FREE Vowel Sort Worksheets: Long & Short Vowels
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Get five vowel sorts to help kids distinguish between long and short vowel sounds heard in words. Each free printable worksheet includes ten pictures to sort: Five pictures with short vowels, and five pictures with long vowels.
They’ve been updated based on your feedback to use less color ink!
Long and Short Vowels
A, E, I, O, and U represent the five vowel sounds in the English language. All vowels can have multiple sounds which we call long and short sounds (and don’t forget about schwa!).
Children must know the difference between the different sounds that vowels can make! When reading unfamiliar words, kids will need to flex between vowel sounds to figure out the real word. We call this “Set for Variability.”
👉 For example: When reading the word music, does mŭs/ic (short u sound) or mū/sic (long u sound) sound like a real word? Kids may have to try it both ways to figure out the word. This is a very good strategy for children to use.
Long Vowels Sounds (Remember, long vowels say their name!)
- Long A a – /ā/ – acorn
- Long E e – /ē / – equal
- Long I i – /ī/ – ice
- Long O o – /ō/ – ocean
- Long U u- /ū/ – unicorn
Use our free long vowel worksheets to give students more practice reading words and listening for the long vowel sounds.
👩🏽🏫And learn more about the differences between vowels and consonants and grab free a sorting worksheet for vowel and consonant sounds.
Short and Long Vowel Words
A Words
- Short ă Words: Backpack, cab, cat, rat, cap.
- Long ā Words: Chair, rake, plane, chain, sail.
E Words
- Short ĕ Words: Pen, hen, web, net, tent.
- Long ē Words: Seal, cheese, bee, read, pea.
I Words
- Short ĭ Words: Squid, pig, zip, dig, swim.
- Long ī Words: Light, cry, knife, dime, kite.
O Words
- Short ŏ Words: Pot, frog, hot, dog, fox.
- Long ō Words: Hose, boat, coat, snow, bone.
U Words
- Short ŭ Words: Sun, rug, bug, brush, nut.
- Long ū Words: Cube, unicorn, puke, tissue, music.
Using The Worksheets
👉 Before you begin, be sure kids know the names of the pictures. The corresponding words are all listed above. Briefly review the pictures before having children complete the activity!
These worksheets are designed to practice comparing the long and short sounds that vowels make. Children look at the colorful, easy-to-recognize picture word.
Next, they identify the vowel sounds they hear in words, then cut, sort, and paste them in the correct place according to their long or short sounds!
Tips and Info
- This activity is great for 1st-grade students, or any children learning long vowel sounds.
- Print in color so kids can see the bright, beautiful pictures!
- Extend the Activity: After sorting the picture cards, have your students try to spell the short vowel words. If you’re introducing long vowels, then they should have every skill needed to spell all of the short vowel word pictures!
Related Posts
- Long & Short Vowel Sounds – With 2 Free Anchor Charts!
- BR and BL Blends Worksheets
- CVC Decodable Sentences
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We’d love to hear about your experience with these worksheets!
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Thank you so much. Big help!
These look great. I love print-and-cut materials. Thank you for doing this.
Hi Ann! We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed the worksheets! Let us know if you use any of the other resources on our site! 🙂 -Katie & Laura