Au and Aw words Turkey Feathers Phonics Vowel Team Activity

If your first grader is working on learning au and aw words, this fun turkey themed activitiy is a great way to practice identifying this vowel team! Simply print the cute turkey printables filled with au aw words. Now help put the feathers on the correct turkey based on the au phonics words. This aw au words practice is perfect for first graders who are working on improving phonics skills to read, write, and spell.

Au and Aw words

Vowel teams make up much of our Englsih Spelling. Some have easy rules and others require a little more discernment. Today, we will focus on au and aw words which have two extra rules to learn. This aw au words phonics activity for grade 1 gives students the opportunity to practice with an au vs aw sort hands-on activity.

We have lots more free phonics worksheets and turkey activities to choose from! Plus don’t miss au aw worksheets free, free november writing prompts, subtractions thanksgiving math worksheets free printable, and life cycle of a turkey worksheets.

Vowel Team Activity

Start by scrolling to the bottom of the post, under the terms of use, and click on the text link that says >> _____ <<. The vowel sound printable file will open in a new window for you to save the freebie template.

Rules of using “au” vs “aw”

We have been working on vowel teams for a while now. Most of the time, there is an easy rule on when to use each one. For example, with the “oy” sound, “oy is used at the end of words or syllables while “oi” is used at the beginning of words or in the middle of words or syllables.

The rules of using “au” vs “aw” are similar but there is an extra layer to it, which makes it a little harder to teach. And subsequently, requires a little more practice.

• AU – this vowel team follows the rules of many other vowel teams. We see it used at the beginning or middle of words and syllables. Some good examples of “au” at the beginning of words are Autumn, August, and author. We can see it in the middle of words like in pause, sauce, and vault.
• AW – this one gets a little tricky. It does follow other vowel teams by being found at the end of words such as law, claw, and thaw. It is also found at the end of syllables such as aw/ful and straw/berry.

But here comes the tricky part. If the word or syllable ends with just a “l” or a “n”, “aw” is used.

• l – drawl, brawl, and crawl
• n – dawn, yawn, and brawn/y

Since there is an extra rule for these vowel teams, a little extra practice is needed. And that is what this au vs aw sort is all about.

au aw words

This requires just a little prep work, and then you will have a fun, hands-on center.

1. First, print off the turkeys and turkey feathers. I recommend printing them on card stock.
2. Next, cut out the feathers. I also cut out the turkeys, but that is optional.
3. Finally, laminate for extra durability.

Now you are ready to work on the “au” sound. This activity has two levels.

au phonics words

The first level has just pictures. The children can say the word and figure out where the vowel team is in the word. Then based on where the vwoel team is, they can put it with the correct turkey.

For example. if the word is drawl your conversation may sound like this.

• Teacher: This is a picture of “drawl”. Say the word for me.
• Student: Drawl
• Teacher: Where do you hear the “aw” sound. (If they are struggling to hear it you can have them tap out each sound on their arm. “dr, aw, l
• Student: It is in the middle
• Teacher: Does an “n” or a “l” sound come after the aw sound.
• Strudnet: Yes.
• Teacher: Then what do we use
• Student: The aw

aw au words

When you get to the written words, the same format should be used. The teacher should say the word, have the child repeat it, and then let the child figure out if they should use the au or the aw based on the rules they have learned.

It is that easy to work on the “au” vs the “aw”.