Short vowel blend word list

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When kids and adults learn to read, they’re connecting how words sound to how those sounds are represented by letters. Phonics instruction helps make those connections.

Phonics instruction also teaches spelling patterns and spelling rules. It teaches about parts of words called syllables. Learning common syllable patterns can help people become better readers and spellers.

To thrive in both  reading  and spelling, here are 15 important rules to know.

1. Vowels in syllables

Every syllable of every word must have at least one vowel sound. A vowel can stand alone in a syllable, as in u•nit and an•i•mal. It can also be surrounded by consonants, as in jet, nap•kin, and fan•tas•tic.

2. Short and long vowels

Vowels can make different sounds. The sounds they make depend on where they are in a word. For example, is the vowel followed by a consonant? This helps determine if the vowel makes its short or long sound: go vs. got, she vs. shed, hi vs. him.

When there’s only one vowel in a syllable and it is followed by at least one consonant, the vowel usually makes its short sound. Examples include on, itch, mas•cot, and Wis•con•sin. This pattern is called a “closed syllable” because the consonant “closes in” the short vowel sound.

When there is only one vowel and it is at the end of a syllable, the vowel makes its long sound, as in he and ban•jo. This pattern is called an “open syllable.”

3. Silent e

When e is the last letter in a word, and there’s only one other vowel in that syllable, the first vowel in that syllable is usually long and the e is silent, as in sale and in•side. This syllable pattern is called “vowel-consonant-e.”

Some teachers call this the “silent e” rule. Some call it the “magic e” rule. The e gives all its power to the other vowel and makes that vowel use its long sound (“say its name”).

4. Consonant blends and digraphs

Digraph is a fancy word for two letters that represent one sound. In a digraph made of consonants, the two consonants work together to form a new sound. Examples include chap, ship, thin, whiz, and photo. Consonant blends are different. These groups of two or more consonants work together. But unlike digraphs, their individual sounds can still be heard as they’re blended together. Examples include clam, grasp, and scrub.

5. Vowel digraphs

In a vowel digraph, two vowels are side by side. The first vowel is long and says its name. The second vowel is silent, as in boat, paint, and beach.

Sometimes, two vowels work together to form a new sound. This is called a diphthong. Examples include cloud and boil.

6. R-controlled vowels

When a syllable has a vowel that is followed by r, the vowel is “controlled” by the r and makes a new sound. Examples include car, bird, germ, form, and hurt. This rule is sometimes called “bossy r” because the r “bosses” the vowel to make a new sound.

7. The “schwa” sound

Any vowel can make the schwa sound; it sounds like a weak uh or ih. Words like from and final have the schwa sound. Some words have more than one schwa sound, like apartment and banana. It’s the most common sound in the English language.

8. Soft c and hard c, and soft g and hard g

When the letter c is followed by the vowels e, i, or y, it usually makes its soft sound. Examples of that are cent, circus, and cyclone. With other vowels, the letter c makes a hard sound, as in cat and cot.

Likewise, when the letter g is followed by the vowels e, i, or y, it usually makes its soft sound. Examples of that are gel, giant, and gym. With other vowels, the letter g makes a hard sound, as in gas, gorilla, and yogurt.

9. The “fszl” (fizzle) rule

The letters f, s, z, and l are usually doubled at the end of a one-syllable word immediately following a short vowel. Examples include stuff, grass, fuzz, and shell. Exceptions include quiz and bus.

10. Ending in k or ck

When a one-syllable word ends with the /k/ sound immediately following a short vowel, it’s usually spelled with ck, as in duck and trick. When the /k/ sound follows a consonant, long vowel sound, or diphthong, it’s usually spelled with k, as in task, cake, soak, and hawk.

11. The /j/ sound and the /ch/ sound

In a one-syllable word, when a /j/ sound immediately follows a short vowel, it’s spelled dge as in badge, hedge, bridge, dodge, and smudge. (The d “protects” the vowel from the “magic e” rule.)

In a one-syllable word, when a /ch/ sound immediately follows a short vowel, it’s usually spelled tch as in catch, fetch, stitch, blotch, and clutch. The exceptions to this rule are such, much, rich, and which.

12. Drop the e with -ing

When words end with a silent e, drop the e before adding -ing. Examples: bike/biking, give/giving, and dodge/dodging. This rule also applies to other suffixes that start with vowels, like -ed, -er, -able, and -ous. Examples: grieve/grievous, excite/excitable, and hope/hoped.

13. Doubling

In a one-syllable word like win where one short vowel is followed by one consonant, double the consonant before adding a suffix that starts with a vowel. Examples: winner, winning, winnable.

14. Plurals

For most words, add s to make them plural, as in cat/cats. But when a singular word ends with s, sh, ch, x, or z, add es to make it plural, as in classes, brushes, and foxes.

15. Y rules

To make plural a word that ends in a vowel immediately followed by y, just add s, as in toy/toys. When y immediately follows a consonant, change the y to i and add es. Examples: family/families, pony/ponies, and treaty/treaties.

Suffixes follow a similar set of y rules. When there’s a vowel right before y, keep the y and simply add the suffix. Examples include play/playing and annoy/annoying.

When a word ends with a consonant followed immediately by y, change the y to i before adding suffixes like -ed and -est. Examples include carry/carried and happy/happiest.

But when the suffix begins with i, keep the y and simply add the suffix, as in fly/flying and baby/babyish.

Exceptions to the rules

Most words in the English language follow phonics rules. But any exceptions to these rules need to be taught and memorized for reading and spelling. These words are often found on lists of sight words or high-frequency words.

CCVC Word Definition and Lists

CCVC words are different from CVC words, which follow a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern. Beginning readers who have mastered CVC words may be ready to move on to these word lists.

CCVC words have the following qualities:

• double consonant beginning sounds
• short vowel sounds
• end in a consonant other than “w” or “y”
• one syllable
• can be nouns or verbs
  

There are two main categories of CCVC words, depending on their beginning consonant sounds. The following CCVC word lists provide a sampling of what words fall under these classifications.

CCVC Words With Beginning Consonant Blends

Many CCVC words include beginning consonant blends. Common beginning consonant blends include /fl/, /gl/, /sk/, /st/, and other blends in which both letter sounds can be heard. As the early learner progresses in mastering these blends, they are then introduced into the CCVC words themselves.

If you’d like to print this list for easy reference, download and print out the PDF below. It’s a great way to keep students practicing their CCVC words.

View & Download PDF

CCVC Words With Beginning Consonant Digraphs

Consonant digraphs use two letters to create a new sound. These digraphs include words that begin with /ch/, /sh/, and /th/ sounds. CCVC words that start with consonant digraphs still have only one syllable and include a short vowel sound.

Some CCVC words that start with consonant digraphs include:

Why CCVC Words?

The simplest words are learned early in life and are called regular words. Regular words are those words in which all the letters in a word represent their most common sounds. The second most difficult group of regular words are known as CCVC (consonant consonant vowel consonant) words.

CCVC Difficulties

One reason that CCVC words are considered among the most difficult regular words is the consonant blend at the beginning. As beginning readers and spellers tend to sound out individual sounds they associate with each letter, the learner may struggle to create a blended sound to produce the correct sound combination that matches the word.

Taking the word frog, for example. A beginning reader may sound the letters out loud one at a time: /ef/ /ar/ /oh/ /gee/. A possible initial pronunciation could be phonetically described as /ef/ /rog/. The early reader has already achieved a basic mastery of CVC words. It is easier to process frog as the initial consonant sound followed by a CVC construction (rog) that makes sense to them.

Language Evaluations

Regular evaluation of basic phonic mastery and spelling can determine normal childhood language development. It’s important to investigate and evaluate failure to achieve a basic mastery of phonetics, as this may indicate learning disabilities or neurological factors. Use the above lists to regularly check students’ progress when it comes to reading CCVC words.

Phonics remain a staple of early spelling and word recognition and CCVC words can present early challenges to young learners. Try a graduated approach to these more complicated regular words by building on the consonant combinations. You can then teach the incorporation of the blends into whole words.

Phonics Practice Makes Perfect

Beginning readers who can read CVC and CCVC words are on the right track toward reading success. Connect your phonics practice sessions with lessons on sight words. Or, if students are ready to show what they know, use these printable reading comprehension worksheets in your next reading lesson.