Vowel Digraphs & Diphthongs — Answer Key
Part A: Sort the Words
Sort each word or number into the correct category box.
1. Sort each word by its vowel team.
Diphthongs (gliding sound)
coinboy Digraphs (one steady sound)
moonbooksawnew Coin and boy glide (oi/oy are diphthongs). Moon, book, saw, and new each make one steady sound (oo, aw, ew are digraphs).
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. I found a shiny coin on the sidewalk.
Coin uses oi in the middle of the word, a common Grade 2 diphthong spelling.
2. The boy waved at his mother from the bus.
Boy ends with oy because the diphthong sound falls at the end of the word.
3. At night we can see the bright moon in the sky.
Moon uses oo to spell the long oo sound, a Grade 2 digraph pattern.
4. Please read this book to the class.
Book uses oo to spell the short oo sound, as in foot and good.
5. I saw a blue bird in the tree.
Saw ends with the aw digraph, which makes one open vowel sound.
Part C: True or False?
Read each statement. Circle True or False.
1. The letters oi in coin make a gliding sound.
True False
Oi is a diphthong, so it glides from one sound into another.
2. Moon and book say the same oo sound.
True False
Moon has long oo and book has short oo, so the sounds are different.
3. The word new uses the ew digraph.
True False
New is spelled with ew, which is a common Grade 2 digraph for the long u sound.
4. Saw is spelled with the letters au.
True False
Saw uses aw, not au. Au and aw share a sound but the spellings are different.