AU and AW Words: Teaching Tips & 5 Free Worksheets
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Learn all about the vowel digraphs AU and AW and then grab 5 free worksheets for students to practice.
AU and AW Words
The graphemes AU and AW are vowel patterns. Some refer to these as vowel digraphs or variant vowels.
Both AU and AW spell the /aw/ sound. You can clearly hear the /aw/ sound in words like paw, law, haul, and August.
📖 Decoding: When students see the graphemes AU or AW in a word, they should know that these letters represent the /aw/ sound (like the sound in claw or haul).
So, when they come across a word they don’t know like caution or dawdle, they should try the /aw/ sound when sounding it out.
📝 Encoding: When students hear the /aw/ sound in a word, they need to figure out which grapheme—AU or AW—to use to spell that sound.
The spelling generalization for spelling is:
- Use AU at the beginning or middle of a word (e.g., autumn, pause).
- Use AW at the end of a word or syllable (e.g., claw, strawberry).
Some words do not follow these spelling guidelines. For example, words ending in k, n, or l often use aw in the middle (e.g., hawk, pawn, sprawl).
Teaching Tips for Success
Kids sometimes have trouble differentiating between short /ŏ/ sound and /aw/ sound. If your students confuse the spellings, you may try these teaching tips:
- Articulation Cues: Use a sound wall to differentiate between /ŏ/ and /aw/
/ŏ/ sound: Mouth is more open, jaw drops, tongue is low and centered.
/aw/ sound: Lips are rounded, tongue is back and low. - Teach each sound in isolation with clear anchor words. Short o words: hot, pot, mop. Aw sound words: saw, claw, lawn
- Word Sorts: Sort words into “short o” vs. “aw” categories. Use our word lists for all phonics skills!
AU and AW Worksheets
We designed five worksheets to help students master the sound and spellings of AU and AW. Take a look at the worksheets below and check out our tips for using them.
They give you helpful tools, and your students will get lots of practice with the /aw/ sound in fun and effective ways.
AU/AW Word Sort Worksheet
This worksheet helps students practice spelling patterns for the /aw/ sound. Students highlight the letters that spell the /aw/ sound, then cut, sort, and glue the words into the correct column.
AU/AW Spelling Choice Worksheet
The worksheet gives students spelling choices for the /aw/ sound. Students will say the word aloud, and then color in the circle with the correct grapheme: AU or AW. Then, they’ll rewrite the word on the rewrite line.
This worksheet helps build familiarity with words and visual memory. Kids can use a dictionary to confirm the spelling choice, if necessary.
AU/AW Word Scramble
Students unscramble the letters to create a real word with an /aw/ sound. This activity helps them to notice patterns in words, including words that are part of the -an word family.
Once they figure out the order of the letters, they’ll write the word on the lines. The words are: thaw, crawl, fault, fraud, Saul, draw
Then, students will choose two of the words and compose grammatically correct sentences.
AU/AW Decodable Sentence Worksheet
This worksheet has students practicing reading AU/AW words by reading and completing the decodable sentences.
AU/AW Word Mapping
This worksheet allows students to practice orthographic mapping. Students will map each word by saying the word, segmenting each sound in the word, and representing each sound with a grapheme.
Download & Print
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