Word Analysis:
Short Vowel Sounds

Introduction:

Students who have learned the sounds of about half the consonant letters are probably ready to
learn how to blend letter sounds that contain short vowels. A TTS script and materials are
provided for teaching the short a sound, and materials are provided for teaching the other short
vowel sounds. (Follow the same procedure as for short a.)

In the first strategy, key words and illustrations aid the student in remembering the short sound
of the vowel. The second strategy teaches blending. These two strategies should be used to teach
each vowel sound that the student does not know. The suggested sequence for instruction is a, o,
i, u, e since the differences among the short vowel sounds are greatest in this order.

In the third strategy, all five short vowels are used to write simple words and sentences.
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Materials Needed:

Show the student the Key Word Card for short a.

Say:    You have learned many consonant sounds. Now I’m going to show you how you can  
           put them together with a vowel to make words.

Cover the two words at the bottom of the card.

Say:    Here is the letter a. It is a vowel letter, and vowel letters have more than one sound.  
           The short sound of a is /a/ as in apple. Do you hear the /a/ sound at the beginning of   
           apple? (Allow the student to respond.) Tell me the short sound of a. (/a/) You may   
           look at the picture of the apple as often as you like to help you remember the /a/   
           sound.

Uncover the first word at the bottom of the card. Point to the word map.

Say:    This word says map. What letter do you see in the middle of the word? (a) What   
           sound does the a have in map? (/a/) It has its short sound, or /a/. We hear /a/ in the   
           middle of the word map.

Uncover the second word at the bottom of the card. Point to the word man.

Say:    Look at this last word. This word says man. What vowel sound do you hear in the  
           middle of man? (/a/) What letter do you see in the middle of the word? (a)

Now you point to each of these words and read them for me.

Go on to Phonic Blending.
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Materials Needed:

Place the Key Word Card for short a in front of the student, and lay the consonant and three a
letter tiles beside it.

Say:    Now we are going to use what you know to make some words you can read. What is  
           the short sound for the letter a? (/a/)

Form the word cat with letter tiles in front of the student. As each letter is placed into position,
say the sounds of the individual letters, blend the sounds slowly together into the word, and then
say the word at a normal rate.

Form three more words by changing the first consonant and following the same procedure for
blending the sounds of the letters together.

Now I’ll make those words for you again. This time, you put the sounds of the letters
together and see if you can read the words.

Form each word again and point to each letter as the student blends the sounds of the letters
aloud.

After the student blends the letter sounds,

Say:    Now I’ll make some new words for you to read. See if you can blend these letter
          sounds together and read this word by yourself.

Place the letters s, a, and p in front of the student. Point to each letter as the student sounds it out.
Point to the word sap as the student blends the sounds.

Ask the student to blend the following two groups of words:

Say:    Did you notice that I have been changing only the first letter to make new words?   
           Now I am going to make some new words by changing only the last letter in the old   
           word. (Place the letters for the word cat in front of the student.) Blend these letter   
           sounds and read this word.

Repeat the procedure for the following words:

When the student is comfortable with substitutions with the final consonant,

Say:    Now let’s try changing the first and the last letters in some words. Read these words.

Form the words below; give aid as needed.

If additional review is required, have the student form words using the letter tiles, blend the letter
sounds, and read words with these letters.

When the student seems comfortable with the blending process, show him or her the Practice
Words Card. This card can be used either to review blending of CVC words with /a/ or to assess
the same.

Say:    Read these words. For any words that you don’t know, blend the letter sounds
           together the way you learned earlier.

On the Student Record Form, record the student’s responses.

Show the student the Sentence Reading Card for short a.

Say:    Some of the kinds of words we have been reading are used in these sentences. Read   
           these sentences for me. I’ll give you help if you need it.

On the Student Record Form, record the student’s responses.

For any short vowel sounds the student does not know, teach these sounds with the Using Key
Words and Pictures and Phonic Blending strategies. (The suggested teaching sequence is a, o, i,
u, e.) Then go on to Writing Words and Sentences.
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Materials Needed:

Leave the short vowel sounds Key Word Cards on the table, but turn them face down. Give the
student a sheet of paper.

Say:    Let’s see if you can write some of the words you have been reading. I’ve turned the  
           cards for the vowel sounds face down, but if you think you need any of them when  
           you are writing, you may turn them over to use as you work. I’ll say the words and  
           some sentences, and you write them.

Dictate the following words and sentences to the student. Say each twice, and allow the student
as much time as needed to write.

On the Student Record Form, note whether the student had difficulty writing these words and
sentences. Attach the student’s responses.
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Interpreting and Using TTS Results:

If the student successfully learned one of the short vowel sounds using these approaches, he or
she can probably learn the other short vowel sounds in the same way. For those students
experiencing difficulty in blending letter sounds together, refer to the TTS for Phonological
Awareness: Auditory Blending and try the Short Vowel Sounds strategies after auditory
blending skills are stronger.