long e /ē/

long e is the /ē/ sound like in ‘bee’, or when the vowel says its name

  1. when the silent e uses its magic, like in ‘these’ (see magic e lesson in long vowels, part 2, lesson 9)
    2. in some cute little words, like ‘me’
    3. in vowel team ee, like in ‘bee’
    4. in vowel team ea, like in ‘sea’
    5. y says ‘e’ at the end of a two syllable word, like ‘bunny’

ee bee

This is the long e sound

The ‘ee’ vowel team is usually in the middle or the end of a word.

ea ee sea see

This is the long e sound

The ‘ee’ vowel team is usually in the middle or the end of a word.
The ‘ea’ vowel team can be in the start, middle or the end of a word.

ee and ea are called vowel teams, because, yes, they are two vowels that together make only one sound — /ē/ — they are a team.

ea ee eat sheep

This is the long e sound

The ‘ee’ vowel team is usually in the middle or the end of a word.
The ‘ea’ vowel team can be in the start, middle or the end of a word.

y bunny

y says /ē/ at the end of a two syllable word
(see special lessons to learn about syllables
and to learn all about y)

(look out, there’s too much cuteness in this video)

So remember, so far you know that y says /y/ at the start of a word, like ‘yes’ and that y says /ē/ at the end of a two syllable word, like ‘bunny’.

After you learn the long i sounds, you can do some fun cut and paste with the ‘sounds of y’ (part 2, lesson 11).