Short Vowel CVC Words: Fill in the Vowel
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Skill: Decoding and spelling consonant-vowel-consonant words with short vowels
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Free for personal and classroom use. Print at 100% / "Actual size" on US Letter paper.
About this worksheet
Short vowel words with a consonant, a vowel, and a consonant, often called CVC words, are the first words most children learn to sound out. This first-grade worksheet gives fifteen riddles. Each riddle has a clue, such as "A pet that barks," and a three-letter word with the middle vowel missing (d _ g). Children read the clue, figure out the word, and write the missing short vowel. The set includes three words for each short vowel: a, e, i, o, and u.
The clue matters. Many patterns could make more than one word (h _ t could be hat, hit, hot, or hut), so children have to think about meaning as well as sounds. This connects decoding to comprehension.
How to use it: help your child read the clue, then say the word slowly and stretch the middle sound, like "d-ooo-g." Ask, "What sound is in the middle?" If they are unsure, try each vowel in turn and listen for the one that makes the right word. A short vowel chart or a quick review of each sound (a as in apple, e as in egg, i as in itch, o as in octopus, u as in up) can be helpful before starting.
The answer key shows the missing vowel and the full word for every riddle. This worksheet supports Common Core standards RF.1.3.b (decode regularly spelled one-syllable words) and RF.1.2.c (isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds in spoken single-syllable words).
Letter Tracing A-M: Uppercase and Lowercase
Addition Within 10
Subtraction Within 10