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1st Grade Vowels Activities

44 1st grade vowels activities. Teacher favorites: Short Vowel A Word Sort Activity and Long Vowel U Puzzle. How teachers use these

1st Grade Vowels Activities

44 1st grade vowels activities. Teacher favorites: Short Vowel A Word Sort Activity and Long Vowel U Puzzle. How teachers use these

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort Vowel A Word Sort Activity

This short vowel a word sort activity gives kindergarten and 1st grade readers 24 word cards to sort into the at, an, ap and ag families, plus a sort mat and practice page. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeLong Vowel U Puzzle

Using this Long Vowel U Puzzle, students match together puzzle pieces showing pictures and long U vowel sounds.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort Vowel Pumpkin Patch Activity

This short vowel pumpkin patch activity helps K-1st grade children hear short a, e, i, o and u sounds with a fall picture sort and recording page. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeWord Work Activity

This word work activity lets kindergarten and 1st grade students build CVC words with color-coded consonant and vowel tiles, then write each word. An answer key is included for quick checking.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort and Long Vowel A CVCe Activity

This short and long vowel a CVCe activity gives 1st and 2nd grade readers 24 word cards for a silent e matching game, a sort mat and a practice page. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort Vowel Garden Activity

Plant picture cards by sound in this short vowel garden activity for Kindergarten and 1st grade. Children sort pictures into a, e, i, o and u pots. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort and Long Vowels Matching Activity

This short and long vowels matching activity helps preschool to 3rd grade children sort picture cards by vowel sound on a mat, with a practice page. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort and Long Vowel O Activity

This short and long vowel o activity has 1st and 2nd graders build picture words with letter tiles and sort them by vowel sound. An answer key is included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeFall CVC Mat Activity

Kids build short-vowel words with pumpkin tiles in this Fall CVC Mat Activity for preschool to 1st grade. Answer key included, so checking each word mat is fast.

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Activity1st GradeShort Vowel E Word Sort Activity

This short vowel e word sort activity gives kindergarten and 1st grade readers 24 word cards to sort into the et, ed, ell and est families, plus two sort mats and a practice page. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort and Long Vowel I CVCe Activity

This short and long vowel i CVCe activity gives 1st and 2nd grade readers 24 word cards for a silent e matching game, a sort mat and a practice page. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeCVC Vowel Activity

A CVC vowel activity for preschool to 2nd grade with 15 picture clip cards, a write-the-word sheet and a practice page. Answer key included to check every short vowel.

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Activity1st GradeShort Vowel Sounds Activity

Using this Short Vowel Sounds Activity, students sort the short vowel sound picture cards and place them under the matching vowel sound letter card.

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Activity1st GradeApple CVC Mat Activity

This apple cvc mat activity lets PreK-1st grade students build short-vowel words with apple letter tiles on 12 picture mats. Practice worksheet and answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeCVC Word Mats Activity

This CVC word mats activity helps preschool to 2nd grade students build and spell short vowel words with letter tiles, with a practice page and an answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort and Long Vowel A Activity

Using this Short and Long Vowel A Activity, students sort the short and long vowel A word cards.

Activity
Activity1st GradeVowel Letter I Activity

This vowel letter i activity has kindergarten to 2nd Grade children sort under-the-sea picture cards by the short i or long i sound. Sorting mat, practice page and answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort and Long Vowel U Activity

This short and long vowel u activity has 1st and 2nd grade students read word cards and sort them by short u or long u with a silent e. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort Vowel I Word Sort Activity

This short vowel i word sort activity gives kindergarten and 1st grade readers 24 word cards to sort into the it, ig, in and ip families, plus a sort mat and practice page. Answer key included.

Activity
Activity1st GradeShort Vowel U Puzzle

Using this Short Vowel U Puzzle, students match picture and word puzzle pieces with the short /u/ sound.

From our teachers' playbook

Vowels make every word work!

What do 1st graders learn about vowels?

Every word needs a vowel, and 1st graders learn all the ways they work. They start with short vowels in words like cat and pig, then learn long vowels with silent e: cap → cape. Next come vowel teams, where two vowels work together, like ee in feet, ea in seat and ai in rain. They also meet bossy r, which changes the sound in car, her and fork. The click comes when kids see a word they've never read and know just which vowel sound to try.

Our favorite ways to make vowels stick

Vowels are the trickiest part of reading. These moves help 1st graders tame them.

Sing the vowel sounds

Use a vowel song with an action, like cracking an egg for short e. Kids do the motion every time they say the sound. When they get stuck reading, the motion jogs their memory.

Why it works: words set to a repeating melody are easier to recall than the same words spoken (Wallace, 1994).

Letter E Song (Crack the Egg with the Letter E)Try it withLetter E Song (Crack the Egg with the Letter E)SongsOpen it →

Team up the vowels

Teach vowel teams with the saying "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking" for ee, ea, ai and oa. Write words on cards and have kids underline the team before reading. Spotting the team first helps them read it right.

Why it works: teaching letter sounds directly and in order is one of the best-supported findings in reading research (National Reading Panel, 2000).

EE EA Vowel WorksheetTry it withEE EA Vowel WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Questions teachers and parents ask

What vowel sounds do 1st graders learn?

First graders learn short vowels, long vowels with silent e, common vowel teams like ee, ea, ai, ay and oa, and r-controlled vowels like ar, er and or.

How do you explain long and short vowels to a child?

Long vowels say their name, like the a in cake. Short vowels make their quick sound, like the a in cat. Silent e at the end of a word often makes the vowel long.

What are vowel teams?

Vowel teams are two letters that work together to make one vowel sound. Common ones are ee in tree, ea in leaf, ai in rain and oa in boat.

How can I practice vowels with my 1st grader?

Write a short word like "hop" and add an e to make "hope." Read both. Play vowel sound bingo or hunt for vowel teams in a favorite book.