SHORT/LONG VOWEL WORD FAMILIES

SHORT/LONG VOWEL WORD FAMILIESPRODUCT CODE:250PRODUCT CONTENTSSKILL DEVELOPMENTMANIPULATIVES: 17 pages –91 bases, onsets to form 651 wordsWord families are the easiest method for developing blendingproficiency. Not only are word families ideal for beginning readersand special-needs students, they can be utilized to help all studentsextend spelling skills.Before using these word families, students need to be able toidentify and predict rhyme. They must also know short and longvowel phonemes and spelling patterns. Suggestions for developingthese prerequisite skills are included.Word families are primarily a reading activity, rather thanseatwork. The other two blending products that ReadingManipulatives offers (260 Star Blending & 270 IntermediateBlending) have student sets that can be done independently.This guide includes a summary of the skills targeted by thisproduct. Additional teaching aids can be downloaded from theresource section of our web site (www.readingmanipulatives.com).10 pages of teacher informationMATERIALS PREPARATIONCOPYRIGHT READING MANIPULATIVESAll rights reserved. Published in the United Statesof America. No part of these materials may be usedor reproduced in any form or by any means, orstored in a retrieval system, without prior writtenpermission of the publisher. Making copies of anypart of these materials for any purpose other thanyour personal use is a violation of United Statescopyright laws.Reading Manipulatives, Inc.PDF pages are designed to be printed on 8.5 x 11 inch sheets.Cover-weight paper in a variety of colors is available at officesupply stores or online. Consider printing each of the 5 vowels(3 to 4 sheets per vowel) on a different color. This will aid inorganization and sorting. Lamination is recommended if you wantyour materials to last.Each word family has a code. The first part is the vowel (A, E,I, O, U) followed by a hyphen and a set number (i.e., A-1).This is not a student-centered set of manipulatives. Teacherswill use the word families in many ways so consider how youprefer to package the word families. Storing each word family in azipper bag might be cumbersome since there are 91. The wordfamilies could be grouped into subsets by vowels, with individualfamilies kept together with small rubber bands or paper clips.1725 East Mountain View Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85020-2345www.readskill.com

SHORT/LONG VOWELS & SPELLING PATTERNSIn order to work with any of the Reading Manipulatives decoding or blending products, students mustknow short and long vowel phonemes and spelling patterns. These skills are necessary in order toanalyze and decode the rimes, or bases. Use the following strategies to teach or review the phonemesand spelling patterns.ea))oi)First make sure that students can identify and produce the vowelphonemes. Teach the short vowel phonemes in isolation using soundassociations to help students learn and remember these challengingphonemes. The examples to the right are used in the ReadingManipulatives Phoneme Songs & Blending program. Short vowelsposters are available separately, or they can be downloaded from ourweb site. You can also listen to the songs online.Long vowels are easier to master. Remind students that the longvowels “say their names.” Long u is somewhat troublesome sinceit has two sounds (as in fuse [fyooz] and plume [ploom]).Work with the easier vowels first. Students tend to predict thelong u sound without any difficulty after they become familiarwith short and long vowel phonemes and patterns.))STEP 1 – TEACH PHONEMESuSTEP 2 – TEACH SHORT/LONG VOWEL PATTERNSOnce students can identify and make the short and long sounds, teach vowel spelling patterns. Simplifythe basic concepts being taught. Teach this rule for short/long vowel patterns:When there is one vowel in the word (at the beginning or the middle), the vowel is short.When there are two vowels, the first vowel is long and the second is silent.Reading Manipulatives flip strips demonstrates this rule. Students readthe short vowel word. When the second vowel is flipped over, the word isthen read with a long vowel.Most one-syllable words follow this rule, making it an excellent buildingblock for beginning readers. This concept is taught before the introduction ofvariant vowels, which are obvious exceptions.hop ebestastSTEP 3 – DECODE WORDS THAT FOLLOW THE PATTERNSOnce students know short/long vowel sounds and spelling patterns, they can use these to decode orencode words. With ample practice, application becomes automatic.Reading Manipulatives offers products that provide decoding practice. One uses matching games.Students look at the word to determine if the vowel phoneme is short (one vowel) or long (two vowels).Then they read the word and match it to a picture. Another has scrambled sentences that contain wordsthat follow the SLV patterns. The sentences can be one of the first reading experiences for children.Students decode the words, arrange them into sentences, and match the illustrations.If you do not have these materials, make up activities that include words following the patterns.Our web site has resources that will help you, including words and directions for making flip strips.These would be particularly helpful as an activity to precede introducing SLV word families. They drillspelling patterns and lay a groundwork for blending, which is a difficult task for beginning readers.Copyright Reading Manipulatives, Inc.SLV Word Families4

RESOURCE LISTSHORT abtab–ack k*sackshack*smack*snackstack*tack*trackwhack–ad (3)badclad*dadfad*gladhadlad*madpadsadSLV WORD FAMILIES–ag gstag*swag*tagwag–am standstrand*–an mptamptrampvamp–ank yank–and (6)bandbland*brand*grandhand–ang (1)bangclangganghangpang*Copyright Reading Manipulatives, nt–astblastcastfastlastmastpastvast–ap lapsnapstrap*taptrapwrap*–ash ssmasspass–askaskcaskflaskmasktask–at atchthatchLONG A–ace ce–ade ade–age idpaidraid–ail sail*snailtail*trailwail*–ain nevane–ake *shakesnakestake*takewake–ame ate rate*skatestateWord family noted in parentheses; *onset not included

clA–1slA–2r h g b angA–1rA–2A–1A–1A–1A–1j h cl amA–2A–2A–2A–2s m h gl b adA–3A–3A–3c w shA–4A–4A–4A–3A–3A–3s g aveA–4A–4A–4r tr ch p m ainA–5sA–6A–5A–5A–5A–5A–5l h gr b ��3A–3A–2sst g br p d y

spwh qu k b iteI–1I–1p wI–2I–2p twI–3I–3w swI–4I–4n mI–5I–5I–1I–1I–6I–1f gr ch inI–2I–2I–2I–2f d b igI–3I–3I–3I–3r p gr ipeI–4lI–5I–4I–6I–4I–4f d ineI–5wsqu sw dI–6I–1I–6I–5I–5f k sh sp w sh wh

Once students can identify and make the short and long sounds, teach vowel spelling patterns. Simplify the basic concepts being taught. Teach this rule for short/long vowel patterns: When there is one vowel in the word (at the beginning or the middle), the vowel is short. When there are two vowels, the first vowel