Vowel Finder

Although English has only 5 vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u), it has more than 9 actual vowel sounds. 

In this activity, your class is going to discuss the actual vowel sounds of English by hunting for these hidden vowels in groups of words.

I have provided the necessary worksheets for this activity but you can come up with your own if you wish based on what I have provided. 
 

Objective(s) of activity:
Pronouncing the words in a group of words which have the same vowel letter carefully, you need to group together words which have the same vowel sound.

This activity imparts an appreciation for the fact that the same English letter can sound very different in different words.
 

Directions:
In the worksheet, you will see 5 groups of words, one group for each of the English vowel letters. Each group has 12 words.

Under each group of words, there is an empty box for you to write in your groupings of words which have the same vowel sound.
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You can see what I mean in the worksheet provided, but I have produced the word for the letter ‘a’ here. 

Notice that all the letter ‘a’s are enclosed in a small box to show that this is the letter that you have to pay attention to in this group of words.
 
When you first start doing this activity, it is important to point out that the letter ‘a’ does not sound the same in all of these words even though it is the same letter. 

Eg. CAR vs. CAT
 
In order to make this activity fun, you should take turns saying these words aloud like a zombie. You should also slow down at the vowel sound.

CAAAAAR  -  CAAAAAT

Doing this will make the difference in the vowel sounds quite clear.

Saying these words aloud and slowing down at the relevant vowel sound is important especially if the word has many syllables. 
 
Once your students have gotten the hang of what to do, you can then go through all the words together and group together words which have the same vowel sound.
 
Once you are completed with words with the letter ‘a’, you can move on the ‘e’ and then so on.
 
In the worksheet, I have suggested answers based on a Standard Singapore English accent. Your groupings may slightly vary.
 
 
Notes for scaling up/ down difficulty:
If you want an added challenge for your class, you can do this after all the groupings have been determined.

1. Come up with your own words to put in each group of sounds.
2. Try to determine if there are other vowel sounds that a vowel letter makes that is not found in the words provided.

 
 
Have fun pretending to be zombies and let me know how this activity went in the comments!