One of my favorite ways to help kids become better readers and spellers is to help them see that words are related, often by spelling pattern. And that’s exactly what these free phonics word lists help kids do. They are a great tool for spelling and reading!
These short and long vowel word lists are a freebie from Printable Spelling Activities & Games and are great for younger learners as well as struggling readers. I’ve included four different fonts {one font in cursive} so that they can fit multiple ages.
*The free download can be found at the END of this post.
*This post contains affiliate links.
Phonics Word Lists and How to Use Them
I created these phonics cheat sheets specifically for playing spelling games with my first grader. Some spelling games we like to integrate include Scrabble Jr., Scrabble Boggle, & Bananagrams.
But it became apparent pretty early on that even though he has above average reading skills, his spelling skills were lagging {normal part of development}. To make up for this, I have made the games less competitive so he doesn’t get so frustrated.
This school year, as I pulled out our games again, I felt he was ready for a little more independence with using spelling strategies, so I created these phonics word lists {cheat sheets} for him to use when we play.
With a little teaching and modeling on how to use the word lists, his frustration level has been lowered and he has more confidence in playing the word games. He knows that with each word on the list, he can change out the red letter{s} and put another letter {or letters} at the front to spell a new word.
The words on the lists contain the most common word family chunks {and some extras as well}. The short vowel sheet* features 80 common word patterns and the long vowel sheet features 105 common word patterns. There is great power in the words because when the first letter {onset} is changed, thousands of words can be spelled!
*Note: The short vowel page has some extra patterns included that aren’t entirely short vowels, like car, ball, and her, just to name a few.
More Phonics Resources:
- Single Syllable Phonics Cheat Sheet
- Teaching Kids to Read is NOT Enough
- Low Prep Phonics Games {over 300 included!}
- Find the Oddball Game
- Mix n’ Match Spelling
- CVC Word Lists {The Measured Mom}
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- Short Vowel Word Study
- Literacy Apps for Kids {Interactive apps that reinforce phonics skills}
{Download these Phonics Word Lists HERE.}
Enjoy!
~Becky
I love that you make this available to your subscribers.
Are these sheets editable?
I’m not in agreement with some of your word choices for particular sounds.
I think “bang, and tank” are pronounced with a long A sound. The words “car, and part” are “AR” (r controlled vowels AR, ER, IR, OR, UR) “her” and “sir” are also an r controlled vowel sounds and don’t sound like “get” or “gift”. “long , toss, lost, dog”… these are not short “o” sounds like in “octopus”
I completely agree with you, but didn’t want to make a separate page for all those patterns. I just added them in with the short patterns for simplicity sake. No, they are not editable…yet, but I have purchased a program that will allow me to do that. 🙂
Hi there! Just wanted to give you a heads up that there are some errors in your “Short A” list. The words bang, ball, car, and tank do not have a Short A sound. Take care! 🙂
Yes, I know. I included some extras with the CVC pattern.