How to Teach Short Vowel Sounds with Songs, Stories, and Art

Today I am going to share the 6 steps I use to teach kids short vowel sounds. Think of each step as an ingredient in a recipe that can be personalized to match the needs of each student. Add more or less of an ingredient as needed. I teach vowels in the order A (long and short), E (long and short), I (long and short) and so on. I meet with students in 30 minute or 1 hour increments. How many steps we get through at a meeting varies from child to child.

Here are my 6 steps for how to teach short vowel sounds:

Listen
Sort
Read
Spell
Play
Sketch

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STEPS 1-6 to teach short vowel sounds

1: Listen

I currently tutor kids in grades K-5 online in 1:1 and small group settings. We do not have shared books, so I rely heavily on a number of great free videos on YouTube.

When I teach short vowel sounds to new readers or review short vowel sounds with more experienced kids, I always begin with a song.

Short A song:

Short E song:

Short I song:

Short O song:

Short U song:

2: Sort

When I teach short vowel sounds, my second step is a sorting activity. When sorting pictures or words, I have the child listen to me say a word slowly and then repeat it back to me. I prefer to ask my students “Does the letter say its name or does it say its sound” rather than “Is it the long sound or the short sound.”

3: Read

When I teach short vowel sounds, I want my kids to practice reading words with those sounds. Like I said, I work with kids online, and we do not have shared books to work form. Luckily, YouTube is a great source for free material.

I like to let my students watch the short vowel sound story for the letter we are working on first. After that, I mute the sound and then replay the story or click through the story slowly and give the child a chance to read the words. My students love these videos.

Short A Story:

Short E Story:

Short I Story:

Short O Story:

Short U Story:

4. Spell

When I am teaching short vowel sounds, I want to provide my students an opportunity to spell words with that sound. For each word, I stretch the sounds out slowly and listen to the child do the same. I have the child count how many sounds she/he hears in the word. Then I draw a box for each sound and have the child add (or trace) the letter he or she hears as we sound it out again.

Short A Words: cat, man, tap, land
Short E Words: net, bed, leg, vest
Short I Words: sit, lid, pin, tip
Short O Words: hot, mop, spot, job
Short U Words: run, cub, shut, hug

5. Play

Another activity I use when I teach short vowel sounds (or any skill) is a memory game. I’ve never come across a kids who did not want to play a memory game! I usually use pictures for the first few memory games but quickly move on to words.