Bringing Phonics to Life: The Many Sounds of the Letter Y

If you had to choose an animal to represent the letter Y, which animal would you choose?

Want to know what we'd pick? A chameleon!🦎 Now, let us explain.

As reading specialists, we spend A LOT of time talking about the vowels. Every lesson starts with review, and that review always includes going over the vowels. We ask our students, “What letters are the vowels?” and they respond with “A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y” as they point to each finger and write a <y> on their palm.

Kids have THE best questions (which we usually have the answers to!) but sometimes they really make us think! One question we get quite often is, "Why do we say, 'and sometimes Y' when we're talking about vowels?"

This might be one of those, “Huh, I’m not sure” moments for you... so just in case, let’s clear things up!

When is the letter Y considered a vowel?

When the letter Y represents a vowel sound by itself, it is considered a vowel. For example, in the words "fly" and "candy", the letter Y represents a vowel sound without any other letters working with it. 

Since we're talking about consonants that also act as vowels, let's address a common misconception about the letter <w>. You may have heard, "The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y and W." The letter <w> is not considered a vowel because it can't represent a vowel sound by itself. In the words "clown" and "chew", the letter <w> is working together with a vowel to represent a vowel sound, so it is part of a vowel team. However, the letter <w> can't make a vowel sound alone, like the letter <y> can. That's why the letter <y> is so special!

What are the many sounds of the letter Y?

The letter <y> can make four different sounds. They include:

1. Consonant /y/: When <y> is the at beginning of a syllable, it’s a consonant and says /y/, like in yarn or yellow.

2. Long <i>: When a short 1-syllable word ends in a <y> (and has no other vowel), it makes the long <i> sound, like in fly or cry.

3. Long <e>: When a 2-syllable word ends in a <y>, the <y> usually makes the long <e> sound, like in candy or baby.

4. Short <i>: When a <y> is between two consonant sounds and the word has a Greek origin, it can make the short <i> sound, like in gym or symbol.

Here’s another fun fact about the letter <y>… Most English words don’t end with a letter <i>, which is why we use the letter <y> to represent that sound. And often times, if a word ends with an <e>, it has another important job it’s doing (see this blog post for the many jobs of <e>), so the letter <y> is used instead.

When should you teach all of these sounds?

All of the sounds for <y> are important, but it makes the most sense to teach <y> as a consonant first. When we’re working with students on their letters and sounds, we let them know that some of the letters have more than one job, but we’re just focusing on one at time for now. It doesn't have to be a secret that some letters work very hard!

In our scope and sequence at Up & Away Literacy, we teach <y> as long i and <y> as long e consecutively after nasal blends (NG & NK), but before we start vowel teams.

And <y> as short i comes much later in more advanced discussions about morphology and etymology. 

How can I bring phonics to life with the letter <y>?

Introducing… Chameleon Y!

It helps to think of a chameleon when teaching your reader about the letter <y>. What is special about a chameleon? It can change its color to blend in with its surroundings! The letter <y> can change its sound depending on its location in a word.

"I Spy With My Little Eye... the Chameleon Y!" Activity

Once your students have learned the 3 most common sounds of the letter <y> (consonant /y/, long I, long E), a really fun activity to play is "I Spy!" They will be amazed at how many words they can find in the classroom containing the letter Y, especially in their names! Think: Avery, Lily, Anthony, Abby, Henry, Ivy, Rory, Sky, Brynn, and the list goes on!

We've put together a super fun and engaging "I Spy the Chameleon Y" scavenger hunt activity that you can use with your students! Check it out by clicking the picture below!

Time for a FREEBIE!

Help your students remember the many sounds of Y with this freebie anchor chart. Click the image to get your free download 😊

A Done-For-You Resource!

If you are looking for a unit on the many sounds of Y that is already created for you... you're in luck! Our "Digital Science of Reading Phonics Lessons" have everything that you need to teach your students about Y as long I and Y as Long E. Just pull up the digital lessons on your smartboard, print off the coordinating materials for each lesson, and you are set!

Digital lessons, decodable word lists, student encoding pages with teacher guides & decodable readers... all ready to go for you! Check them out below!

At Our Store (bundled together) 

On TPT: (sold separately)

Y as Long I

Y as Long E