The Differences Between Vowels and Consonants

All About Vowels

A vowel is a sound made with an open jaw, where no part of the tongue, teeth, throat, or lips block or slow down the sound.

Because of this, a vowel sound can be held out for as long as a person has breath.

🗣Try It! Make these sounds:

• /ă/ like apple. Hold out the /ă/ sound until you run out of breath.
• /ē/ like eagle. Hold out the /ē/ sound like you’re singing.
• /ŭ/ like up. Hold out the /ŭ/ sound like you’re yelling.
• /ō/ like open. Hold out a quiet /ō/ sound and make it get louder and louder.

This is a fun activity to do with students when teaching this concept! It helps solidify what makes a vowel sound a vowel.

🌟 This will set the stage for later learning about how every English syllable MUST include a vowel sound. Because each syllable includes a vowel, our jaw will drop with each new syllable.

All vowel sounds are voiced, meaning that the voice box is on when making the sound. Hold your fingers against your throat when making a vowel sound. You’ll actually feel it!

In teaching, we use the terms ‘long’ and ‘short’ to refer to vowels, but linguists refer to them as ‘tense’ (long) and ‘lax’ (short).

Using ‘tense’ and ‘lax’ gives a more accurate description of how the vowels are physically produced in the mouth.

• Tense Vowels (long vowels) are produced with more tension in the tongue and mouth. They require more muscular effort.
• Lax Vowels (short vowels) are produced with less tension and a more relaxed tongue position.

In addition to long and short vowels, there are also diphthongs and r-controlled vowels.

👉 Dive Deeper: Learn more about Diphthong syllables and R-controlled syllables.

All About Consonants

A consonant is a sound made when a part of the mouth, either the tongue, teeth, lips, or throat, blocks or slows down the sound.

The airflow gets obstructed in some way when a consonant sound is made.

Consonant sounds are often organized by place and manner of articulation.

The place of articulation is where the sound is made in the mouth. The manner of articulation is how the sound is made.

When introducing these phonemes (sounds) to kids in the younger grades, you should have them think about the place and manner of articulation.

They can feel and see how speech sounds originate in their mouths which helps them classify them as consonants.

Of course, children don’t need to memorize academic terms like affricates, liquids, or fricatives!

But placing them together, like we would when using a sound wall, will help kids see how similar consonant sounds are produced.

Teaching Tips

• Use a mirror to assist with teaching the sounds. This lets kids see the difference when making a vowel or consonant sound.
• As you follow your scope and sequence, explicitly teach diphthongs and r-controlled vowels as vowel sounds.
• Teach kids to test sounds and pay attention to the manner and place of articulation (how and where each sound is produced). This will help them with tricky letters, like the letter Y, which can represent a vowel or a consonant sound.
• Include a sound wall in your classroom. A sound wall will make speech sounds come to life through a visual representation. Get our low-prep sound wall that teachers love!

Be sure to use specific language and terminology as you teach, and differentiate between vowel sounds and letters.

Example: If you ask, “What vowel sound do you hear in the word ‘cat?'” and a child responds, “I hear an A,” you can gently encourage them while providing clarification.

I’d say something like, “Great job! The letter A does represents the vowel sound. But A is a letter. So can you tell me what vowel sound you hear the letter A representing?”

Little adjustments in our instruction can make a big difference!

Why Teach Vowels & Consonants?

Now you might be asking yourself, “Why is this important? Do my students really need to know this information?” The short answer is “Yes! They really do.”

It’s because speech sounds are the basic building blocks of words, so they play an important part in learning all literacy skills, like reading, spelling, talking, etc.

And when you teach your students to identify the differences between the sounds, they can put the sounds to the test!

They won’t have to memorize a list of every single letter that can be vowel, or get confused as they try to identify whether letters like ‘y’ or ‘w’ represent vowels or consonants in words.

Instead, they can simply put the sound to the test. They can ask themselves…

• Does my jaw drop?
• Is anything blocking the sound?
• Can I sing the sound?
• Can I say the sound until I run out of breath?

And now they’re equipped to answer whether it is a vowel or consonant sound.

Whenever possible, we need to teach our students how our language works! We want our students to see that there is a logic to the English Language.

Rather than simply memorizing facts or lists, a deep understanding of language will empower our students with the knowledge for success.