Short Vowel Word Families Phonics Activities

As parents and teachers of young children, one of our primary goals is to cultivate a love for reading and literacy. One of the key components to the journey is developing phonological awareness, which is a critical skill identified by the Science of Reading as foundational for future reading success. Let’s explore some enjoyable activities that will add to young learners phonological awareness, with short vowel CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) word families practice books.

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What is Phonological Awareness?

Phonological awareness is a broad term that includes a range of skills, from identifying and making rhymes to breaking down and building words using individual sounds or phonemes. It’s a crucial pre-reading skill that kindergarten children must develop in order to decode words and read.

Boosting Phonological Skills with CVC Short Vowel Word Families

Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) word families are a simple example of rhyming words, because they not only have a similar sounding final syllable, but the end of the word is also spelled the same. 

They share the same combination of vowel and ending consonants, such as “bat,” “cat,” and “hat” in the “-at” family. Working with CVC word families can help kindergarten children recognize common patterns in words, making it easier to sound them out.

Here are a few engaging activities involving CVC word families:

1. Word Family Homes: Create houses using building blocks or on colored paper, with each house representing a different short vowel word family (e.g., -at, -en, -ig). Write words from each word family on small cards. Have the child sort the word cards into the corresponding houses based on their word families.
2. Short Vowel Word Families: Print and create our Short Vowel Word Families books. Explore and complete the included activities in each book.

3. Explore more phonological awareness activities with rhyming & CVC words endings in our

CVC Word Family Flip Book:

Developing a strong foundation in phonological awareness sets the stage for literacy success. With a mix of rhyming words for kindergarten and interactive activities with CVC word families, your child will be on their way to becoming a proficient reader. Remember, learning to read doesn’t have to be boring to be effective. The goal is to make learning a fun and engaging process for your little ones. So, let the games begin!

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