How To: Short Vowel Intensive

• Lesson Objective: Build fluency with short vowel sounds through auditory, visual, and kinetic responses.

• Grouping:  Small-group

• Methodology:   Students rapidly and accurately identify vowel sounds in isolation, VC, and CVC syllables.

• Duration: < 5(warm-up)

  
  

Zad, mep, bon, wit, nup.

What do all of these syllables have in common? They all have Short vowels. As mentioned in my How To: Short Vowel Mouth Positions post, short vowel sounds can be challenging to differentiate.  A key component of mastery is repetition, repetition, REPETITION. We revisit short vowel mouth positions several times during the short vowel unit and beyond. I recommend scaling back to once per unit after students demonstrate mastery. It's a good idea to continue to revisit for reinforcement. This activity is based on IMSE's Comprehensive OG+ vowel intensive activity.

🖍 How the Routine Works

While working in small groups, students receive folded index cards with each short vowel grapheme, as shown in the photo below. The teacher reads CVC and VC syllables with short vowel sounds one at a time. After each syllable, students should lift up the corresponding vowel card. I recommend making the colors consistent as it's easier to check for accuracy this way. You'll notice in my Teacher Short Vowel Intensive Word Bank that I use syllables only--no real words. This is because I want to ensure students are actually listening for the vowel sound and not relying on their memorization of the spelling of common words.

I highly encourage them to whisper or say the phoneme aloud as they write, making it a multisensory experience. If students need additional support, I model the corresponding short vowel mouth positions.

Check out the Interactive Unit Guides to see how this lesson fits within each unit. You can grab a copy of the Teacher Short Vowel Intensive Word Bank here.