Teaching the OI and OY sound is a lot of fun! There are many words that make this sound (the oy as in toy sound) that kids know. Plus, it's fun to say. :) Here are my favorite worksheets, games, and phonics activities for learning these 2 common diphthongs!
OI and OY Words Spelling Rule
First, I recommend quickly introducing the sound with picture cards that have the words printed largely on them. My OI and OY picture cards are perfect for this, if you don't have any already.
As you're showing them the cards, point out how OY usually comes at the end of words. Show a couple of examples. Then show them some OI picture words. Ask if they notice anything. Hopefully they say that the OI sound is not at the end of the word - it's usually in the middle of the word. If they don't, point that out. :) Super simply way to introduce the sound and its spelling rule in a fun, visual way.
OI and OY Games
One of my favorite phonics games is Spin a Word. I have them in almost all of my Phonics No Prep Packs to practice each found with a fun spinner game! Kids put a paperclip on the spinner, with a pencil through it, then flick it to spin! SO fun.
You can print it on color paper like this to make it look more fun. If you do that, you can also laminate it or put it in a plastic sheet protector so kids can use the same sheet over and over with a dry erase marker and wipe it when they're done. :)
This particular game is in my big OI and OY No Prep Phonics Pack which has over 55 no prep worksheets and activities for this sound!
When they spin the spinner, it'll land on a word ending. They add that to the next line on their sheet. If it makes a real word, they circle it. This is great practice for decoding words (sounding out words). It is especially great practice when it's not a real word, so you know they are actually using the skill of sounding out, not recognizing a word from memory. :)
You can also print it on regular white paper, which is what I typically recommend, so kids can turn in their work.
I think it's helpful to have a page kids can show you their work on, so you can quickly scan it and see if the words they circled are actually real words. And help them if you notice they're not doing it correctly. It's a super quick and easy assessment tool to have them turn in their "center" work.
OI AND OY Sound Bottle Cap Games
Another fun game for the OI and OY sound are my OI and OY bottle cap centers that are included in the Vowels Teams Bottle Cap Centers BUNDLE.
Quick note to homeschoolers - Centers is just a fancy way of saying learning games. It's often used to describe the time a classroom teacher has students play learning games. If you're a homeschooler, if it says centers, that basically means it's a game or activity you can use with your child to help them learn the skill. I have a lot of new homeschoolers reading my blog recently so I wanted to make sure the word centers doesn't scare you away. Both teachers and homeschoolers can do "centers" :)
It's such a fun way to recycle water bottle caps and reuse them for learning how to read! :) Reading and recycling at the same time! Use a permanent marker to write letters on water bottle caps and they put them on the picture word cards to finish building the word! You can also use alphabet magnet letters, which is what I used here.
They're super easy to differentiate for wherever your little reader(s) are, because they come in 6 levels: where ALL the letters in the word are missing, where NONE of the letters are missing (perfect for kids who need a lot of support - they can simply match the letters on top of them to build the words), where only the first letter is missing, where only the last letter is missing, where only the phonics sound being practiced (in this case, OI or OY) is missing, and also a version where all BUT the phonics sound being practiced is missing.
This also means you could reuse them to build the skill! First, do the cards with the phonics sound missing so they're putting OI and OY on the card repeatedly to really reinforce it. Then, give them the same cards again but with the beginning sound missing. They will really have to say and read the word to figure this out. Then, you could give it to them with the beginning AND ending missing. Or skip straight to all the sounds missing. Such great practice for word building!
OI and OY Sound Secret Words Games
A slightly easier word building game for OI and OY are the OI and OY cards from my Vowel Teams Secret Words Games! These have always been one of my favorite games.
If you want to see real pictures of these, I have pictures of the R Controlled Vowels version of this. It's played the same way! :) Those are here: Fun R Controlled Vowels Activities and Games
Kids look at each picture. Figure out it's beginning sound. Put the letter there. Keep going until they've solved all the beginning sounds pictures to reveal the Secret Word! So fun!! I have them for almost every phonics sound and also the short vowel word families! :) The Secret Sight Words set are probably the most popular of all my sets if you want them for sight words!
OI and OY Worksheets
Worksheets are a super easy way to practice the OI and OY sound! These are all from the OI and OY No Prep Phonics Pack I mentioned earlier. The worksheets are consistent for each phonics sound so, once you teach a kid how to do them once, they know HOW to do them. Then, each week, they can ideally focus on the new skill, without you having to give them directions again. Anything you can do to make learning to read easier = win.
Another favorite worksheet type is Circle & Sort! People often tell me this is one of their favorites to do each week from my no prep packs.
It's pretty simple but it provides a lot of practice. Kids use a different color marker to circle the words with each phonics sound. Then, they sort them by writing them below. Word sorts are a great way to have kids recognize the phonics skill in a word.
Another thing I love about it is that it is naturally differentiated. Kids who can read the sentences will. Kids who struggle to read the sentences can still complete the activity successfully and will read as much as they can, so it pushes them right at their level. I LOVE that.
I love differentiation, which you know if you've read any of my math and phonics posts before. If not, save that page so you can check those posts out! :)
Because of that, I also try to provide the same worksheet in multiple levels, when possible, within my phonics no prep packs.
See how this one looks so similar but is actually slightly harder words? This is an awesome way to challenge your students who are ready to read harder words, without giving them a totally separate activity.
I was one of those students as a kid and I often felt disconnected from the lessons my teachers were teaching because I was given work that had nothing to do with what everyone else was learning. It also made me feel different, which no kid likes to feel (even if it's a "good" type of different), because my work looked completely different. As if they went to an older grades teacher and asked for a stack of papers.
So I try really hard to make differentiated activities look as much the same as possible. You also don't want your struggling students to feel different either. The main goal I always have with differentiating is that kids have no idea there are levels & that they just think there are multiple versions of the same activity. Which is actually the case.
If you feel like sentences might overwhelm your students, simple word sorts are wonderful. You can have them sort words by if they have OI or OY.
I chose this one because I wanted to make you aware that "toilet" will make them giggle and enjoy learning the OI sound. :) Any time you can incorporate silly (but appropriate) words, the kids will love it.
These are super easy word sorts. Kids cut the words off the bottom then sort them by sound.
If you feel like your kids are ready for reading sentences with the OI and OY sound, I Love to Read is a fun one to do next!
For this worksheet, kids DO have to be able to read the sentence to complete it correctly. For this reason, I recommend doing this one after you've done individual words practice.
These are an awesome small groups lesson! You can have them at your table and have kids put the pictures in the correct boxes after reading each sentence. So you can watch and help. :) You could use it as a warm up to your lesson since it'd be pretty quick if they're not cutting or gluing themselves. And you can reuse them with each group! Woooo! :)
I think most people use them as a center / independent classwork activity though.
To use them this way:
- Kids color the pictures at the bottom of the worksheet
- They cut them out
- As they read each sentence, they put the picture next to the sentence that describes it
- Glue them down
This is a ton of phonics, fluency, and comprehension practice in one!
I recommend telling them not to glue until they place all the squares. Tell them that if they get to the last sentence and it doesn't match the last picture, then they'll know they need to fix one of them. So they'll have to go back and reread and check each one. This is an AWESOME self-correction test skill to teach them!
OI and OY Reading Passages
I love to practice reading passages in the form of PUZZLES! Yes, puzzles! As you've probably seen in my math blog posts, you know I love puzzles for everything! That includes reading passages. It makes what is typically a little boring A LOT more fun!
It also makes it look like more of a challenge AND combines more skills into the activity.
They have to sequence the story to complete the puzzle. Which is an important reading comprehension skill in itself!
They also have to be able to read the passage to complete it, so it's a ton of reading practice and a great assessment.
You can also print the MIXED UP versions in black and white to use for notebook activities! (They also come in order in black and white. For extra support or if you simply want them already in order on the page.)
You can use them for phonics fluency notebook activities where kids put it in a notebook! I wrote a whole post about those if you want to see it! :) I put lots of examples in that post so I recommend looking at it really quick if you like these.
Have kids find the words with the phonics sound you're learning and write them under it. They also have to put the puzzle pieces in order to sequence the story. So it's a ton of skills in one! Plus, they get to color the pictures which is fun.
Here's a quick list of the TpT resources I mentioned in this post:
You can get all of them in the Vowel Teams ULTIMATE BUNDLE if you want activities like this for all the vowel teams! :) I highly love that bundle!
I hope you enjoyed this post! I have tons of phonics and math posts - browse around! :)
