Tigrou: I just want a quick visual tool to show her the main spellings for certain sounds (essentially the long vowels)
Perhaps the following will be clearer and more helpful to u?
It gives just the long vowel spellings, but on this system it is impossible to show them really clearly. U could reduce the different spellings to just two or three main ones.
/ai/: a-e - ai, eigh, aigh, ea, a, a h, e-e
plate – wait, eight, straight, great, apron, dahlia, fete (338 – 69)
-ain (before –n) - a-e, ei, eig, agne
rain – lane, vein, reign, champagne (39 – 19)
-ay (in endings) – ey, eigh, et, e, ee
play – they, weigh, ballet, cafe, matinee (35 – 20)
/air/: are - air, ear, aer, eir, ere, aire
care – hair, bear, aerial, their, there, questionnaire (31-are – 27 other)
/ar/: ar – are
car – are (138 – 1) + (Southern Engl. bath, ask, etc.)
/au/: au – augh, ough, a, al, aw
sauce – caught, bought, always, tall, crawl (44 au – 76 other)
-aw (in endings): saw – (0)- but in UK 11-aw + 40 awe, or, four, sore, war
/er/: er - ur, ir, ear, or, our
her – turn, bird, learn, word, journey (70er – 124others)
/ee/: ea - ee, e-e, ei, ie, i-e, eo, e, ey, i, is, ay
eat – eel, even, ceiling, field, police, people, me, key, ski, debris, quay (152ea – 304)
--y: (in unstressed endings) – ey, ie, i
jolly – trolley, movie, corgi (475 – 39)
/i-e/ : i-e - igh, y-e, i, ei, eye, eigh, i-b, is, ic, ig
bite – might, style, I, eider, eye, height, climb, island, indict, sign (278 – 76)
-y (in endings) - igh, ie, ye, uy
my – high, pie, rye, buy (17 – 14)
/o-e/: o-e – ow, ol, ou, o, oa, oe, au
mole – bowl, roll, soul, most, boast, goes, mauve (171 – 100)
-o (in endings) - oe, ough, ew, oa, aoh, oh, ot
no – toe, dough, sew, cocoa, pharaoh, oh, depot (106 – 59)
/oi/: oi - oy
oil– oyster (29 –1)
-oy (in endings) - uoy
toy – buoy (12 – 1)
/oo/ (long): oo - u-e, ew, o-e, ou, ui, u, o-b, ue, o, oe, ough, oeu
food – rude, shrewd, move, group, fruit, truth, tomb, blue, do, shoe, through, manoeuvre
(94 – 108)
/oo/ (short): oo - oul, u, o, ou
good– would, put, woman, courier (15oo -21others)
/or/: or - oar, our,
order – board, court;
wart, quart– worn, quorn (188 – 16)
-ore (in endings) - oar, oor, our, ar, or
more – soar, door, four, war, abhor (23– 17)
+ (14 –aw/awe in UK)
/ou/: ou - ow
out – town (74 – 24);
-ow (in endings)
now – plough (11 – 4)
/u-e/: u-e - you, ew, eu, ui, eau, ue, u
cute – youth, newt, neutral, suit, beauty, Tuesday, nuclear (137 – 21)
-ue (in endings) - ew, iew, u
cue – few, view, menu (20 –ue – 22not )