How to teach CVC words, step by step

1 What CVC words are, and why they come first

CVC stands for consonant, vowel, consonant: a word like cat, bed, pig, hot or bus. The vowel in the middle makes its short sound, the consonants make their usual sounds, and every letter makes exactly one sound. That is what makes CVC words the natural first words for a beginning reader. A child who knows the letter sounds can work out every one of them alone.

There are a few close relatives worth knowing. Two-letter words such as at, am and an (VC words) often come along with them. Words like ant and and add one more consonant but still read sound by sound. Plurals such as cats add an s. All of these can be read with the same skill: say each sound, then blend.

Some short, very common words do not fit the pattern yet: the, is, has, to, a. They are taught as tricky words, by sight, a few at a time, so children can read real sentences early. Peabody's short a sentences, for example, use exactly five: a, the, is, has and to.

2 Before the letters: hearing the sounds

Reading a CVC word means turning letters into sounds and sounds into a word. The second half of that can be practiced before any letters appear. A child who cannot yet tell you that mat has three sounds, /m/ /a/ /t/, will struggle to blend those sounds from print.

Short, oral games every day build this. They take two or three minutes and need nothing but your voice.

• Say it slowly. You say a word stretched out, mmmaaat, and the class says it fast: mat.
• Tap the sounds. Children say a word and tap one finger for each sound. Three taps for sun.
• First sound, last sound. "What's the first sound in dog? The last sound?"
• Change a sound. "Say map. Now change /m/ to /k/." (cap)

The phonemic awareness activities list has many more of these. Keep them going after letters arrive. They are the warm-up that makes blending click.

3 Teaching the letter sounds you need

Children need the sound of each letter in a word before they can read it. Not the letter's name, its sound: /m/, not "em". Teach the sounds clearly and short, without adding an extra vowel: /m/, not "muh". An added vowel makes blending harder, because muh-a-tuh does not sound like mat.

You do not need all 26 letters before the first CVC word. Many programs start with a small set of consonants and one or two vowels chosen so lots of words can be made right away. With a handful of letters such as m, s, a, t, p, i and n, children can read sat, map, tip and pin.

• Show, say, write. Show the letter, say its sound, and have the children say it and trace or write it.
• Picture key. One picture per letter, the same one every time, helps children remember the sound.
• Daily review. A quick flash of the letters already taught, each day, before new work.
• Mouth shape. For sounds that are easy to confuse, such as /e/ and /i/, have children feel the shape of their mouth with a hand under the chin.

The short vowels are the sounds children most often mix up. That is one reason to teach them one at a time and to add a sorting step later, where children decide which vowel a word has.

4 Modeling blending

Blending is the moment the letters become a word. Model it many times before you ask children to do it alone, and use the same routine every time.

Continuous blending

Hold each sound into the next without stopping: mmmaaat. Then say it fast: mat. This works best with sounds you can stretch, such as /m/, /s/, /f/, /n/ and all the vowels. Start with words that begin with one of those.

Sound by sound

Point to each letter and say its sound, then sweep your finger under the word and say it: /k/ /a/ /t/, cat. For stop sounds like /k/, /t/ and /b/, say them short and move quickly to the vowel.

1. I do. You point and blend while children watch and listen.
2. We do. Children blend with you, all together.
3. You do. One child blends while you watch, then the group again.

Watch for children who say the sounds correctly but cannot put them together. They often need more oral practice (say it slowly, say it fast) and more continuous blending with stretchy sounds before going back to print.

What to sayWatch my finger. Mmm... aaa... nnn. Now fast: man. Your turn. Ready? Mmm... aaa... nnn. Fast!

5 One short vowel at a time

Teach the short vowels one at a time, and give each one enough practice to feel secure before adding the next. Peabody's sheets and decodable sentences follow the order short a, short e, short i, short o, short u. Programs differ in the exact order, and many put short i or short o earlier; if your school has a program, follow its order.

Each vowel's words come in families that share an ending: -at, -an, -ap, -ag for short a. Families are a good way to start a new vowel, because changing only the first letter (cat, bat, mat, sat) lets children focus on one new sound at a time. Move quickly from families to mixed lists, though, so children look at every letter and do not just guess from the ending.

Once two vowels are taught, sorting is the best check. Mix short a and short e words and have children read each one and put it in the right column. A child who sorts ten, tan, pet and pat correctly is reading the vowel, not guessing.

• Short a worksheets
• Short e worksheets
• Short i worksheets
• Short o worksheets
• Short u worksheets

6 Word building, word ladders and spelling

Reading and spelling CVC words support each other. When children build and write words, they practice the same sounds from the other direction: from sound to letter.

Building words

Give children letter tiles or cut-out letters and say a word. They build it, check it, and read it back. Then say a new word that changes one sound. Building is slower than reading and that is the point: children have to think about each sound and its letter.

Word ladders

A word ladder changes one letter at a time: pat, hat, rat, sat, or sat, mat, map, cap. Changing the middle letter is the hardest step, because it means hearing the vowel change: pat to pet. Save that for after two vowels are taught.

Say it, tap it, write it

For spelling, children say the word, tap one finger for each sound, then write one letter for each tap. Three taps, three letters. Check by reading back what they wrote. Spelling a few CVC words a day, from the vowels already taught, is enough.

7 From words to sentences

Children should read CVC words in sentences as soon as possible, not only in lists. A sentence is where reading starts to mean something. The trick is that every word in the sentence must be one they can sound out, or one of the few tricky words they have been taught.

A short a sentence such as The man has a van. uses only short a words and the tricky words the, has and a. Dan can tap a pan. uses only short a words and a. Sentences like these are called decodable, and Peabody's decodable sentences are written so every word fits the patterns taught so far.

• Read it twice. Once to work out the words, once to sound like talking.
• Draw it. Children draw what the sentence says. The picture shows you whether they understood it.
• Point and read. Children point to each word as they read it, so they don't skip or guess.
• Build it. Cut a sentence into words and have children put it back in order.

Avoid reading books with lots of words children cannot yet decode and asking them to guess from the pictures. At this stage, the goal is to practice looking at every letter.

8 The free CVC sheets, and how to use them

The phonics worksheet maker prints seven kinds of sheet for each short vowel, and every word on every sheet is from that vowel or one taught before it. The CVC worksheets page gathers the five short vowels in one place.

• Circle the word for the picture: a picture and three words to choose from. Pictures are used only where one picture clearly names one word, and the key names it.
• Fill in the missing letters: c_t, b_g. Children write the vowel and read the word.
• Sort the words: this vowel's words against the vowel taught before it (short a sorts by word family, since nothing comes before it).
• Build the word: cut-out letter tiles to put in order and glue down.
• Word ladder: change one letter to make the next word.
• Read the sentence: a decodable sentence to read and draw.
• Write the word under the picture: say the picture's name and write it.

Each sheet comes in versions A and B (the same items in another order, so neighbors can't copy) and prints with an answer key. The whole pack prints all seven at once. New words deals a fresh set. Nothing is typed and nothing is sent, so the sheets are safe to use with any class.

Sheets are practice, not teaching. Use them after you have modeled the skill, for a center, a small group or homework. The how to teach phonics guide has the whole daily lesson these fit into.