If you teach Kindergarten, 1st Grade, or 2nd Grade, you’re most likely in need of short vowel worksheets for your readers. You may have kids who are just starting out with their reading skills or you may have more advanced readers that have moved on to long vowels. Short vowel sounds are a major part of early readers’ skills. So, using short vowel worksheets for phonics practice is absolutely necessary in the primary grades.
A short vowel worksheet can include a variety of practice activities. Students may by working on identifying the missing short vowel sound, CVC words, short vowel words, word families, and more. Printable phonics worksheets are a great way for students to be exposed to new words with the short sounds of vowels they’ve been learning. Keep reading to find out why you should be using short vowel worksheets for phonics practice in your classroom!
5 Reasons to use Short Vowel Worksheets for Phonics Practice
There are many great reasons to use short vowel worksheets to build phonics skills. Here are 5 big reasons to make sure you are using short vowel worksheets for phonics practice, in your classroom!
- Short vowel worksheets give readers opportunities to build decoding skills. When students apply their knowledge of letter-sounds to individual words, they are developing their reading skills.
- Printable phonics worksheets also allow readers to develop encoding skills. They are applying their knowledge of short vowel sounds when spelling and writing words.
- Short vowels are the foundation of more challenging words. Once students have mastered their knowledge of short vowel sounds, they can apply what they know to other words.
- Short vowel worksheets help readers build confidence. The more practice they get with printable phonics worksheets, the more pride students feel in their ability to read CVC words, or recognize the short sounds of vowels.
- Worksheets are easy to use in the classroom, in a variety of settings. Students get the practice they need with a printable worksheet.
Using Short Vowel Worksheets
I have individual resources as well as a bundle that will make it easy for you to use short vowel worksheets with your students. These worksheets focus on short vowel sounds in CVC words, words with digraphs, and words with blends. With a variety of word patterns included, you will have something for all your readers as a way to practice short vowel sounds.
Since short vowels are some of the first sounds readers learn, it’s important to include repeated practice in your lesson plans. Once students have been exposed to the sounds of each short vowel, they will be able to practice identifying these sounds in words. My short vowel worksheets include a combination of short vowels- they aren’t separated into the short a sound, short e sound, short i sound, short o sound, and short u sound. So, these are intended to be used as a general review of all short vowel sounds.
Missing Short Vowel Sound Worksheets
The missing short vowel sound worksheets are a great starting point, once students have learned all the short vowel sounds. The overall goal of these missing short vowel sounds worksheets is to give students practice identifying short vowel sounds in words. Students will look at an image, identify what it is, then see which vowel sound goes in the middle of the word.
Short Vowel Decodable Sentences Worksheets
These decodable sentences are the next level up in a logical progress for developing decoding skills. Readers will now try to read short vowel words in a decodable sentence. This is a great way to boost the confidence of an early reader because they are not just reading an isolated word.
Short Vowel Decodable Passages
The final piece of this progression is reading a decodable passage. Each decodable passage is followed by two comprehension questions. Readers are now applying their decoding skills to short stories, which again will fill them with pride and boost their confidence, as readers. Students will also show their understanding of the text by writing the correct word to answer each comprehension question.
As we know, comprehension is just as important as actual decoding skills. If readers cannot show they understand what they read, they need to focus on comprehension, before moving on to more challenging phonics skills, like long vowel sounds.
How to use Short Vowel Worksheets
These short vowel worksheets can be used when you’re teaching students in small groups, during literacy centers, for morning work, or independent learning time. Since you only have to make copies of each short vowel worksheet, they also work great as reading homework. If you are someone who sends home a fluency binder or fluency folder, the decodable sentences and decodable passages work great for simple, repeated readings.
Worksheets can be such valuable education tools for early childhood students. As stated, they can be simply printed out, and copied. However, you can also make worksheets more of hands-on activities.
- Students can use letter tiles to identify the missing letter or when listing the letter sounds of each CVC word.
- You can place these in dry erase sleeves and have students use a dry erase marker and eraser to complete each page.
- Interactive whiteboards can also be used if you pull a page up on your screen and have students come up to write the word.
- Readers can work with a partner, where one student says what is pictured and the other student has to name the letter sounds.
Any of these hands-on activities can lead to more immersive learning in your early childhood classroom.
If you want the whole collection of worksheets that focus on short vowel sounds, you’ll want to click this link to check out the Short Vowel Worksheets Bundle!
Short Vowel Workbooks
You can also grab these in a workbook format that is mailed right to you! The workbook format works great for summer school, homeschool, tutoring, or working with your own child. They also can be easily pulled out and used in the classroom- no printing and copying for you! Click the links or images below if you want to check the workbook format out.
Free Short Vowel Worksheets
If you want to try out some short vowel worksheets with your young learners, I’m happy to share some free samples with you! Click here to grab your Short Vowel Worksheet Freebie! These worksheets include a combination of short vowel sounds. Students will identify the missing short vowel vowel, read decodable sentences and write the CVC word, and read a decodable passage followed by comprehension questions. All these phonics worksheets will help readers improve their decoding and encoding skills, in a fun way.
Want to read more about how you can incorporate phonics concepts in your classroom? Check out the blog posts below!
Helpful Word Family Printables for All 5 Short Vowels
K-5 Simple Reading Assessments for Elementary to Assess Phonics
