Lesson 112
air, are, ear /air/
The graphemes AIR, ARE, and EAR spell /air/
The pronunciation of 'air' varies based on dialect. In some regions, it is pronounced as long /ā/ followed by /r/, and in others it is an r-controlled vowel sound. The /air/ sound produces several homophones which can be confusing for students, especially in spelling. Examples of /air/ homophones include fair/fare, bear/bare, pear/pair, stair/stare, and hair/hare.
Today's plan
about 20 min- Step 1Warm up our ears (blend & segment)2 min
- Steps 2 & 3Look & Say / Listen & Spell4 min
- Step 4Blending drill3 min
- Step 5New concept6 min
- Step 5Read & spell the new words5 min
Warm Up Our Ears
Say the sounds; students blend them into a word. Then say a word; students break it apart.
Blend it (teacher says sounds → you say word)
Break it (I say word → you say sounds)
Sound Drills
Full-screen cards for the class. Tap a card to check the answer, or press Hear the words to hear the example words read aloud.
👂 Listen & Spell — teacher list (10 sounds)
Say each sound; students write the spelling(s). Read straight from this list.
- /er/er (as in her), ir (as in bird), ur (as in turn), or (as in doctor), ar (as in car) · fern
- /ī/i (as in find), ie (as in pie), igh (as in night) · night
- /d/d (as in dog), -ed · dog
- /ā/a (as in table), ai (as in rain), ay (as in play) · rain
- /ē/e (as in me), y (as in baby), ea (as in eat), ee (as in see), ey (as in key) · bee
- /s/s (as in sun), ss, c (as in city) · sun
- /r/r (as in rain), wr (as in wrist) · run
- /m/m (as in moon), mb (as in lamb) · moon
- /ow/ou (as in out), ow (as in cow) · shout
- /oi/oi (as in coin), oy (as in boy) · coin
Blending Drill
Change one part at a time and read the new word.
New Concept
Today we are going to learn another new sound, /air/, and three ways to spell it: AIR, ARE, and EAR.
Highlighted words are the ones to show and practice reading — tap one to hear it.
Today we are going to learn another new sound /air/. There are three different ways we can spell the /air/ sound: /air/ can be spelled A I R like in chair and stair. /air/ can be spelled A R E like in care and square. /air/ can be spelled E A R like in bear and wear.
air /air/
AIR spells /air/ like in chair and stair.
are /air/
ARE spells /air/ like in care and square.
ear /air/
EAR spells /air/ like in bear and wear.
How our mouth moves
This sound can be pronounced by starting with the /ĕ/ or /ā/ sound and moving to the /r/ sound (model /ā-r/). Be sure your voice is on. Like all vowels, /air/ is a continuous sound that can be stretched out (use continuous hand motion). Watch me /air/. You try /air/.
Read & Spell
Read — I do
Read — We do
Spell — I do
Spell — We do