Phonics Partner Games for Long Vowel Teams

What better way to engage elementary students in literacy centers than playing phonics games? These Partner Phonics Games for Long Vowel Teams allow your students to practice word reading and sentence reading of long vowel teams, including EE, EA, AI, AY, IGH, IE, OA, and OE. Your students will LOVE these vowel team games printables and ask to play them repeatedly!

Which Words are in the Long Vowel Teams Games?

There are five sets of long vowel teams included in this resource. Each sound-spelling has its own isolated set of phonics games. There is also a mixed set where students practice using all vowel teams.

• Set #1: EE / EA
• Set #2: AI / AY
• Set #3: OA / OE
• Set #4: IE / IGH
• Set #5: Mixed Words

Here is the word list of words with vowel pairs that shows all of the words included in these vowel team games. As you can see, we have included quite a few phonics patterns in the list! Sight words are also noted on the word list.

8 Phonics Partner Games

Included in the Long Vowel Team Phonics Partner Games are 8 printable games, some with slight variations on game play. Each of the games is included in all five levels above and each game has several worksheets with different groups of words on each page. Students will have plenty of practice learning vowel teams!

1. Spin, Read, Color #1 – Students read words.
2. Spin, Read, Color #2 – Students read words with extended gameplay.
3. Roll, Read, Color #1 – Both students read the same sentences.
4. Roll, Read, Color #2 – Students read separate sentences.
5. Four-in-a-Row – Students read words to make four-in-a-row.
6. Dots & Boxes – Students read words to claim squares.
7. Cover Up – Read 1-3 words at a time, depending on the number spun.
8. Color Maze – Read words to create a pathway across the grid.

Placing the games in sheet protectors and using whiteboard markers cuts down on photocopies and allows quick and easy repeated gameplay.

Spin, Read, Color #1

In the Spin, Read, Color two-player game students first color a spinner to match the column colors. Students spin and then read and color a word in the same color column.

In the end, when all boxes are colored, students count and record the number of boxes they were able to color.

The Spin, Read, Color game comes in two versions. In the above version, students read each word once.

Spin, Read, Color #2

In the below version of Spin Read, Color, students read each vowel team word twice. Students read and color the inside box and then read and color the outside box. This gives an opportunity for extended play and is great for older learners or students who need some extra practice.

The spinner that you see above is a Classroom Spinner.  To use it, students put a pencil eraser in the slot, flick the spinner and wait until it stops. 

Roll, Read, Color #1

Roll, Read, and Color is similar to Spin, Read, and Color, except students roll a die instead of spinning. This phonics partner game also asks students to read sentences rather than individual words.

There are three opportunities to read each sentence. The student who reads the most sentences in a row “wins” the row.

Like the Spin, Read, Color game, the Roll, Read, Color game has two versions to differentiate learning for all students. In the first version both students read the same sentences.

Roll, Read, Color #2

The second version of Roll, Read, Color, pictured below, has students read two different sets of sentences. Each sentence is read three times by the student.

If you place any of the Phonics Partner Game pages in page protectors. Students can play several rounds of the game and switch roles each time.

Four-in-a-Row

Four-in-a-Row is played just like the traditional game. Students read a word, color a circle, and attempt to be the first to make four-in-a-row.

This is a great game for a page protector. There are several versions at each level. If you place them back-to-back in a page protector, students can play the game multiple times with different arrangements of words.

Dots & Boxes

Dots and Boxes is played like the traditional game. Each word can be read up to four times, one for each line of the square. The player with the most colored boxes wins the game!

My son was helping me color these pages for the photographs and asked if we could play this game. So we played for a bit. He caught right on to the gameplay and definitely had the winning strategy!

Cover Up

In the Cover Up game students spin the spinner. They read and color 1, 2, or 3 circles, depending on the number that was spun. The player with the most circles covered at the end wins the game.

Color Maze

Color Maze is a fun game where students race to see who can color a maze across the board first. Players can choose to color from the white circle to the white circle or the black circles. Players can also choose to start at the top or bottom.

Each time the game is played the pathway can be slightly different. The only requirement is that the boxes touch on a line, not a corner.

My kids LOVE playing these vowel team games and these Partner Phonics Games are just the thing they need to practice reading phonics patterns and sentences while having a bit of fun during our literacy centers!

How to Purchase the Partner Phonics Games for Long Vowel Teams

The Phonics Partner Games can be purchased on my website or on Teachers Pay Teachers.