Teaching Tips for Long Vowel Sounds
This song is designed to be interactive. Children should be engaged in movement or writing activities as they sing.

• As children sing, teach them to write spellings in the air. For instance, teach children to make the “long a” symbol in the air as they say the “long a sound.” Write in the air with children, but turn your back slightly so that they can see the letters formed properly.

• When children have mastered writing sounds in the air, they are ready to write on each others’ backs. This is a great way to reinforce concepts while creating “bonding time” in the classroom. Children hear the letters, sing the letters, feel the letters, and write the letters all at the same time. My children like to make back-writing trains. The conductor writes in the air...Management advice: Let the class know that if they focus on the letters, they will be able to make more back-writing trains in the future!

• Teach the class to write sounds on white boards as the song plays. They can organize their white boards into sound categories, like this:

• This song is great for spelling notebooks. On day 1, choose a sound, such as “long a.” Write examples of “long a” words with the class (such as hay, paint, or weigh). Then, focus on one spelling per day in notebooks. Once you finish with all “long a” spellings, go on to a new sound.