R-Controlled Vowels a.k.a. “The Bossy R!”

Meet the Bossy R “Listen up, vowels! I’m the letter R, and if you want to hang around me, you have to understand that I’M in control!”

R-Controlled Vowels When a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) is next to the letter ‘r’, they have a different sound. We call these “R-controlled vowels” because the letter ‘r’ controls how we say the vowel sound. These vowel sounds are ‘ar,’ ‘er,’ ‘ir,’ ‘or,’ and ‘ur.’ We will learn and practice the vowel sounds for R-controlled vowels.

Day 1: ‘ar’ The sound of ‘ar’ is the same as the letter ‘r’ saying its name. What is the name of letter ‘r’? That’s right. When you see ‘ar,’ just think of the name of letter ‘r.’ You can also think of a pirate! ARRRRR! ARRRRRRR controlled vowels!

Get Ready to Read! ‘ar’ We are going to read words with the vowel sound ‘ar.’ I will read the words first; then, we will read them together, and last, you will read them by yourselves. Some of the word families will have ‘ar’ at the end. Others will have ‘ar’ in the middle. ‘ar’ has the most word families of all the R- controlled vowels! Today, we will learn four of the word families. Next time, we will read four more.

‘ar’ Word List – I Read bar car jar tar scar star card hard yard large charge bark dark hark lark mark park shark

‘ar’ Word List – We Read bar car jar tar scar star card hard yard large charge bark dark hark lark mark park shark

‘ar’ Word List – You Read bar car jar tar scar star card hard yard large charge bark dark hark lark mark park shark

Review – ‘ar’ What sound does the vowel sound ‘ar’ make? That’s right, ‘ar’ says the sound of the name of ‘r.’ Next time, we’ll be practicing more word families with ‘ar’! Your “ticket” out today is to tell me three ‘ar’ words we learned.

Day 2: ‘ar’ Continued What sound does ‘ar’ make? Right – it says the name of ‘r.’ Last time, we learned the word families –ar, -ard, -arge, and –ark. Today we will be learning four new word families with ‘ar.’

Get Ready to Read! ‘ar’ We are going to read more words with the vowel sound ‘ar.’ I will read the words first; then, we will read them together, and last, you will read them by yourselves. All of the word families will have ‘ar’ in the middle. Don’t forget the sound of ‘ar’ – what sound? That’s right. ‘ar’ says the name of r. Please listen as I read the word list to you so that you will be ready to read it with me after.

‘ar’ Word List – I Read arm farm harm charm barn yarn harp tarp sharp art cart dart mart part tart chart smart start

‘ar’ Word List – We Read arm farm harm charm barn yarn harp tarp sharp art cart dart mart part tart chart smart start

‘ar’ Word List – You Read arm farm harm charm barn yarn harp tarp sharp art cart dart mart part tart chart smart start

Review – ‘ar’ Continued What sound does the vowel sound ‘ar’ make? That’s right, ‘ar’ says the sound of the name of ‘r.’ Next time, we’ll be practicing word families with ‘er’! Your “ticket” out today is to tell me three ‘ar’ words we learned.

Checklist ar er ir or ur

Day 3: ‘er’ The sound of ‘er’ is the same sound as the letter ‘r.’ What is the sound of letter ‘r’? That’s right. When you see ‘er,’ just think of the sound of letter ‘r.’ Please listen as I read the words with ‘er’ so that you can read them with me after.

Get Ready to Read! ‘er’ We are going to read words with the vowel sound ‘er.’ I will read the words first; then, we will read them together, and last, you will read them by yourselves. Some of the word families will have ‘er’ at the end. Others will have ‘er’ in the middle. ‘er’ has six different word families. Today, we will learn these word families. Next time, we will learn the word families for another R-controlled vowel.

‘er’ Word List – I Read her per merge verge jerk clerk germ term fern stern nerve serve verve swerve

‘er’ Word List – We Read her per merge verge jerk clerk germ term fern stern nerve serve verve swerve

‘er’ Word List – You Read her per merge verge jerk clerk germ term fern stern nerve serve verve swerve

Review – ‘er’ What sound does the vowel sound ‘er’ make? That’s right, ‘er’ says the sound of ‘r.’ Next time, we’ll be practicing word families with ‘ir’! Your “ticket” out today is to tell me three ‘er’ words we learned.

Checklist ar er ir or ur

Day 4: ‘ir’ The sound of ‘ir’ is the same sound as the letter ‘r.’ What is the sound of letter ‘r’? That’s right. When you see ‘ir,’ just think of the sound of letter ‘r.’ You might have realized that ‘ir’ makes the same sound as ‘ir.’ If you are trying to spell a word you may need to try both of these! Please listen as I read the words with ‘ir’ so that you can read them with me after.

Get Ready to Read! ‘ir’ We are going to read words with the vowel sound ‘ir.’ I will read the words first; then, we will read them together, and last, you will read them by yourselves. Some of the word families will have ‘ir’ at the end. Others will have ‘ir’ in the middle. ‘ir’ has five different word families. Today, we will learn these word families. Next time, we will learn the word families for another R-controlled vowel.

‘ir’ Word List – I Read fir sir stir whir bird third quirk dirt shirt skirt squirt birth girth mirth

‘ir’ Word List – We Read fir sir stir whir bird third quirk dirt shirt skirt squirt birth girth mirth

‘ir’ Word List – You Read fir sir stir whir bird third quirk dirt shirt skirt squirt birth girth mirth

Review – ‘ir’ What sound does the vowel sound ‘ir’ make? That’s right, ‘er’ says the sound of ‘r.’ Next time, we’ll be practicing word families with ‘or’! Your “ticket” out today is to tell me three ‘ir’ words we learned.

Checklist ar er ir or ur

Day 5: ‘or’ The sound of ‘or’ is the same sound as the word or. How do you say the word or? That’s right. When you see ‘or,’ just read it like the word or. Please listen as I read the words with ‘ir’ so that you can read them with me after.

Day 5: ‘or’ The sound of ‘or’ is the same sound as the word or. How do you say the word or? That’s right. When you see ‘or,’ just read it like the word or. Please listen as I read the words with ‘ir’ so that you can read them with me after.

Get Ready to Read! ‘or’ We are going to read words with the vowel sound ‘or.’ I will read the words first; then, we will read them together, and last, you will read them by yourselves. Some of the word families will have ‘or’ at the end. Others will have ‘or’ in the middle. ‘or’ has six different word families. Today, we will learn these word families. Next time, we will learn the word families for another R-controlled vowel.

‘or’ Word List – I Read for porch torch scorch cord sword fork pork stork form storm born corn horn torn worn sworn thorn fort short snort sport

‘or’ Word List – We Read for porch torch scorch cord sword fork pork stork form storm born corn horn torn worn sworn thorn fort short snort sport

‘or’ Word List – You Read for porch torch scorch cord sword fork pork stork form storm born corn horn torn worn sworn thorn fort short snort sport

Review – ‘or’ What sound does the vowel sound ‘or’ make? That’s right, ‘or’ is said as or. Next time, we’ll be practicing word families with ‘ur’! Your “ticket” out today is to tell me three ‘or’ words we learned.

Checklist ar er ir or ur

Day 6: ‘ur’ The sound of ‘ur’ is the same as the sound for the letter ‘r.’ What sound? That’s right. When you see ‘ur,’ think of the sound of the letter ‘r.’ ‘ur’ makes the same sound as ‘er’ and ‘ir’! Please listen as I read the words with ‘ur’ so that you can read them with me after.

Get Ready to Read! ‘ur’ We are going to read words with the vowel sound ‘ur.’ I will read the words first; then, we will read them together, and last, you will read them by yourselves. Some of the word families will have ‘ur’ at the end. Others will have ‘ur’ in the middle. ‘ur’ has six different word families. Today, we will learn these word families. Next time, we will practice with mixed lists from all five word families.

‘ur’ Word List – I Read fur blur spur curb suburb curl hurl burn turn churn curse nurse purse curt hurt blurt

‘ur’ Word List – We Read fur blur spur curb suburb curl hurl burn turn churn curse nurse purse curt hurt blurt

‘ur’ Word List – You Read fur blur spur curb suburb curl hurl burn turn churn curse nurse purse curt hurt blurt

Review – ‘ur’ What sound does the vowel sound ‘ur’ make? That’s right, ‘ur’ makes the sound of the letter r. Next time, we’ll be practicing words from all the word families! Your “ticket” out today is to tell me three ‘ur’ words we learned.

Checklist ar er ir or ur

Day 7: Mixed Review “Not bad! I think you’re cool enough to hang out with me. But just remember who’s in control!”

Get Ready to Read! Let’s review the vowel sounds. ar er ir or ur

Mixed Review – I Read harm turn fort perk shirt worn park hurt skirt her art fur for per smirk form harp curl bird nerve yard curb sword term third short charge blur birth clerk

Mixed Review – We Read harm turn fort perk shirt worn park hurt skirt her art fur for per smirk form harp curl bird nerve yard curb sword term third short charge blur birth clerk

Mixed Review – You Read harm turn fort perk shirt worn park hurt skirt her art fur for per smirk form harp curl bird nerve yard curb sword term third short charge blur birth clerk

Review – Mixed Review Tell me the sounds of the R-controlled vowels. ar er ir or ur Next time, we’ll be reading two-syllable words that have two sets of R-controlled vowels! Your ticket out today is to tell me five words with R-controlled vowels.

Day 8: 2-Syllable Words To read words with two r-controlled vowels, look at each part separately. “Burger” has 2 r-controlled vowels! To read these words, read each part. Then read the whole word together. burgerburger

Get Ready to Read! We are going to read 2-syllable words with two r-controlled vowel sounds. Read the first part. Read the second part. Then, read both parts together. I Read, We Read, You Read.

2-Syllable Words: I Read barber murmur marker further former server corner garner ardor farther juror merger

2-Syllable Words: We Read barber murmur marker further former server corner garner ardor farther juror merger

2-Syllable Words: You Read barber murmur marker further former server corner garner ardor farther juror merger

Congratulations! “Looks like you’re the one in CONTROL of R-controlled vowels! You should meet my cousin… THE BOSSY E!

R-Controlled Vowels Lesson from: