Some of the first words our students learn to read are CVC words. CVC words are easy to segment and blend. They follow predictable vowel patterns, so they are perfect for early readers to practice independently. And, because CVC words help students get ready to read multi-syllabic words, and so much more…it’s essential that we give them plenty of opportunities to practice!
4 Easy Ways to Practice CVC Words
These simple ideas will help you infuse more CVC word practice into your classroom today!
Read and write
The simple act of seeing words in different places, reading them, and then having to write them down does SO much for your students! Don’t discount this activity. You can turn this into a game by placing word cards around your room for a scavenger hunt, or having students flip cards over and race reading and writing them!
Match Pictures to CVC Words
When a student sees a picture, and has to decide which word would match, it forces them to pause and break apart the sounds in the picture! This is great phonemic awareness practice.
Take a stack of picture cards of simple, CVC words, and write the matching words on separate cards. You can turn this into a memory game! Or, for students who need differentiation, lay out one picture, and three word cards. It sounds simple on the surface, but so much powerful work has to happen in one child’s brain to think of sounds, recognize them in print, and choose the correct word!
Sort CVC Words by Pattern
Creating sets of CVC words that follow a specific pattern is a great way for students to see relationships among words!
You can have students sort words by word family, vowel sound, etc. After they are done sorting, ask students to write the words in lists to deepen the impact of this activity!
For Spring Time, I have an Earth Day CVC Sort that you can print and use with your students! You can have students sort, read, and write the words…then use the same word cards to play other games or do other activities!
Change the Vowel Sound
This is a classic phonemic awareness and phonics drill, and it always works! Begin with a single CVC word, like ‘mat’. Have students take away the vowel sound and replace with other short vowel sounds. You can have students build or write the ones that they believe are ‘real words’. Or, you can create a chart where students sort the nonsense words (eg. mot) from the real words (met, mit).
Get Started Today
Grab the Earth Day CVC Sort HERE and get started with simple, but powerful CVC word practice today! Your students will love this engaging and seasonal activity. And you can use and re-use these word cards all through the Spring time for a variety of activities!
Reading CVC Words in Context
To extend the CVC word practice, you can also have students practicing reading these words, in context.
My Digital I am a Reader packs are set up for exactly this.
Students will practice reading CVC words and simple sight words in each story. They will also complete a quick word work activity, before and after reading.
To keep the Earth Day theme going from the above mentioned activity, you can use my Earth Day I am a Reader packs. These work great in small groups or whole group, projected on a screen.
You can grab my Earth Day edition here!
