If you asked my kids I’m sure they would give you a long list of all the jobs I do around the home and at work! Mums are busy people, and so is the letter Y, she has many different jobs too and I am going give you a brief outline of them below.
Y as a Consonant
Y is one of the trickier consonants for students to grasp. This is because when we say the letter name (why) it starts with a ‘w’ sound and can be very confusing!
Y as a consonant only appears at the start of a syllable.
I would introduce this in a fun way using yellow colours y objects such as yellow yarn or yellow yoyo. These object can be played with, throwing round a circle or yo-yoing up and down whilst shouting out y words for example, older students may enjoy other strategies like a yellow card being held up when they make a mistake like in a football match!
Y as a long I
When y is a consonant it has its own unique sound but in all other roles it borrows a sound from another letter. This is the next one I would introduce to my students – when y says i.
There are many high frequency words that fit this pattern such as by, my. Your students will quickly realise that the sound y makes depends on its location. Y in an open syllable should be taught to students if they haven’t already become familiar with open syllables in words such as no or we. This should not be too challenging a concept for them.
You can then extend this to reading and writing words like cry, sky, why. Very few words end with an open I so students who hear a long I sound can deduce that it probably is a y.
Y as a long E
If the most common spelling for long I at the end of a one syllable word is y, the most common spelling for long e at the end of a two-syllable word is y. It is important to take care when choosing words in order to avoid any words in which the y is actually acting as a suffix. Sticking with words where y is part of the base word such as candy and happy for marking and decoding will be helpful to differentiate later on and be easier for students to master the concept.
For both sounds of vowel y, I often use a prompt such as “ I hear that sound too. How is /ē/ usually spelled at the end of a two-syllable word?” Once these sounds are introduced, I make a point to include both consonant y and vowel y in my blending drill at the start of every structured literacy session.
Y as part of the A vowel team
Next role I would introduced the role y plays in the sequence of as part of a vowel team. Y occurs as the second vowel in a number of vowel teams such as ay, ey, oy. Understanding this job of y is particularly important later on when learning the y rule for suffixing. Being able to differentiate y acting as a vowel alone vs y acting as part of a vowel team will be important for correctly applying this tricky spelling generalisation.
Vowel teams ending in y typically come at the end of a syllable. So students need to become familiar both with the vowel team phoneme sound and spelling, but also with its appropriate use. I usually teach the sound and spelling first and then once confident I would teach my students the accompanying spelling generalisation. I always make sure my activities are multi-sensory, games as well as the blending drill to ensure they are shown the learning in different ways to help reinforce this new learning.
Y as A suffix
The key to learning this concept is to have the students to identify the base word first and then the suffix y. For example in the word cloudy base word cloud + y = cloudy.
This habit is valuable both for building morphemic awareness, but also to facilitate proper application of spelling generalisations that might apply to the base word or to the suffixing situation. For example in the word sunny the base is sun add another n and then the y, sun+n+y+sunny.
Y as in Y-E
This spelling pattern y-e says /ī/ . This spelling appears at different times in different scopes and sequences. I tend to introduce it quite late in the series of instruction due to it being an unusual spelling. I would use this in a word study (etymology) and focus in on its historical Greek spellings for example in the word rhyme.
Y as short I
This again is normally introduced later on in the scope and sequence due to its unusual spelling and low usage in English Orthography. This is y in a closed syllable and is unique because the y falls in the middle of a syllable. This occurs in words such as myth or crypt. It is also found in words with Greek etymology such as symbiotic or nymph. The point in which this skill is taught students should be confident to try different spellings until they find the one that fits right.
As you can see Y is an incredibly versatile and busy letter that plays many different roles in English orthography. It is important that these skills are staggered throughout a well planned scope and sequence and are taught through a structure literacy approach.
Giving students this knowledge of spelling makes them confident readers and excellent spellers as well and word study experts. Have fun make the learning interactive, multi-sensory and progressive and your students will sore!
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Kx
Adapted Learning 
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