AW Vowel Team: Word List & Practice
AW Vowel Team words follow one repeating pattern, so a child who can read one of them has most of what they need to read the rest. This list has 15 grade 1–2-level words plus 4 decodable sentences. Practice them out loud — the most common error is reading the w as a consonant sound.
- saw
- paw
- jaw
- law
- raw
- claw
- draw
- straw
- yawn
- lawn
- dawn
- crawl
- shawl
- hawk
- awful
Practice these words out loud
Have your child read these sentences to Word Wiz AI. It listens and shows exactly which sounds they missed, not just whether the word was right. Free, no sign-up needed to try.
Try these out loudDecodable Sentences
Every word in these sentences uses sounds your child has already learned, so they can be read by decoding rather than guessing.
- I saw a hawk on the lawn.
- The cat has a raw paw and a claw.
- Draw a straw at dawn.
- He let out an awful yawn.
How to Teach AW Vowel Team Words
'Aw' is the end-of-word partner to 'au' and makes the same /aw/ sound. It is the more common of the two in words young children actually use - 'saw,' 'paw,' 'draw' - so many children learn 'aw' first and meet 'au' later, which is a sensible order.
Note that 'aw' also appears before l and n inside words ('crawl,' 'lawn,' 'yawn'), so the end-of-word guideline is a tendency rather than an absolute. If your child is confidently decoding 'saw' but stumbling on 'crawl,' the issue is usually the blend at the front rather than the vowel team.
Common Mistakes to Watch For
- Reading the w as a consonant sound
- Writing 'au' at the end of a word instead of 'aw'
- Struggling with 'aw' before l and n as in 'crawl' and 'lawn'