Review long vowel sounds with students. Say some words with long vowel sounds and write them on the board. Do not put the words in any particular order so that some words have a silent letter at the end and some have a double vowel. Once a list is created, ask students to sort the words on a piece of paper by the way they are spelled. Provide an example to get them started. For example, words with a silent "e" might go on one list and words with a double letter might go on another. Words like "me" that end in a long vowel might go in a third column.
Familiarizing students with how words with long vowels are spelled is easy when they play computer games. Sadlier-Oxford (sadlier-oxford.com) invites students to identify long vowel sounds and pull them into a box. Constant exposure to the words will improve students' ability to spell them.
Review spelling patterns in words with long vowels. For example, when two vowels are together, often only the first one is pronounced. For example, in "coat," only the "o" is pronounced. In many words with long vowel sounds, the long vowel is next to a consonant followed by a silent "e." Divide students into small groups and invite them to create magnetic words that follow these rules. Students can check their work by looking up the words in the dictionary when they are finished.
Create several hopscotch boards and place long vowel combinations in each square. For example, one square may contain "oa" and another may contain "ake." Divide students into small groups and give each child a number. Call a number and tell students with that number to hop to the square that has the long vowel ending that is appropriate for the word. For example, if you say "bait," the student should jump to the square containing the "ai."