vowel sounds. These long a vowel words include beginning, middle, and beginning sounds with blends and digraphs.

Blends

Blends are when two or more consonants hang out together in a word, like “pl” in “plate,”; they’re buddies, and they make the “pl” sound when you say the word, like “play”.

Digraphs

Digraphs can be decoded where there are two vowels together to produce one sound, such as “ai” in “rain”. See a breakdown of the diagraph examples below along with a huge and practical list above for your beginner readers or elementary age students learning to decode short and easy words.

1. “ai” as in “rain” and “mail”
2. “ay” as in “play” and “day”
3. “a-e” as in “cake” and “make” (This is also known as a split digraph)
4. “eigh” as in “eight” and “neighbor”
5. “ei” as in “veil” and “reign”

A_E Words (or Long a with silent e)

This long a word list of a_e words or silent e with long a words. It’s an easy to use list of words contain letter A where the sounds says it’s name and follows the pattern VCe (vowel-consonant-e). Some teachers like to say the e is magic and stays silent.

• face
• plate
• mane
• gate
• state
• grave
• date
• game
• race
• lace
• fade
• safe
• lake
• cake

AI Long a Vowel Words

Below is a list of ae words with long a sounds.

• pain
• rain
• daisy
• email
• hail
• jail
• paint
• snail

AY Long a Vowel Words

Here are examples of the -ay ending sounds.

• play
• day
• pray
• hay
• Tray
• pay
• stay
• spray

A Long a Vowel Words

Some word examples of the long a sounds include:

• paper
• table
• maple

EA Long a Vowel Words

This list of ‘ea’ long a vowel sound examples include:

• steak
• bear
• tear
• break
• pear

EI Long a Vowel Words

Below is a list of great examples of long a words for ‘ei’.

• beige
• rein
• heir

EIGH Long a Vowel Words

This list of long a vowel words are included for ‘eigh’ sounds.

• weigh
• sleigh
• eight
• neigh

Long A Word Flashcard Set

These Long A Vowel Flashcards are perfect for students learning how to read. They show a spelling pattern and are sorted as such. Plus, we’ve included a bonus set of picture long a flashcards! These make a perfect set so make sure you check out our learning game mat for matching game ideas!

Also, don’t miss out on downloading a set of our CVCe Flashcards for more exciting patterns in phonics reading when your students are ready for the next level!

Long A Word BINGO Cards

Below are an engaging set of half dozen BINGO cards for fun game playing and learning reinforcement of the silent e words containing the long letter a.