Short Vowel

Word Work

Carolea Williams www.teachbright.com

 Introduction
The five units in this resource include a total of 40 photo and word cards that
follow a decodable CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) spelling pattern. All five short vowels
are included in this word collection.

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5

(pgs. 6-13) (pgs. 14-21) (pgs. 22-29) (pgs. 30-37) (pgs. 38-45)
hat top fox bus dog
rat mop fog bug dig
cat map fig rug pig
can cap fin rag pit
ran cup fan tag pin
tan cut man tug pan
ten nut mat mug van
pen net bat mud vet

Each of the five color-coded

units includes:
 8 photo cards
 8 matching word cards
 sorting labels
 See and Spell clues
 word frames
 letter tiles

You can create five different activities (described on pages 3-4) for each unit to use with a
small group or at an independent learning center. With all five units, you will have 25 short-
vowel activities plus the final short-vowel sort described on page 5.

Short Vowel Word Work © 2011 Teach Bright 2

 Activities

Sound Sorts
Materials Preparation
Print the Sound Sorting Labels for Unit 1 (page 8) and two
sets of Photo Cards (page 6). Place one set of photo
cards along with the “beginning sound” sorting labels in
one envelope. Place the other set of photo cards and the
“ending sound” sorting labels in another envelope. Label the
envelopes with the Activity Labels on page 52. (Repeat the same
preparation for Units 2-5.)

Activity
This phonemic awareness activity requires only sound
identification—no reading required. Invite children to
focus on just the first sound of each photo. Have children
sort the photos into the correct category
according to their beginning sound. Use the ending sound
sorting labels and repeat the activity inviting children to
focus on the last sound of each photo.

Word Frames
Materials Preparation
Print the Word Frames for Unit 1
(pages 9-10) along with the Photo
Cards (page 6). Place the photo
cards in a snack-size plastic bag.
Glue or staple the two Word Frame
pages inside a file folder. Place the
bag of photo cards inside the file
folder. Label the outside of the
folder with the label on page 52.
(Repeat the same preparation for
Units 2-5.)

Activity
Invite children to fill each frame with the appropriate photo card. To determine which card goes
in each space, children must listen to the beginning and ending sounds of each photo.

Short Vowel Word Work © 2011 Teach Bright 3

 Activities

See and Spell

Materials Preparation
Prepare the “See and Spell” mat. Print the See and Spell Clues for Unit 1 (pages 11-12)and cut
the 8 strips apart. Stack the strips one on top of the other so they are in order from 1-8 with #1
on the top. Staple the strips to the top of the See and Spell Mat (page 46). Print and cut apart
the letter tiles for Unit 1 (page 13). Place the set of letter tiles in a snack-size plastic bag. Place
the prepared “See and Spell” mat along with the matching letter tiles in a file folder. Label the
outside of the file folder with the label on page 52. (Repeat the same preparation for Units 2-5.)

Activity
“See and Spell” is a fun word work
task. Children will be spelling eight
CVC words. Each word, when spelled
in order from 1-8, will have only one
letter change from the previous
word. For example, in Unit 2, children
change one letter in the word cup to
make the word cut. Invite children to
turn each of the 8 pages at the top of
their mat and follow the clues to spell
a new word using the letter tiles. Use
page 49 if you want children to write
each word they build.
Pick a Pair
Materials Preparation
Print a copy of the Find a Pair sorting mat
(page 47) on colored paper. Place it on the
left side of an open file folder. Print multiple
copies of the My Pairs (page 48) worksheet
and place them inside the file folder. Print
and cut apart the Photo and Word Cards for
Unit 1 (pages 6-7). Place them in a snack-size
plastic bag. Label the outside of the file
folder with the label on page 52. (Repeat the same preparation for Units 2-5.)

Activity
Invite children to make pairs by matching each photo card with the matching word card on
the sorting mat. Have children record their work by writing the words and drawing a picture
to go with each word on the My Pairs worksheet.

Short Vowel Word Work © 2011 Teach Bright 4

 Activities

Short Vowel Sort

Materials Preparation
Print all 40 Photo Cards (pages 6, 14, 22, 30, 38) and cut the
cards apart. Print the Short Vowel Sorting Labels (page 50)
and cut them apart. Place all of the photos and
sorting labels in an envelope and label the outside of the
envelope with the label on page 50.

Activity
When children have had plenty of practice building and read-
ing all 40 short vowel words, invite them to sort the
entire set of photo cards by vowel sound.

Learning Center Set-Up

If you choose to use the materials at an independent
learning center, set up the materials in a way that best meets the
needs of your children.

Option 1: Prepare and set up all five activities (Beginning Sound

Sort, Ending Sound Sort, Word Frames, See and Spell, and Pick a
Pair) from one unit. Invite children to work their way through all
five activities as they visit the center. With this set-up, children will
be doing various tasks with the same set of 8 words. When
children complete all five activities from one unit, prepare the
next unit.

Option 2: Choose one type of activity, such as See and Spell, and
prepare that activity from each of the five units. With this set-up,
children will still have five activity choices when they visit the
center but each task will be the same type of activity and they
will be working with all 40 words instead of 8. After children
work through all the See and Spell activities, change the center
with five different activity choices, such as the Word Frames.

Have children use the Short Vowel Word Work sheet (page 51)
to track their progress.

Short Vowel Word Work © 2011 Teach Bright 5

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