Sneaky Y Sometimes Likes to Act as a Vowel!   

While the letter ‘y’ is technically a consonant, it can sometimes function as a vowel. This list of 50 words containing the letter ‘y’ acting as a vowel sound has been compiled to assist you in implementing your phonics program in your classroom. The letter ‘y’ acts as a vowel in the following ways in the list words:

• as a long ‘e’ sound (as in lady)
• as a short ‘i’ sound (as in system)
• as a long ‘i’ sound (as in shy).

Multiple Applications for This Long Vowels Word List 

This literacy resource can be used in numerous ways to support the diverse needs of your learners. Here are some of our suggestions:

Whole-class instruction

Project the word list on your interactive whiteboard. As a class, colour-code the words according to the vowel sounds the letter ‘y’ is making. Challenge the students to identify more words that contain the letter ‘y’ acting as a vowel.

Individual practice

Send the lists home so your students can revise decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) the words on the list. Be sure to include only words containing letter-sound correspondences you have already addressed in class. 

Formative assessment

Use the word list as a progress monitoring tool to keep track of your students’ phonemic awareness and to identify the variations of the letter ‘y’ acting as a vowel that require further review. 

Easily Download This Resource for Your Students

Use the Download button to access the PDF or editable Google Slides version of this resource.