Step 1: Short Vowels (CVC)

Short Vowel Definitions:
CVC stands for Consonant, Vowel, Consonant, which is a closed syllable. These are one syllable words where the vowel says its short sound. Closed syllable is the most common syllable, and the only syllable where the vowel says its short sound.
Short Vowel refers to a vowel saying its short sound (not its name) as in hat, bed, sit, off, up. Short vowels are represented:  /ă/  /ĕ/  /ĭ/  /ŏ/  /ŭ/ 
Long Vowel refers to when a vowel says its name as in she, and bike. Long vowels are represented: /ā/  /ē/  /ī/  /ō/  /ū/

Teaching Videos:

Written Stories:

• Written Story: AE I O U a Kiss Story as told in Teaching Video
• Written Stories: Vowel Stories 
• New Written Stories matching videos above: Vowel Stories for i and e

• AE IOU a Kiss, Y?
• Short Vowel Sounds Poster
• Short Vowel Sounds Individual Posters

Activity

Make an AE pipe cleaner and beads

Once open, click FILE, then DOWNLOAD, and download in Microsoft PowerPoint for the formatting to be correct.

How to make the vowel sounds PowerPoint from instructional video All 5 vowel PowerPoint slides are in the PowerPoint, so we recommend you come back multiple times to teach one new vowel sound at a time.  Use the up and down arrows to navigate through the PowerPoint.

Short a Family PowerPoint intro -at -an -ap -am -ag
Short e Family PowerPoint intro -ell -eg -ed -en -et
Short i Family PowerPoint intro -in -ill -it -ig -id -ip
Short o Family PowerPoint intro -og -od -ot -op -ob -oss
Short u Family PowerPoint intro -um -up -ut -ub -un -ug

Good readers do not read letter by letter, they read in chunks.  Start this habit early by reading closed syllable words from the vowel to the end of the word, then add the first sound(s).  By clicking through this PowerPoint the student should be saying “ot” “pot” “ot” “hot”.  To make this even more effective, do it to a beat (you can use a free online metronome) so the student gives a response every other beat.  There is a lot of research going on about how beat and rhythm helps learning in lots of ways.
CVC Beginning word families reading in chunks 1
CVC Beginning word families reading in chunks 2

Flash Beginning Word Families
See Flashing words on the Strategies for Teaching and Learning page

All Syllable Types with Practice (Directions in notes section on each slide) Use only slides that are relevant to where you are in the steps.

TEACH ALONG THE WAY ●●●

Big Sounds Pack: Print and and add the relevant sounds, (the 21 consonants, 5 vowels, -ck, and -all) to practice daily. Add more sounds each step of the way.

Work on mastering the first sets of beginning sight words.

– qu, the /kw/ sound, counts as one consonant: q is always followed by u and together they count as one consonant. Together they say /kw/. I tell students “The queen broke her leg (hence the backwards bend in the lowercase q in most fonts) and so the u wheels her around in a wheelbarrow. This is all the u can do – it does not say anything. Saying “Quiet queen, work on your quilt!” emphasizes the /kw/ sound.

– ck: The /k/ sound after a short vowel is spelled ck. The /k/ sound after any other sound is almost always spelled with a k.

– ffsszzll: The “fizzle” rule. These letters are usually doubled after a short vowel in a one syllable word. This comes up in words like bell and fizz.

– all: The word all and the ending -all is pronounced as if it were spelled with an /ŏ/, making it a cheater chunk.

** If questions about Magic e (vce) words present themselves, we have Beginning Magic e Pyramids, stories, and games Packs to use.

TIP: To be consistent with pronunciation say key word before vowel sound (apple /ă/, elephant (or Ed) /ĕ/, igloo (or icky) /ĭ/, octopus /ŏ/, umbrella /ŭ/).  Without training, most adults say vowel sounds incorrectly when trying to pronounce a vowel by itself (without being in a word).

Being automatic with the basic skills is key to reading. Learners need to read and write with automaticity. Consider the following strategies when working towards automaticity:
See Working on New Words or Sounds with Flashcards
See Flashing Words
See Highlighting Word Lists
See Timing Students

Map Sounds to Letters

Map the sounds in the word to the letter(s) representing the sounds, even if it is not a letter combination that has been taught yet. Only an unusual sound/letter combination needs to be remembered “by heart.” Mapping the sounds to the letters is how we remember what words look like. See example below:

Be sure to reinforce what you know and are learning about words, for example:
Schwa Sound: Any vowel might say /ŭ/. Point out that this happens in many common words like: the, of, was, some, from…

KEY:
K-1 Beginning
1-2 Growing
Intervention/Challenge

Bundle: Additional various activities to practice a specific skill
Pack: Additional multiple versions of a specific activity to practice a specific skill

Directions for everything else:

More on the Directions Page

• Highlighting Lists
• Working with Flashcards
• Flashing Words with flashcards
• Games with Picture Cards
• Games with Words/Phrases on Game Board
• Game I Have, Who Has
• Game Bang!
• Game Bingo
• Spelling help found on the Spelling Page in the Teach Along The Way section
• Small Book Assembly 
• Small Book 4 pager Assembly
• Syllable Sort Directions
  • Syllable Sort Headings
  • Strategy for Splitting Syllables

Beginning Reader Short Vowel Bundles

Short Vowel Bundles
About CVC Bundles
CVC /ă/ Bundle: words, phrases, pyramids, games -at -an -ap -am -ag /ă/ BUNDLE
CVC /ĕ/ Bundle: words, phrases, pyramids, games -ell -eg -ed -en -et /ĕ/ BUNDLE
CVC /ĭ/ Bundle: words, phrases, pyramids, games -in -ill -it -ig -id -ip /ĭ/ BUNDLE
CVC /ŏ/ Bundle: words, sentences, games -og -od -ot -op -ob -oss /ŏ/ BUNDLE
CVC /ŭ/ Bundle: words, sentences, games -um -up -ut -ub -un -ug /ŭ/ BUNDLE

CVC Mixed Bundle: words, sentences, games Mixed BUNDLE

Beginning Reader Short Vowel Packs!

Short Vowel Word Family Lists Packs
(also in Bundles above)
INDEX for Short Vowel Word Family List Packs: Read, Draw, Write
CVC Pack /ă/ Lists /ă/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ĕ/ Lists /ĕ/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ĭ/ Lists /ĭ/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ŏ/ Lists /ŏ/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ŭ/ Lists /ŭ/ Word Families

Short Vowel Pyramids Pack
*CVC Pack CVC Mixed vowel PYRAMIDS Pack includes sight words: the, to

Short Vowel Word Family Game Packs
INDEX for CVC Short Vowel Word Family Game Packs

CVC Pack /ă/ Games /ă/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ĕ/ Games /ĕ/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ĭ/ Games /ĭ/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ŏ/ Games /ŏ/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ŭ/ Games /ŭ/ Word Families

Short Vowel Story Packs:
CVC Mixed Small Book Pack CVC 4 PAGE MIXED VOWEL BOOK Pack: 20 Four Page mixed short vowel books, all horizontal format. Sight words needed include: the, she, he, me, we, I, go, hi, my, and in the last books fly, say, to, too. (also below)

CVC Pack Full Page Stories with Lists ALL

Have students highlight each vowel, say the vowel sound, then read the words.  (dig: learner says /ĭ/ /dig/) This helps students train their brains to automatically notice the vowels. An option is to have students highlight the end word chunk – the vowel to the end of the word and read word end chunk, then whole word. (dig learner says /ĭg/ /dig/) See Highlighting Word Lists.

Short Vowel Word Family Lists Packs
(also in Bundles above)
INDEX for Short Vowel Word Family List Packs: Read, Draw, Write
CVC Pack /ă/ Lists /ă/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ĕ/ Lists /ĕ/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ĭ/ Lists /ĭ/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ŏ/ Lists /ŏ/ Word Families
CVC Pack /ŭ/ Lists /ŭ/ Word Families
Word Lists:
CVC Beginning ffsszzll words list SEEING DOUBLE 1
CVC word lists by vowel a, e, i, o, u
CVC mixed word lists with reference pics
CVCC ffsszzll (a few 4h and blends) word lists SEEING DOUBLE 2
CVC mixed vowel (4h and blends) drill words with reference picts
VC automaticity with short vowel endings *Being automatic with common chunks in words is key to fluent reading. Practice reading these word endings.  Use a timer to see how fast the student can read them.  Have the student think of words that end with each of these endings.  Have students spell words with these endings, both real and nonsense.

Phrases and Sentences:
CVC a phrases ANN AT BAT
CVC ag word family A RAG IN THE BAG (a few 4h and blends) words and sentences
CVC e phrases HEN HAD AN EGG (with timing option)
CVC i phrases A PIG CAN DIG
CVC o phrases A BOX FROM MOM (with timing option)
CVC u phrases BUG IN A JUG (with timing option)
CVC mixed vowel Words and Phrases group 1 and 2 (with timing option)
CVC Nonsense Syllables It is important readers can read nonsense syllables as well as real one syllable words with automaticity.
CVC Nonsense Syllables 2 last column includes blends and 4h

Multiple Syllable Word Lists:
*Nonsense cvc into multiple syllable words CVC syllables for blending and spelling
CVC/CVC 2 closed syllable word lists by first syllable vowel Note: Some vowels in multiple syllable words will say the schwa sound (the short u sound like the o makes in mother).

Short vowel sounds picture cards
*Short vowel sounds picture cards activities
CVC Short vowel words Covering the word, uncovering it for just one or two seconds then covering it up again is a great strategy to encourage students to begin to make the images of the words in their heads.  If learner does not know the word after it is “flashed” ask: “What letters did you see?   Do you want me to show you again?  (If yes, flash word again. Flash as many times as necessary, pausing to ask what the learner remembers about the letters/word between flashes.)  “What sounds do those letters make?”  Good readers have models of common words and word patterns in their heads so they can read them automatically.  This strategy encourages students to start making these images in their minds. See Flashing Words.
*Short Vowel Word Families Flashcards have a word family chunk on one side (-at) and wordlist with that family on the back side (hat, chat). Wordlist includes cvc and ccvcc words. Includes a directions page.

Pyramids are great for automaticity with words, feeling successful and fluency.

*CVC Pack CVC Mixed vowel PYRAMIDS Pack includes sight words: the, to

Practice with words from the lists, games etc., or use the lists below.
* Having learners spell with word chains where the coach says “change one sound in (chop) to spell (chip), now change one sound in (chip) to spell (sip)” is a powerful way to draw student’s attention to individual sounds in the words!

• Spelling Add the short vowel sound with picture prompts
• Spelling Change the short vowel sound
• Spelling Add the short vowel sound
• Spelling Spell in sentences cvc, cvck
• Spelling Multi-syllable short vowel spelling

Word Chains: A Powerful Strategy

*Click here for directions and a sample CVC Word Chain Spelling List as seen here ➔

• CVC Spelling Word Chain Pin to Met (Words in Graphic ➔)
• CVC Spelling Word Chain RAN to SUN

Small Book assembly directions, 4 Pager folding directions, OR use horizontal format for reading on screen in distance learning.

CVC Pack CVC 4 PAGE BOOK Pack: 20 Four Page Books, all horizontal format. Sight words needed include: the, she, he, me, we, I, go, hi, my, and in the last books fly, say, to, too. (also above)
CVC 4 page BUG IN A JUG horizontal format
CVC small book ZIP MAN horizontal and foldable formats with flashcards
CVC small book SAM horizontal and foldable formats with flashcards
CVC small book PAT THE PIG horizontal and foldable formats with flashcards
CVC small book a, o DAN’S VAN horizontal format
CVC small book THE RAT AND THE CAT horizontal and foldable formats
CVC small book TED horizontal and foldable formats
CVC 4 page PUP IN THE MUD horizontal and foldable formats
CVC small book THE LOST PET horizontal and foldable formats (some sight words)
CVC small book ALL LOST with flashcards foldable format (some sight words)
CVC small book CAN A BAT PLAY foldable format (some sight words)

Word Families practice videos
Practice word families with Chris Jaglo! These are mostly 3 letter words with some blends thrown in. Click on the 3 dots and choose full screen. The sheet she is using is linked in the caption for each video. I recommend learners highlight the word families on the sheet if possible.

See Highlighting Word Lists

*Challenge: many words and includes some blends and 4h brothers

CVC Pack Full Page Stories with Lists ALL