Are you teaching diphthongs soon and need lesson ideas? Perhaps you’re wondering what exactly diphthongs are and how you should teach them? In this post, I’ll explain what diphthongs are, give specific examples and and share how to teach diphthongs during your phonics block. I’ll share helpful tips, minilesson ideas, diphthong activities, reading passages, and worksheets to help make your planning seamless!
What are Diphthongs?
A diphthong is a sound that consists of two vowels (side by side) pronounced together. When teaching diphthongs it’s important to note that diphthongs do not follow “normal” vowel rules (where the first vowel is long and the second is silent), but rather combine to make one sound.
Examples of Diphthongs
The most common vowel diphthongs are:
- au, aw, ew
- oi, ou, oy,
- oo like moon
- oo like book
- ow like tow
- ow like crown
When Should I Teach Diphthongs?
Typically, diphthongs are introduced after students have mastered vowel pairs (also called vowel teams). Diphthongs are considered an advanced phonics skill and they are usually one of the final skills taught in a phonics sequence. In second grade, we teach different sets of diphthongs beginning around week 14.
How to Teach Diphthongs
When planning how to teach diphthongs, I teach them in pairs that make the same sound. For example, au and aw both make the same sound so I teach them together. Explain to students that while both combinations make the same sound, they can be spelled two different ways. Explicitly teach each group of digraphs using pictures, segmenting the sounds, and then spelling the words. Students will also do this independently with word mapping activities during centers.
I use a teaching PowerPoint to introduce the digraphs I’m teaching that week. The PowerPoint has minilessons, word-building slides with moveable letters for modeling and whole group practice, plus fluency-building games.
Interactive lesson slides word building game
Depending on the curriculum you use or your district curriculum map, you may teach them in a different order. I teach one set a week in this order:
- ou and ow – ou as in mouse and ow as in town
- aw and au – aw as in saw and au as in caught
- oi and oy – oi as in coin and oy as in boy
- oo as in moon and oo as in foot
Activities for Teaching Diphthongs
Word Building
Word building is a key component in building phonemic awareness. It is also a great way to make phonics more hands-on with the use of manipulatives. Students can manipulate individual letters and diphthongs to build a word of the given picture.
Diphthongs word building cards
Say-Draw-Write
Just as the name suggests, students will choose a word card with a diphthong and then read it out loud, draw it, and write it. It’s a great way to engage several different learning styles when teaching diphthongs.
Say-Draw-Write words with diphthongs
Play a “Same Sound” Game
In this simple, yet highly effective game students will be given a card with a word and three pictures on it. They have to read the word out loud and then move their clothespin to the picture that makes the same sound. It’s a great center activity!
Word Sorts
A word sort can be differentiated to meet the needs of small group, individual, or whole group instruction. Start with different diphthong labels and then have students sort picture cards under the right diphthong. For example, a picture of a “coin” would be placed under the label /oi/.
For more diphthong activities and ready to use lesson plans and teaching notes on how to teach diphthongs, be sure to check out my Diphthong Unit here!
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Read Alouds for Teaching Diphthongs
When teaching dipthongs, don’t forget the read alouds! Read alouds are an excellent way to introduce, review, or practice any phonics skill. Here are a few books with examples of diphthongs in the text. Have students listen for words in the target phonics pattern as you read aloud.
By, Donna L. Washington
A great choice for reinforcing the /oo/ and /ew/ diphthongs! This story is a fun twist on the classic Goldilocks tale. It follows Curly Lock’s quest to help save the town with her not-so-tasty cooking skills.
By, Doreen Cronin
This book is always a fan-favorite in my classroom as it’s about a group of clever cows who use a typewriter to communicate their demands for better living conditions to their farmer. It’s not only hilarious, but it also uses a fair share of the /ow/ and /oo/ sounds!
By, Julia Cook
“But, It’s not My Fault” is one of my favorite social-emotional-learning read alouds. The storyline helps to teach children to stop making excuses and take responsibility when needed. Plus, it’s great for familiarizing students with the /au/ sound in context!
Helpful Videos and Songs for Teaching Diphthongs
When teaching diphthongs, incorporate music. Songs and videos help students learn through keeping them engaged, addressing multiple intelligences, and aiding in memorization.
Children remember information more effectively through rhythm and rhyme. Therefore, using chants, raps, and songs in your phonics lessons can help students remember information and retrieve that information when they need to.
Here are some fun songs and videos to play during your diphthong lessons!
What’s inside my Diphthongs Unit?
- Daily phonics routine with lesson plans
- An instructional PowerPoint + Google Slides version with daily mini-lesson slides and interactive practice activities with moveable pieces
- 10 easy-prep centers to practice in a variety of ways
- 4 Diphthongs activity booklets
- Phonics based reading passages with comprehension questions
- Word cards, picture cards & large lesson display cards
- 8 practice worksheets ideal for morning work, review, or homework
- Assessments with answer keys
- 10 Full-page diphthongs posters
- Student letter manipulatives
- Word building mats and cards
- Fluency word lists
- Pocket Chart headers & picture card sort
- Teacher Support Materials
- Lesson Plans, Weekly Phonics Routine
- Management Tips
- Center Prep Checklist
- Standards Alignment Page
- Answer Keys
Check out the unit on TPT here!
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Diphthongs Unit FAQ’s
What grades is this unit for? 2nd
What diphthongs are covered? au, aw, ew, oi, ou, oy, oo like moon, oo like book, ow like tow, & ow like crown
Is this just for whole-group instruction? This resource includes enough materials for your whole group mini lessons, small group instruction, skill groups, phonics intervention, phonics centers, and even includes practice worksheets for morning work, review, or homework.
Do you have other units available for other Phonics concepts? Yes! Check out my other Phonics units and bundles here!
I hope you have found helpful tips for how to teach dipthongs in this blog post and helpful ways to define a dipthong. If so, please share it on your social media channels like Pinterest and Facebook.
Visit these posts for more phonics teaching tips and resources:
Free Printable Letter Tiles for Word Building
My Weekly Phonics Routine in Second Grade
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