Browse by Short Vowel
Each short vowel sound has its own page with the full word list, teaching steps and pictures.
How to Teach Word Families
Teach one family at a time (e.g. -at), then contrast with a neighbour (-an). Order: Short A families → Short E → Short I → Short O → Short U. Each family: read the rime, blend 6–8 words, play flash cards, then read sentences with those words.
Short A Families
-at
bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat, vat
-an
ban, can, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van
-ad
bad, dad, had, lad, mad, pad, sad
-ag
bag, hag, lag, rag, tag, wag
-ap
cap, gap, lap, map, nap, rap, sap, tap, zap
-am
dam, ham, jam, ram, yam
-ack
back, hack, jack, lack, pack, rack, sack, tack
Short E Families
-et
bet, get, jet, let, met, net, pet, set, vet, wet
-en
den, hen, men, pen, ten
-ed
bed, fed, led, red, wed
-ell
bell, fell, sell, tell, well
Short I Families
-ig
big, dig, fig, jig, pig, rig, wig, zig
-in
bin, fin, pin, tin, win
-it
bit, fit, hit, kit, lit, pit, sit
-ill
fill, gill, hill, mill, pill, sill
-ip
dip, hip, lip, nip, rip, sip, tip, zip
-ick
kick, lick, pick, sick, tick, wick