The importance of vowels.

What are vowels, and why are they important? This is a very simple overview of how I initially teach the importance of vowels to my new students. Vowels are sounds in our language that are made without closing our lips or stopping the flow of air. They differ from consonants, as with consonants, you restrict airflow in some way when making the sound.

Vowels are important as they are in every word and syllable. I always like to explain this to students by saying they are like the glue that holds words together. The vowels are represented by letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. Y is like a double agent. In some words, it acts as a consonant, for example, yes, yum, and yoyo. In others it acts as an i, for example, my, by, and deny, and in others again, as an e, for example, baby, cozy, and empty.

Vowels can also have a long and short sound. Their long sound is their name. To explain this in its most simple form, their long sound is heard in words like me, no, and hi. If we place a consonant on the end, we close the vowel in and their sounds change to the short sound as in met, not, and hit.

Vowels can also combine to make new sounds, for example, oo as in good or food, and ou as in ouch.

It’s essential to understand how important they are, and what sounds they make. When we understand they need to be in every word and syllable, this can be a great prompt for checking our spelling. When we understand the sounds they make, this can support us when reading.