Weather
Primary 4 · English
Weather
Lesson 5 of 5
30 min
Say these two words: rain and today. Listen to the vowel sound. It is the same! It sounds like the name of the letter A.
But look: rain uses ai, and today uses ay. Today you will learn when to use each spelling.
| ai | ay |
|---|---|
| rain, rainy, wait, paint, train, tail, snail, again | day, today, May, play, stay, away, say, holiday, Sunday |
This is because English words almost never end in the letter i. So at the end, i changes to y.
The same sound can also be spelt with a + a letter + a silent e: lake, shade, gate, late. The e at the end makes the a say its name.
said and says are spelt with ai and ay, but they sound like “sed” and “sez”. Learn them by heart.
Rain, rain, on a rainy day,
Wait, wait, I want to play!
In May the rain will stay and stay,
So paint a rainbow, and play away!
Find the long a words: rain, rainy, day, wait, play, May, stay, paint, rainbow, away.
Speak: Say the chant with a friend. Clap on every long a word.
Write: Make two lists, ai words and ay words. Then write three sentences about today's weather using at least one word from each list. Example: Today it is rainy, so we will stay inside.
Tip
ai sits in the middle; ay waits at the end. rain in the middle, day at the end.
Write your answers in your exercise book, then check.
Fill in ai or ay: tod__
Answer: today (ay, at the end)
Fill in ai or ay: w__t
Answer: wait (ai, in the middle)
Fill in ai or ay: holid__
Answer: holiday (ay)
Which word does not sound like the others: paid, said, rain?
Answer: said (it sounds like “sed”)
Write a sentence with rain and play.
Answer: Example: When the rain stops, we will play football.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
Quick check
Which word is spelt correctly?
