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1st grade · English Language Arts · Unit 2 of 19

Short Vowels

a, e, i, o, u

What your child practices

Hearing the short vowel in the middle of words like cat, bed, pig, dog and sun, and filling in the missing vowel to spell the word.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 1RF3 · decoding words with short vowel sounds

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The vowels are a, e, i, o and u.
  2. Short a is in cat. Short e is in bed. Short i is in pig.
  3. Short o is in box. Short u is in sun.

Example: Which letter is missing? c _ t (a cat) Say “cat” slowly: c – a – t. The middle sound is short a. Answer: a

Short Vowels in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 2 of 19 in 1st grade English Language Arts, after Blend It and before Word Families.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which letter is missing?

    🐷p_g
    • i
    • u
    • e

  2. Question 2

    Which word has the short e sound, like “elephant”?

    • ☀️sun
    • 🔟ten
    • 🚢ship

  3. Question 3

    Which word has the short i sound, like “igloo”?

    • 🛏️bed
    • 🥛milk
    • 🎩hat

  4. Question 4

    Which word has the short o sound, like “octopus”?

    • 🥛milk
    • 🦊fox
    • ⛺tent

  5. Question 5

    Which letter is missing?

    🚌b_s
    • e
    • u
    • i

  6. Question 6

    Which word has the short a sound, like “apple”?

    • ✋hand
    • 📦box
    • 🐛bug

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