Free CVC Word Decodable Stories for Reading & Spelling
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Get 5 FREE worksheets with CVC word decodable stories, one worksheet for each short vowel. Kids will get targeted and meaningful decoding and encoding practice using these no-prep resources.
📖 Why Use Decodable Passages?
We love using decodable texts for so many reasons!
Decodable texts feature words and spellings directly linked to the letter-sound relationships being taught. This helps young readers make direct connections between letters and their sounds.
And the more they see a word and make those phoneme-grapheme connections, the closer they are to orthographically mapping it. This is the way our brains store words for instant retrieval, turning unknown words into true ‘sight words.’
By focusing on specific phonics patterns, decodable passages discourage guessing and encourage actual decoding skills — setting the stage for reading success!
Decodables also provide a confidence boost because they give kids the chance to apply their phonics skills in a controlled and supportive environment. It’s like the satisfaction of solving a puzzle, but with words!
As a teacher, it’s always rewarding to see my students proud of themselves when they discover that they can read a story all by themselves!
👉🏼 Important: Decodables are a means to an end. Our goal is that we won’t always need to use decodables. They are an especially important scaffold in the younger elementary grades when kids need opportunities to apply what they’ve learned to text.
📄 The Worksheets
These no-prep worksheets are perfect for young readers as they practice blending sounds to read words. We also designed each worksheet to provide encoding practice, strengthening the reading-writing connection.
👉 Reading: Kids will read the passage three times, building word recognition and fluency skills. They color in a star each time they read the story.
👉 Writing: Kids will then use what they’ve read to encode and label the pictures, first using elkonin boxes. Then, they will rewrite the full word using proper letter formation on the rewrite lines.
👉 Educational Focus: These resources are perfect for kindergarten and early first-grade students. Kids can use them independently, or teachers can assist in a small group setting.
Sam’s Cat (Short a)
Sam had a cat. The cat sat on a mat. “Get up,” Sam said to the cat. The cat got up. The cat sat on Sam’s lap.
👩🏻🏫Teaching Tip: Use this worksheet to introduce the idea of glued sounds with students using the word ‘Sam.’ When isolating each sound in the word ‘Sam’ – they’ll hear how the sound of short a changes slightly and does not represent the pure /ă/ sound. Understanding glued sounds will help kids read and spell words with -am and -an patterns.
Get in Bed (Short e)
Jen had a pet hen. The hen got wet. Jen said, “Get in bed, pet.” The pet got in bed.
Dig, Pig (Short i)
The pig likes to dig. The pig digs six big pits. The kid sees the pig dig the pits. The kid and the pig pick one pit to sit in.
Dog and Fox (Short o)
Rob is a big dog. Rob sees a fox. Rob and the fox run and sit on a log. The fox and Rob have a ton of fun!
Bud in the Mud (Short u)
Bud is a pup. Bud dug in the mud. Bud sees a nut in the mud. Bud has fun in the mud.
📚 More Decodable Resources
✨ Check out our Ultimate Decodable Sentence Bundle. This is one of our most popular products, and includes Google slides to make whole-group practice easy!
✨ Grab our free CVC Read & Match Sentence Worksheets where kids read sentences and match them to the corresponding pictures.
✨ Be sure to get our Free Phoneme Maniupulation worksheets, where kids practice substituting beginning, middle, and ending sounds.
✨ Check out our roundup of hundreds of free decodable resources to use with your students.
✨ Read our review of the best decodable texts available.
More Recommended Resources
To read research on using decodable texts, we recommend this study from Heidi Meiser entitled Decodable text: A review of what we know. We also recommend this informative webinar from Dr. Maria Murrey, President of The Reading League, entitled “Using Decodable Texts: Practical Things Teachers Need to Know.”
🖨️ Download & Print
DOWNLOAD TERMS: All of our resources and printables are designed for personal use only in homes and classrooms. Each teacher must download his or her own copy. Please do not save to a shared drive, reproduce our resources on the web, or make photocopies for anyone besides your own students. To share with others, please use the social share links provided or distribute the link to the blog post so others can download their own copies. Your support in this allows us to keep making free resources for everyone! Please see our Creative Credits page for information about the licensed clipart we use. If you have any questions or concerns regarding our terms, please email us. Thank you!
We’d love to hear about your experience using these resources!
Please leave a comment below or tag us on Instagram @literacylearn!
Thank you so much for these samples with all 5 short vowels!
Hi Amy, You’re so welcome! We hope they’re helpful for teaching your students! 🙂 -Katie & Laura
Thank you. I have been using TPT for a year. I am now teaching ELA to EL students.
so engaging thanks
Hi Lyn,
You’re welcome. We’re so glad your students found these stories engaging!
Katie and Laura
WOW!!!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Hi Sharon,
You’re welcome! We are happy to know you like these stories.
Katie and Laura
Looks like a fantastic resource for phonemic awareness and phonics worksheets
We’re so glad these resources are helpful! 🙂 Thank you!
These CVC Word Decodable Stories are exactly what I have been looking for to use with my intervention groups! Are there more CVC stories that I can purchase?
Hi Nancy,
We are so glad that you could use these with your students! That makes us so happy! Here’s a link to our TPT store for you to take a look: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Literacy-Learn-Blog
Katie and Laura