Rhyming short vowels

The biggest thing that I, as a parent and teacher, think is most important in reading is knowing the sounds that each of the letters make. And yes it can get very confusing at times. But there are a few simple rules that can make it easier. So here are some of the letter sound and rules that govern them.

 
 

Short a, e, i, o, u All have their basic sounds

Short a --     cat rat pat ran tan back tack tap sap

Short e--     pet let met set pen men ten sell well bell

Short i--     hit bit fit tip trip dip flip chin fin bin

Short o--     chop mop top hot not dot rock sock lock block

Short u--     bug rug dug hug truck suck duck bump jump pump

 
 

Yes there are some other rules like ou, oo, aw, ow , bossy "r" and others but I want to leave those to another time.

 
 

The thing that has helped my son a lot, with his reading ability, is having little words like the ones above on flash cards and having him go through them. I had him just start out with 4 different groups each vowel has at least 4 of its own groups. Once he has mastered that group then grab a new one and start incorporating it into the circulation. These first group of words needs to be rhyming words, it really does make a difference.

 
 

Here is a couple groups from each short vowel.

 
 

short a--

-at: cat, mat, sat, pat, rat, flat, hat

-an: man, can, van, ran, fan, pan, plan, tan

 
 

short I--

-it: hit, sit, fit, pit, kit, bit

-ig: big, fig, wig, dig, pig, twig

 
 

short o--

-ot: hot, pot, lot, not, got, dot, spot

-op: top, pop, cop, hop, mop, stop, drop, chop

 
 

short e--

-et: pet, net, set, met, wet, let, jet

-ed: red, led, bed, fed, shed, sled

 
 

short u--

-ut: cut, nut, but, hut, shut

-ug: bug, hug, dug, rug, jug, slug, mug, plug

cat	mat	sat	pat
rat	flat	hat	man
can	van	ran	fan
pan	plan	tan	hit
sit	fit	pit	kit
bit	big	fig	wig
dig	pig	twig	hot
pot	lot	not	dot
spot	top	pop	cop
hop	mop	stop	drop
chop	pet	net	set
met	wet	let	jet
red	led	bed	fed
shed	sled	cut	nut
but	hut	shut	bug
hug	dug	rug	jug
slug	mug	plug

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

I hope this helps with your child with getting better at reading. This is not the first step that you need to take. Learning the letters and sounds is first. But once they know the names and sounds of letters this will help a lot.

 
 

Happy learning

 
 

Wes