Long vowel ‘e’ sound – ‘ee’ and ‘ea’ Pack I

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What are long vowels?

Long vowels are used to refer to the vowel sounds whose pronunciation is the same as its letter name. They are also called ‘alphabet sounds. They are called long vowel sounds because we hold them longer than short vowel sounds. But long vowels are not a longer version of short vowels. Long and short vowel sounds are completely different from each other.

Let’s take an example. Hear the sound of the vowel ‘e’ in the word ‘met.’ It is the short vowel sound /e/.

Now hear the sound of ‘ee’ in the word ‘meet.’ It makes the alphabet sound of the alphabet ‘e.’

Both sounds are completely different from each other. If you stretch the ‘e’ in ‘met,’ you do not get the ‘ee’ in meet.

Hear the sound of vowel ‘e’ in ‘egg.’ Now hear the sound of ‘ea’ in eat. An egg has the short vowel ‘e’ sound and eat has the long e sound.

Let me share a few more examples.

short vowel              long vowel

bet                            beet

men                         mean

bled                         bleed

red                          read

wed                          weed

check                       cheek

Today, we shall be discussing two vowel combinations that make the same long e sound.

The vowel combinations are ‘ee’ and ‘ea’.

/ee/ and /ea/ anchor chart

‘When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.’ In the case of ee and ea two vowels are walking together. The first vowel for ee is ‘e’ so ‘ee’ will make the alphabet sound /e/. The first vowel for ea is also ‘e’ so ‘ea’ will also make the alphabet sound /e/.

There are many words that have ‘ee’ and ‘ea’ in them. For example tree, leaf, tea, coffee, etc.

I will be sharing three ‘long e sound words worksheet’ resources with you today. First, we can begin by reading ‘long e sound words.‘

ee words

Have your child read these simple ‘ee’ words and color the ‘ee’ sound in every word.

ea words

There is a worksheet in the ‘ea’ pack for ‘ea’ words. Let the child color the ‘ea’ sound only in these words. For a child, it takes some time to register that there are two letters coming together to make the sound. I try and make the children highlight sounds with colors in most of the worksheets. This trick has really benefitted me when it comes to teaching.

Next, read the ‘ee’ words and sort the pictures. This is one activity the kids really look forward to. There is a similar one for ‘ea’ sound.

These worksheets are not only fun and engaging but also enhance a child’s vocabulary. When reading the words, if there is any confusion with the sounds, I ask them to highlight the ‘ee’ and ‘ea’ sounds with a light color and then read.

I would recommend the book ‘Queen Ella’s Feet’ for practicing the ee sound. This read will help your child understand the sound better and become an independent reader.

I really like ‘I love reading phonics’ books when I teach phonics sounds because each book focuses on a specific sound and these books complements my lessons well.

Now it’s time to write the ee sound in the space and then read the word.

Similarly, write ‘ea’ to make the word for the above worksheet. ‘ee’ and ‘ea’ sounds are easy to read but there is no rule regarding its usage. When spelling it, it is all about reading and practice. The more you practice, the better you will be able to memorize it.

In the next worksheet, we write the complete ‘ee’ word. There is a word bank for reference. I usually make the children read the words from the word bank first. Then I fold it so that the word bank is not visible. Then the child writes the word next to the pictures.

To practice the ‘ea sound,’ I would recommend the book, ‘Bee Makes Tea.’ It is a lively story with humorous illustrations, ideal for children who are beginning to read for themselves, or for reading aloud together. With simple rhyming text and phonic repetition, this book is specially designed to develop essential language and early reading skills.

For these worksheets, the child can practice writing in four lines. I have designed my worksheets and sets in a way that is easy for the child to grasp and each worksheet is progressive from the previous in a way that does not overwhelm the child.

These are simple long e sentences that our readers have to read and complete. To make it easier, there are only two options for each sentence. The child has to pick the one that is best suited and write it.

This is a similar worksheet from the ‘ea’ set.

The last worksheet from both the sets is about forming the ee and ea word. The words have to be pasted in a notebook and then the word has to be used in a simple sentence. To understand how to do this particular activity please go to the end of my ‘ai’ and ‘ay’ blog post by clicking here.

The ‘ee words’ Pack is a subscriber freebie. Click on the above image to download the free PDF file.

The ‘ea words’ Pack is a subscriber freebie. Click on the above image to download the free PDF file.

The first worksheet is an interesting one as it not only has ee words and ea words but long e words that are homophones.

sea see

seem seam

peek peak

weak week

tee tea

knead need

been bean

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and different spellings. See the homophone pairs above. They sound the same but meanings and spellings are different.

 

The next worksheet is sorting pictures for ee words and ea words. Cut the word tiles, read the words, highlight the long e sound, and paste the tiles in the correct box.

In the above worksheet, the long e sound is missing. Based on the pictures the child has to complete the blank using ‘ee’ or ‘ea.’ This worksheet will help children remember words that have the ee sound and those that have the ea sound. It’s confusing because there is no spelling rule for long e words.

Read the ‘ee ea’ sentences and match them with the correct pictures. I have tried to words with both the long e sounds in a sentence for reading fluency.

In the last worksheet, read the ee words and ea words in the word bank and then complete the sentences

using those words.

/ee/ and /ea/ anchor chart

You may also enjoy these posts:

Long vowel sound ‘o’ – oa ow Long vowel sound ‘a’- ‘ai’ and ‘ay’ Short vowel sound words list Phonics sound ‘ee’ Pack 2