150+ R Controlled Vowel Words [Free Printable Lists]
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The ultimate Bossy R Lists! Get two pdf lists with over 150 R-Controlled vowel words, including AR, ER, IR, OR, and UR. The worksheets are organized by R-controlled syllables, including a list of 1 syllable words & a list of multisyllabic R-Controlled vowel words.
R Controlled Syllables
A syllable is a word or word part that includes one vowel sound. Once you have introduced children to these five r-controlled vowel sounds, it is time to teach a new syllable type: The R-Controlled Syllable!
👉 Anytime there is a vowel followed by an R in a word or word part, that is considered an r-controlled syllable.
👉 An R-controlled vowel can come at the beginning (art), the middle (part), or at the end of a syllable (car).
1 Syllable Words
- AR words: Car, bar, far, part, hard, start, arm, jar, dark, farm, Mark, star, yard, spark, yarn.
- ER words: Her, verb, herd, perm, fern, term, Bert, perch, germ, clerk, jerk, stern, per, serve, nerve.
- IR Words: Bird, girl, first, third, sir, shirt, dirt, birth, firm, stir, skirt, whirl, thirst, twirl, flirt.
- OR Words: Corn, for, or, born, north, horse, torn, short, shorty, sort, storm, force, horn, form, york.
- UR Words: Nurse, turn, fur, hurt, church, purse, burst, burn, curve, curb, urge, curl, surf, blur, burnt.
2+ Syllable Words
- AR words: Target, market, harbor, carbon, party, cargo, artist, partner, garbage, Marvin, carpet, farmer, army, pardon, carnival.
- ER words: Butter, otter, sister, ever, copper, person, herself, perfect, observe, determine, Jersey, concern, expert, desert, servant.
- IR Words: Birthday, circus, dirty, thirteen, thirsty, swirling, girlfriend, confirm, virtual, thirty, affirm, birdcage, skirmish, squirting, circle.
- OR Words: Forest, order, corner, story, forty, morning, orbit, orange, scornful, Florida, support, accord, normal, report, afford.
- UR Words: Turkey, purple, turtle, return, further, furniture, occur, disturb, murmur, purpose, Thursday, nursery, burden, current, burger.
Practice with Word Lists
📑 These printable pdf worksheets are great for so many things!
👉 These word lists are great to use with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students. They should already be familiar with open, closed, and VCe syllables.
👉 Use for dictation, as a quick reference for examples, for syllable division, cut and paste sorting, or have students read for fluency!
👉 Dictate the words while playing our free R-Controlled Bingo Game!
The first list includes only one syllable R-Controlled vowel words with keywords. The second list includes multisyllabic R-Controlled vowels (2-3 syllables).
Both lists have five columns so that words are easily organized according to the R-Controlled vowel (ar, er, ir, or, ur).
- One-Syllable anchor words with pictures: car, her, bird, corn, nurse
- 2+ Syllable Anchor words with pictures: target, butter, birthday, forest, turkey
Download & Print
Have you used these lists with your students? We’d love to hear about your experience!
Please leave a comment below or tag us on Instagram @literacylearn.
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I teach English to adults and your free downloads are very helpful. Like others, I have subscribed to your email, but I am prompted to subscribe again when I try to download.
Hi Donna,
Thanks for subscribing! We have it set so that when you enter your email, a downloadable file will be emailed directly to you. You won’t get subscribed twice or anything like that 🙂 Hope that helps clarify things for you.
Katie and Laura
any chance you have a 3 syl word list>
Hi Maryann,
Sorry we don’t include any 3 syllable words on this list. You can check out our resource that includes 2,000 words organized by phonics skills. You can find that TPT resource here.
Thanks!
Katie and Laura
Hi,
R controlled syllables. Can you explain why air/ear are not included with the R controlled syllables. Example stair/learnt/beard. Thank you. Heather
Hi Heather,
You’d have to analyze each word to determine the syllable type. For the the word stair, ‘ai’ is a vowel team which is why you hear the long a sound. Beard is also a vowel team syllable, with the ‘ea’ making the long e sound. In the word ‘learn’ the ‘ear’ makes a /er/ sound, like the r-controlled vowels er, ir, & ur. So I would consider ‘learn’ an r-controlled syllable, along with other words like earn, earth, early, pearl, search, etc. I hope this explanation helps! Always feel free to reach out if you have any questions! We’re here to help.
Katie & Laura
Can’t get download!
Hi Diane! Scroll to the bottom of the post, to the “Download & Print” section, and click on the blue “Download” button. If you still have trouble, email us and we’ll help you troubleshoot! 🙂 -Katie & Laura
I really like the ways you illustrate
I can’t get the freebies. Every time I click, it prompts me to sign up but I already did.
Hi Denise! You don’t need to sign up to get any freebies. Simply scroll to the bottom of the post and click the “download” button.