How to Support CVC Words and CVC Syllables Learning

At the beginning of this year I had more setup than in the last several years as our entire building had to move into a temporary building while ours is being rebuilt! Very exciting. Very time consuming. Very tiring! So, at the end of a very tiring day I spent the last few minutes pulling out my magnetic letters because I was too tired to start unpacking another box!

I created a little magnetic board with the vowels at the top and consonants at the bottom to teach CVC words and syllables. This little board has become a favorite of students and very helpful for me!

Here is what the board looked like at the end of the day one day this last week. I don’t worry about keeping it super organized. I do like to keep the vowels in order. It would probably be helpful to keep the consonants in order as well, but I haven’t gotten in the habit of that yet! This is what my days and my teaching are really like: half organized.

It has been a quick and easy thing to pull over into lessons when a student is not seeing that Consonant Vowel Consonant pattern either in simple words or in multisyllabic words. I either build the word or just the syllable with the short vowel sound.

I start by finding the first consonant from the bottom (blue) letters. Then I find the middle vowel from the top (red) letters. Finally, I find the final consonant from the bottom (blue) letters. I think aloud while doing this. It is important to use the words “consonant” and “vowel”. I also label the Consonant Vowel Consonant pattern. A single vowel between two consonants makes its short sound. The colored visual of the one red vowel and two blue consonants seems to be making an additional helpful connection for students.

I have also been using this board to just review short vowel sounds. I start by saying, “the red letters at the top are…” and the students respond with “vowels”. Then, “the blue letters at the bottom are…” and students respond with “consonants”. Then the students say the short sounds of vowels when I signal under each vowel.

When I use the letters on that board, students are connecting to the short sounds of vowels. Sometimes all I have to do is grab the board and they fix their error without me saying anything!

I am seeing more student success with letter sound mastery, especially short vowel sounds, than I ever have this year. This has led to greater success with CVC words and syllables. Direct, explicit instruction with repeated practice is the secret to success!

AND who doesn’t like magnetic letters?! They sure make teaching CVC words and syllables more fun!

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