LumiraWhat is a vowel team?
In a vowel team, two or more letters combine to spell one vowel sound. English has many of them and several spell more than one sound, so each team needs explicit teaching and plenty of practice in real words.
The ey vowel team — word list
Every word below appears in the decodable book on this page, so a reader who practises the list will meet the same words again in context.
- chimney
- donkey
- honey
- key
- money
- monkey
- turkey
- valley
Free decodable book: Decodable Vowel Team EY
This is an original Lumira decodable reader, written so that a child can sound out nearly every word using patterns they have already been taught. The full text is below — read it here, or open it in the app to read it together with the words highlighting as you speak.
Mia had a key. Leo had a key too. Mia and Leo like the key.
Leo saw a monkey. Mia saw a monkey too. The monkey ran up the chimney.
Mia and Leo saw a donkey in the valley. The donkey is big.
Leo had honey. Mia had honey too. Mia and Leo had honey and a turkey.
Mia had money. Leo had money too. Mia and Leo like money.
Key monkey donkey honey money chimney valley turkey. Mia and Leo like them all.
How to teach it
- Say the sound on its own first, several times, before showing any letters.
- Show the spelling and name it explicitly — tell the reader what it says rather than asking them to work it out.
- Blend two or three words from the list together, out loud, slowly.
- Read the decodable book above, where the pattern repeats in real sentences.
- Come back to it two or three days later. Cumulative review is what makes it stick.
Lessons that practise this pattern
ey vowel team (long e)
Read ey as long /e/ at the end of words