Short Vowel Sounds
Consonant Digraphs
Consonant Blends
Phonemic Awareness
Vowel Teams
100

Short A: What does the short a sound say? What does the long a sound say? Can you give me a word with the short a sound in it?

a-apple-/a/

a-e-ape-a

apple, ache, flag, 

100

How do you say the SH sound?

What do these words say: SHOP and PLUSH

What special do you have where you use the SH sound the most? P.E., Art, Library, STEM?

/sh/

SHOP and PLUSH

Library

100
How many sounds does a blend make? One or Two sounds?


What do these words say: SCAB, SMELT, SLAM


A blend are two consonant letters that make two sounds.


SCAB, SMELT, SLAM

100
Say PENQUIN. Now say PENQUIN without the part PEN


Say BANJO. Now say BANJO without the part BAN 

QUIN


JO

100

What are the three sounds vowel team /EE/ says?

Three sounds for ea, 

long /ē/ as in eat, 

short /ĕ/ sound of ea, as in bread, 

The long a sound /ā/ sound of ea, as in steak

200

What does the short i sound say? What does the long i sound say? Can you give me a word with the short i sound in it?

i-ich-/i/

i-e-pine-/I/

pitch, itch, limb 

200

 When making the TH sound, what does your tongue do?

What do these words say: THEFT and SIXTH

How do you say the two sounds TH makes?

You stick out your tongue to make the TH sound


THEFT and SIXTH

TH and TH

200
Blends occur at the beginning of a word and at the end of the word. In this word, what is the blend in this word?


SLOB

S-L is the blend in the word. 

200
Say WATERFALL. Now say WATERFALL but don't say FALL.


Say CANDLESTICK. Now say CANDLESTICK but dont say STICK

WATER


CANDLE

200

What sound does the vowel team AI and AY make and when do you use the AI in a word and the AY in a word?

Both “ai” and “ay” say the long A sound.

We use “ai” in the middle of the word (think rain, pail, train, mail) and “ay” at the end of the word (play, stay, day, May).

300

What does the short e sound say? What does the long e sound say? Can you give me a word with the short e sound in it?

e-ed-/e/

e-e-pete-/e/

Elephant, emoji, empower

300

What does the CH sound say?

What do these words say: CHIMP and RANCH

What part of your face has a name that starts with the /CH/ sound?

/ch/

CHIMP and RANCH

CHIN

300

How would you say these words:

stilt

stamp

grant

grinch

stilt

stamp

grant

grinch

300
Say MAD. Now say MAD but dont say /M/


Say TEACH. Now say TEACH but don't say /T/

AD


EACH

300

What sound does the vowel team OU and OW make and when do you use the OU in a word and the OW in a word?

The ou spelling usually occurs at the beginning or in the middle of words as in count and outcast.

The ow spelling pattern usually occurs at the end of the words as in how and now or at the end of words followed by the letters n and l as in down and growl.

400

What does the short o sound say? What does the long o sound say? Can you give me a word with the short o sound in it?

o-octopus-/o/

0-e-home-/o/

Octopus, bot, mop

400
What does the WH sound say?


What do these words say: WHICH and WHIZ

What animal starts with the WH?

WH

WHICH and WHIZ

WHALE

400

What do these words say:

blast

clog

crunch

flesh

blast

clog

crunch

flesh

400
Say SAVING. Now say SAVING but don't say /V/.


Say WORMY. Now say WORMY but don't say /M/

SAYING


WORRY

400

If we hear the long O sound in the middle of a word, we use OA. We use the keyword goat to help our students remember this. If we hear the long O sound at the end of the word, we use OE. Our keyword for this is toe.

How would you spell this word using either OA or OE: 

 oak

oboe

500

What does the short u sound say? What does the long u sound say? Can you give me a word with the short u sound in it?

u-up-/u/

u-e-mule-/u/

Up, 

500
What does the CK say?


What do these words say: STICK and CLOCK

When writing a word with the /k/ sound at the end of the word, do you use the letter C, K, or CK as the spelling rule?

/ck

STICK and CLOCK

CK

500

Find the blends in these words:

blab

crimp

flush

glum

BL

CR and MP

FL

GL

500
Say BIG. Now say BIG but instead of /ig/ say /at/


Say CUP. Now say CUP but instead of /UP/ say /AN/.

BAT


CAN

500
Read these words and identify the vowel teams in the word:


soak

bread

play

train

teach

oa

ea

ay

ai

ea