Long I Worksheets: 4 Free Printables
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Get 4 FREE Long I worksheets! These are the perfect printables for students to practice reading and spelling long I words.
Long I Sound & Spelling
Sound: The long (or tense) sound of i is one of 44 phonemes in English. This sound is the same as the letter name: /ī/. This long /ī/ sound is clearly heard in words like ice, rice, night, cry.
Spelling: There are four common ways to spell long i. We commonly use these graphemes: i, i-e, igh, and y. Less common ways to spell the long i sound include y-e and ie.
Notes on Spelling Long I:
- The grapheme i represents the vowel sound in an open syllable, like in the word hi or idol.
- The graphemes i-e and y-e mean it follows this pattern of a silent e syllable type. (The dash between the i and e represents any consonant letter).
- The grapheme y represents a vowel sound most of the time. In many words, y spells /ī/. Read more about the vowel sounds of y
- The grapheme igh is a vowel pattern. It is a common way to spell the long /ī/ in the middle or at the end of words.
- The grapheme ie is a vowel team. This is uncommon and only represented in about 15 English words.
👉🏽 Read more about the Long I Sound (and get a free printable list, too!)
The Free Worksheets
Spelling long vowel sounds is tricky because of the many ways to spell the same sound. So kids will need explicit instruction followed by lots of practice! So be sure to get our 4 free long i worksheets to use with students.
They include only the most common spellings: i, i-e, igh, and y. These are best to use after all four graphemes have been taught.
Long I Word Sort
Students will practice identifying the most common spelling patterns for the long i sound. They’ll read each word and sort it based on the grapheme that represents the sound.
Tips: Before cutting and pasting, have students highlight the letters that spell the long i sound in each word. Challenge your students to determine the syllable type of each word!
Long I Listen & Spell
This printable targets a key phonemic awareness skill and CCSS —recognizing words that contain a specific speech sound. (In this case, the long /ī/ sound)
For the first portion, teachers will say each word aloud while students listen carefully and identify the correct pictures. Kids will color in all the pictures that include the /ī/ sound.
Afterward, students will reinforce their learning by spelling common long O words within cloze sentences (they’re decodable sentences, yay!)
Long I Sound Sort
Designed to target important phonemic awareness skills, kids will say the words of each picture, listening carefully to the individual speech sounds within the words. Then, they’ll cut and sort according to Long I and Not Long I sounds.
Challenge students to spell the words that contain the long i sound.
Long I Spelling Choices Worksheet
This worksheet helps kids to test their visual memory and refine their spelling. Using a dictionary for support, they’ll choose the right spelling choice and color the pictures, too.
Long Vowels and Homophones
Spelling long vowel graphemes often leads to helpful discussions about homophones—like hi (a greeting) and high (up above).
I love using memory hooks like this one: “Say hi to the kite flying high!” This fun phrase helps students remember the difference between hi and high—both with the long I sound but with different spellings.
🌟 For more teaching tips, read our post about effective spelling strategies for tricky words, and grab a free homophone booklet for students to keep track!
More Vowel Resources
If you love these resources and are looking for more, visit these posts:
And then get our Short and Long Vowel Word Lists and mini-posters, with over 1600+ Words, organized by spelling patterns.
Download & Print
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