Short Vowels: A Friendly Starting Point

Article by Megan Goss, 2001

As adults, we often laugh when we remember reading sentences like, "The tan man ran to the fan." There is, of course, a reason why many primary teachers use these funny sentences with short, rhyming words; small words like 'fan' and 'man', which contain short vowel sounds, are a natural starting point for introducing decoding in reading. One reason for this is that these three letter words are reliable - the letters used to form consonant/vowel/consonant words will almost always sound the way they should sound, without any confusing, unpredictable letter combinations like 'th' or 'sh' to throw off an emerging reader. These short words are also friendly, in that they easily form rhymes, and are small enough to be easily managed by beginning readers. Finally, they are usually fairly common words (fun, sun, man, zip, etc.), and many letter combinations can be used to form a great number of words.

Children who know all or most letter sounds, and can match these sounds to the letters they see, are quite ready to start putting these letter sounds together to form short vowel words. It is often helpful to focus on one vowel at a time when short vowel words are first introduced. The letters 'a' and 'o' are often taught first, since they have more 'unique' sounds, and the sounds of the short vowels 'e' and 'I' are similar, and thus can be easily confused (think of the words 'pen' and 'pin', for example). Start with a few words that are very similar. For example, the words 'man', 'tan' and 'ran' work well. You can introduce these words in many ways, but one that works well with young children is using letters they can move around - refrigerator magnets, for example. You can also write them slowly as you say each letter, so your child can see you forming the words. Small dry-erase boards work well for this, since you can amend what you write and you won't waste so much paper.

You will want to start by telling your child that you will be working on words with an 'a' in them, and by reviewing the short sound that this letter makes. You can remind them that 'a' can make other sounds too, but try not to emphasize this, since it will become confusing. Begin by having the child sound these words out letter by letter. At first, you may need to help with reminders of the letter sounds. After a few lessons, you will want to encourage your child to see the words more wholistically. For example, if you start with words 'man', 'tan' and 'ran', you will want to get to the point where your child sees the '-an' part of these words as a base to which you can add many different beginnings. If you use refrigerator magnets, you can encourage this by forming the '-an' with the letters, then placing different consonants in front of this base to form new words.

As you work with your child, try to encourage him/her to take over and write or form new short 'a' words after you have provided several demonstrations on how to do this. After working on '-an' words (man, fan, etc.) for several lessons, branch out to other short 'a' words - maybe '-at' words (mat, fat, sat, etc.). Use the same methods, where you build and pronounce the words using the '-at' as the base. This process should become comfortable and familiar, and you can move on to other short vowels soon. Be sure to compare and contrast new sounds, and review often.

Many strategies can and should be employed outside this lesson, to supplement and enhance what is taught here. Using books for beginning readers that focus on the particular vowel you are working on (***do a reference here to the other article I am doing on choosing early reading books?****) will help your child transfer this burgeoning knowledge into actual text reading. Pointing out short vowel words you encounter in the environment (i.e. - when you are in the store, driving by a sign, at home reading labels, etc.), and encouraging your child to read them when you see them in the world will serve as a reminder of what you are teaching. It will also show that what you are teaching is useful in the 'real world'. It is also an excellent idea to have your child write these words. Say them slowly: "M?A?N." Then have your child write 'man', as well as several words like it. This activity reinforces what you are teaching and helps transfer the reading skills you are teaching into the writing arena.

Finally, try to make these activities fun, playful and enjoyable. Children are excited to be initiated in to the adult world of reading, and making it a pleasurable experience keeps them wanting to learn more.

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