Step 6: Bossy R also called R Controlled

Bossy r syllable poster ar, er, ir, ur, or
r controlled syllable poster ar, er, ir, ur, or — Bossy r / r controlled

Definitions:
VR stands for Vowel r, which is the Bossy r (also called r-controlled) syllable. The r changes the sound of the vowel that comes right before it.

Teaching/Learning to Read

teachingvideos

Teaching Videos

Bossy r Video
ar, er, ir, ur, or

Bossy r and w
war, wor

TEACH ALONG THE WAY ●●●

Teach and add the relevant sounds, (ar, er, ir, ur, or, and war, wor when ready) from the Big Sounds Pack to daily practice.

Why is there an e at the end of these words?!
When going through Bossy r words, many students notice a seemingly random letter e at the end of words like nerve, serve, nurse and horse. This is a great opportunity to teach the following two reasons that a silent e might be at the end of a word.

English never ends words in v (or i, j, u). If a word ends in the /v/ sound, it will have an e after the v as in the case of nerve and serve.

The word is singular and ends in the /s/ sound. Usually when we have an s at the end of a word it means there are more than one of that word. For example one chair, two chairs. The word nurse does not mean there is something called a nur, and there are two of them, two nurs. In order to be clear that the s is part of the word nurse (meaning one nurse) and not an ending meaning more than one, the e is added to the end. Same goes for horse, and verse.

For more, go to Why Is There An e At The End Of This Word?

Practice Reading

KEY:
K-1 Beginning
1-2 Growing
Intervention/Challenge
* A favorite!

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

bundlesandpacks

Bossy r Syllable Bundle!

Bossy r VR Beginning Reader Bundle VR Bundle Words, Read and Draw Phrases, Pyramids, Games, Stories

Individual Materials including materials for more advanced learners:

Lists

Word and Phrase Lists

Highlighting Wordlists

Bossy r VR Beginning Reader Mixed Pack Word Lists Pack (also in bundle)

Bossy r VR ar words and phrases A Tart Lemon
Bossy r VR ar phrases Barn On The Farm
Bossy r VR ar phrases Stars (with timing option)
Bossy r VR ar activity: Find the “ar” in Words and Make Your Own Wordlist

Bossy r VR or words and phrases Order More Corn
Bossy r VR or phrases Morning Oranges

Bossy r VR er, ir, ur words and phrases A Turkey is a Bird

Bossy r VR mixed words Bossy r with red cross visual
Bossy r VR mixed words list Jars 1 Two pages, double spaced better for beginning readers
Bossy r VR mixed words Jars 2 One page single spaced, 3 columns
Bossy r VR mixed phrase list Sharks Can Harm

Bossy r VR war wor words Award with red cross visual
Bossy r VR war wor words and phrases The World

Review: CVC, VCE, VV, VR Changing Vowel Drills

Multiple Syllable:
cvc cv vce vr multiple syllable words Perform
cvc cv vce vr compound and multiple syllable words Backstroke
Bossy r VR challenge Ninjas 1, 2, 3 (3 lists full of vr)
cvc vce vr schwa Multi-syllable words and phrases I’ll Try These review including vr
cvc cv vce vr schwa phrases Mustang Phrases review including vr
*For more challenging multiple syllable words with VR, go to S tep 10: Huge Words!

Fluency Pyramids

Bossy r VR Beginning Reader Fluency Pack Pyramids Pack including index (also in bundle)

Flashcards

Flashcards

Bossy r VR Flashcards words
Bossy r VR Flashcards phrases
Bossy r VR Flip Chute Cards (See directions for Flip Chute cards on this page.)

Games

Games

Game Directions

Bossy r VR Beginning Reader Pack Games Pack (also in bundle)

Bossy r VR beg sounds game Danger!

Bossy r VR ar word game The Shark in the Dark
Bossy r VR ar word game Fish Farm
Bossy r VR ar phrase game The Dark Jar
Bossy r VR ar phrase game You Are A Star
Bossy r VR ar advanced word game Pencil(also in Step 10)
Bossy r VR ar advanced word game Pencil with definitions(also in Step 10)

Bossy r VR or word game Sport Score
Bossy r VR or word game Blow Your Horn, Time For Corn
Bossy r VR or advanced word game Horse (also in Step 10)
Bossy r VR or advanced word game Horse with definitions(also in Step 10)

Bossy r VR er, ir ur word game Birthday Fun
Bossy r VR er, ir, ur word game The Chirping Bird
Bossy r VR er ir ur advanced word game Insect(also in Step 10)
Bossy r VR er ir ur advanced word game Insect with definitions(also in Step 10)

Bossy r VR mixed word game Shirt and Skirt
Bossy r VR mixed phrase game Good Morning
Bossy r VR mixed phrase game A Barking Dog

Bossy r VR wor, war word gameThe Best Worm in the World

Bossy r VR mixed Bingo Bingo Cards, Bingo Words

Spelling

Spelling

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!

Bossy r VR Word Chain spelling Arm to Shark
Bossy r VR Word Chain spelling Fort to Storm
* Spelling Review 1 cvc, cv, vce, vvreg, vr Tell learner(s) what skill they are working on for each mini list of words.
Spelling Challenge Multiple Syllable Words includes tips

Syllable Sorts

See syllable sort directions and headings and a strategy page in Teacher Resources below.

*Syllable Sort Worksheet *This is not a true syllable sort

Syllable Sort Challenge 1
Syllable Sort Challenge 2
Syllable Sort cut-aparts cv cvc vce vvreg vr tion

Small Books

Bossy r VR Beginning Reader Pack Books Pack including index (also in bundle)

Bossy r VR ar small book Poor Barb’s Bad Day. foldable format
Bossy r VR ar small book Poor Barb’s Bad Day horizontal format
Bossy r VR ar 4 page At The Park horizontal format

Bossy r VR or small book Ed the Horse foldable format
Bossy r VR or small book Ed the Horse horizontal format

Bossy r VR ir er ur small book Bert and Gert’s Bad Birthday foldable format
Bossy r VR ir er ur small book Bert and Gert’s Bad Birthday horizontal format

Bossy r VR mixed 4 page The Fort foldable format
Bossy r VR mixed 4 page The Fort horizontal format
Bossy r VR mixed small book challenge Abdi And Hamdi Make A Garden Review including vr: cvcc cvvc cvce vr foldable format

Bossy r Multiple syllable adding -ing to words Walking the Dog

Bossy r VR wor war small book Worm War foldable format
Bossy r VR wor war small book Worm War horizontal format

Teacher Resources

Visuals

Bossy R poster
Bossy r Character Poster colored (as seen on right)
Bossy r Character Poster B&W
Bossy R Cover Sheet 1
Bossy R Cover Sheet 2 including war, wor, “air” words

Teaching Stories

Written Story: Bossy r and the Vowels Story as told in Teaching Video
Alternate Story/method – teach ar as a pirate sound, then use the red cross to teach and remember the rest.
Written Story: How W Tricked Bossy r Story as told in Teaching Video

PowerPoints

PowerPoint: Bossy r from Teaching Video
PowerPoint practice with pirate says “arrrr”: Target Skill: Bossy r – read just the Bossy r sound that is highlighted as you click, then read the whole word. Train your brain to notice and read these chunks!
PowerPoint: How W tricked Bossy r from Teaching Video
PowerPoint: 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.

Directions

Map Sounds to Letters

First 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:

Map sounds to the letters that spell those sounds. Teach spelling