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Short Vowels Activities

29 short vowels activities. Teacher favorites: Short Vowel A Word Sort Activity and Short Vowel Pumpkin Patch Activity. How teachers use these

Short Vowels Activities

29 short vowels activities. Teacher favorites: Short Vowel A Word Sort Activity and Short Vowel Pumpkin Patch Activity. How teachers use these

Activity
ActivityKindergartenShort 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
ActivityKindergartenShort 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 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
ActivityKindergartenShort 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
ActivityPreschoolShort 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.

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ActivityKindergartenShort 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
ActivityKindergartenShort 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 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
ActivityKindergartenVowel 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
ActivityKindergartenShort 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
ActivityKindergartenShort Vowel U Puzzle

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

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ActivityKindergartenShort Vowel Word Family Activity

This Short Vowel Word Family activity has kindergarten and 1st grade students sort snow globe word cards into -at, -en, -ig, -op and -ug families, with a practice page and answer key included.

Activity
ActivityKindergartenVowel Letter E Activity

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

Activity
ActivityKindergartenShort Vowel I Puzzle

This short vowel i puzzle activity for Kindergarten to 2nd Grade has kids match pictures to -ing, -ick, -ill and -ip words, then sort them. Answer key included for easy checking.

Activity
ActivityKindergartenShort Vowel A Puzzle

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

Activity
ActivityKindergartenShort Vowel O Puzzle

This short vowel o puzzle activity for Kindergarten to 2nd Grade has kids match pictures to -og, -ock, -op and -ox words, then sort them by word family. Answer key included.

Activity
ActivityKindergartenSpelling Short Vowel Words CVC Words Activity

This spelling short vowel words CVC words activity has Kindergarten and 1st Grade students build words with frame and vowel cards and sort real from made-up words. Answer key included.

From our teachers' playbook

Apple, egg, igloo, octopus, up!

What do kids learn about short vowels?

Short vowels are the sounds in the middle of words like cat, bed, pig, hot and sun. They're the first vowel sounds most kids learn, usually in kindergarten and 1st grade. Kids learn one picture cue for each: /a/ apple, /e/ egg, /i/ igloo, /o/ octopus, /u/ up. Then they read and spell CVC words and short-vowel stories. Short e and short i are the hardest to tell apart. The click moment is when a child hears the difference between "pin" and "pen" all on their own.

How we teach short vowels

Short vowels need lots of listening and lots of reading. Here's what works for us.

Sort by vowel

Put five vowel headers on the board and give kids word cards to sort. They read each word out loud and listen for the middle sound. Sorting makes them pay attention to the vowel instead of guessing from the first letter.

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

Short Vowels Sorting WorksheetTry it withShort Vowels Sorting WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Mouth shapes

Show kids how your mouth looks for each short vowel, like a wide smile for /e/ and a round mouth for /o/. Have them use mirrors to copy you. Seeing and feeling the difference helps with short e and short i.

Why it works: showing first, practicing together, then letting kids try alone is the "gradual release" model teachers have relied on for decades (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).

Short Vowel A Lesson PlanTry it withShort Vowel A Lesson PlanLesson PlansOpen it →

Short vowel questions from teachers and parents

What are the five short vowel sounds?

They're /a/ as in apple, /e/ as in egg, /i/ as in igloo, /o/ as in octopus and /u/ as in up.

Why are short e and short i so hard?

The sounds are very close, and many accents blur them. Practice with picture pairs like pen and pin, and use mirrors to show the different mouth shapes.

What age do kids learn short vowels?

Most kids learn short vowel sounds in kindergarten and practice reading short-vowel words through 1st grade.

What comes after short vowels?

Blends and digraphs, then long vowels with silent e, like cap becoming cape.