teachers, editors, tell me what the vowels are

[Grumpy's Gal]

MY DD has a spelling workbook. The section they are on now is about vowel pairs.

The reason I am so frustrated is because they are saying that "w" and "y" are vowels.

The book says, " A vowel pair is two vowels sounded together to make one long vowel sound. The first vowel in the pair has the sound of its name and the second vowel is silent."

Examples are row and delay. (ow and ay are highlighted.)

I see what they mean that "w" and "y" can have vowel sounds. But I thought it was wrong to call them vowels.

What do you think? Last I knew the vowelse were a, e, i, o, u.

 

[MsLeFever]

I was always told aeiou and sometimes "y". Including "w" is new to me!

 

[teacherforhi]

I would never call 'w' a vowel by itself, but it could be part of a vowel pair.

However, a 'y' can be a consonant or a vowel, depending on the sound it makes. I teach my students every word has to have a vowel and sometimes 'y' steps up to be one, such as in the word 'why'.

 

[daisyduck123]

I've been teaching 1st/2nd grade for 15 years & I've never heard or taught my students that "ow" is a vowel pair.

Who is the publisher of the workbook?
I'm wondering if it is one of the "big" publishing companies...or some little-heard of company.

 

[paigevz]

ow is a dipthong, I believe, in which a vowel with consonants makes a certain sound.......like ough.

It's not exactly correct to call it a vowel pair. The book should simply say that when ow is together it can say ow as in pow or ow as in row. It could also include other o spellings, such as ough or oe or just o.

Here's a song for you my second graders learn:

When two vowels get together they play a little game, the first vowel speaks, it says its letter name, the vowel says e and the word is meat.

Repeat with all vowel pair words!

 

[Sparx]

W is not a vowel. Y is sometimes a vowel.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I am 35, and DS is 9. I was never taught "w" as a vowel, and I am pretty sure DS hasn't encountered it, either. But my mother is 58 and SHE can remember being taught that "w" is sometimes a vowel. Maybe it just depends on the curriculum?

 

[dmslush]

Nope, never heard of W being a vowel.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Who is the publisher of the workbook?
I'm wondering if it is one of the "big" publishing companies...or some little-heard of company.

The book is Sadlier Word Study Reading Level E by Sadlier-Oxford, William Sadlier Inc.

Does that help anyone? I copied that right from the book.

 

[HarambeGuy]

Holy hoppin' hamsters!

That's a new one on me.

Wf "w" cwn bw cwllwd w vwwwl, thwn lwngwwge swre ws dwffwrwnt thwn whwn W lwwrned wt!

 

[paigevz]

Hey! I can read that! I am so talented with the new W language!

Hwly Hwppwn Hwmstwrs!

 

[daisyduck123]

The book is Sadlier Word Study Reading Level E by Sadlier-Oxford, William Sadlier Inc.

Does that help anyone? I copied that right from the book.

Nope, never heard of it/them.

Not one of the big companies like McGraw-Hill, McMillan, Open Court, etc.

Hmmmmmmm......

 

[dbarker]

I was taught (many moons ago) that the vowels are a-e-i-o-u and sometimes y and w.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I was taught (many moons ago) that the vowels are a-e-i-o-u and sometimes y and w.

I was taught a, e, i, o, u, and that y could stand in "as a vowel" if needed.

But for instance, the word party has just one vowel -- a.

 

[phamton]

Actually, I have seen spelling books that list w as a vowel. I did a search and found several references:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_246.html
http://www.roanoke.com/columnists/jennings/wb/xp-4058
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19971205

Many others stated this:
"DOUBLE VOWEL RULE

Some children learn this rule early: When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.

When is W a vowel?

When w follows o, and the o says it's name, the w is acting like a vowel (follows double vowel rule above).

In these words: cow, town, brown, etc., w is a consonant.

In these words: tow, low, bowl, etc., w is a vowel. Notice the o is long and the w is silent.

Word with "W" as the only vowel?

There are a few English words (in Webster's dictionary) in which "W" is the only vowel.

Cwm (a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain, sometimes containing a lake; a cirque) and crwth (an ancient Celtic musical instrument), both from the Welsh, use w as a vowel — standing for the same sound that "oo" stands for in boom and booth. Crwth is also spelled "crowd." "

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Nope, never heard of it/them.

Not one of the big companies like McGraw-Hill, McMillan, Open Court, etc.

Hmmmmmmm......

http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/ looks like they are a big educational publisher.

I, as a parent, just feel like a dope telling my DD that "w" wasn't a vowel. And lo and behold, there it is IN WRITING!

I'd still like to hear from everyone else and what you think......

 

[HarambeGuy]

Cwm (a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain, sometimes containing a lake; a cirque) and crwth (an ancient Celtic musical instrument), both from the Welsh, use w as a vowel — standing for the same sound that "oo" stands for in boom and booth. Crwth is also spelled "crowd." "

Well, that's Welsh then, isn't it? This is an English workbook. Not flaming, but bringing in examples from other languages is only going to confuse things.

 

[CheshireVal]

Hmph. That's just silly. A grammar obscurity that will only confuse kids.

In the grand scheme of things, will learning that 'w' is sometimes a vowel really help them with writing or spelling or anything practical? No.

 

[phamton]

I was an elem. teacher and did not teach the w as a vowel. But it can make sense in that children are taught when two vowels are together the first says it's name and the second vowel is silent. So in words like "tow" or "bowl" the w makes the O say it's name and the w is silent. Another example would be the words bow (like what you wear in your hair) and bow (like on a boat). The first one has W as a vowel and makes the O a long o and the W is silent, while the second bow has W as a consonant and the O is not long and the W is not silent.