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Short Vowel Worksheets

21 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

Short a, e, i, o and u sounds with pictures: circle the sound, write the missing vowel, read and match, plus short and long vowel charts.

Download the short vowels worksheets

Short vowel sounds by vowel

Mixed short vowel review

Short and long vowel charts

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these short vowels worksheets

These short vowel worksheets help kindergartners hear the middle sound in little words like cat, bed, pig, dog and sun. Each vowel has three pages: circle the pictures with the short vowel sound, write the missing vowel, and read the words and match them to pictures.

Short vowel sounds are the hardest part of early reading because the five sounds are close together. The short vowel sounds chart gives each vowel a picture anchor (a as in hand, e as in bell, i as in ring, o as in octopus, u as in umbrella), and the mixed review pages ask children to tell the five apart. A long and short vowels chart introduces the vowel that says its name.

Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.BAssociate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.DIsolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds in three-phoneme (CVC) words.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2.CWrite a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes).
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.DDistinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

How to use them

  1. Start with the short vowel sounds chart. Say each anchor word and stretch the vowel: h-aaa-nd.
  2. Work one vowel at a time: circle the pictures first, then write the missing vowel, then read and match.
  3. When two or three vowels feel easy, use the mixed review and which-one-is-different pages.

Teaching tips

  • Say the word slowly with your child and stretch the middle sound. Many children hear the first and last sounds before the vowel.
  • Short e and short i are the most often mixed up. Practice bed and bid, pen and pin side by side.
  • Point to the vowel letter strip at the top of the page so children choose from just five letters.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What are the short vowel sounds?

The short vowel sounds are the sounds in the middle of cat (a), bed (e), pig (i), dog (o) and sun (u). Kindergartners learn these before long vowels, which say the letter's name.

Which short vowel should I teach first?

Most children find short a and short o easiest to hear. Short e and short i are the trickiest, so practice them side by side once the others feel secure.

Are the answers included?

Yes. Every page with right answers has an answer key on page 2, with the picture names printed so you always know what each picture is.