r-controlled vowels ‘anchor charts’

Our little learners are now comfortable reading short vowel words, long vowel words, and sight words and the next step is learning to read ‘r controlled words‘

An r-controlled vowel is one that is immediately followed by the letter ‘r’ and which can no longer be pronounced as a long or short vowel.

When the letter r follows a vowel, the vowel is usually forced to change its sound. That is why it is called the ‘BOSSY R.’

In most three-letter words with one vowel in the middle, the vowel has a short vowel sound

In most small words with one vowel in the middle, that vowel has a short vowel sound. For example cat, hen, sit, fog and fun. Now, if we change the last letter of each three-letter word to ‘r’,  the vowel is forced to change its sound.

cat      car

fog      for

hen     her

sit        sir

fun      fur

Listen to how the vowels have changed their sound. That’s why we call it ‘BOSSY R.’ It is also a fun way to teach the concept of ‘bossy r words.’

In the anchor charts below, we shall be reading ‘ar or ir er ur words.’

 

 

 

 

ar words – When the ‘a’ is followed by r, it makes the sound you hear in the words ‘arm’, ‘bar‘, ‘hard’, ‘sharp or ‘tarp’.

 

 

 

 

 

‘0r’ words – When the ‘o’ is followed by the r, it makes the sound you hear in the words ‘born’, ‘fork’, ‘horse’, ‘north’ or ‘shorts.’

 

 

 

 

‘ir’ words – When the ‘i’ is followed by the r, it makes the sound you hear in the words ‘irk’, ‘girl’, ‘shirt’, ‘sir‘ or ‘thirst.’

 

 

 

 

‘er’ words – When the ‘e’ is followed by the r, it makes the sound you hear in the words ‘herd’, ‘her‘, ‘river‘, ‘under‘ or ‘butter.’

 

 

 

When the ‘u’ is followed by the r, it makes the sound you hear in the words ‘urn’, ‘curls’, ‘blur‘, ‘hurt’ or ‘nurse.’

Notice that ‘ir er ur’ make the same sound /er/. Just like short vowels and long vowel words are taught separately, R Controlled Vowels should also be taught separately and systematically.

 

 

 

 

These anchor charts and word lists are free for subscribers to download. Click on the above image to download.

The above anchor charts do consume a lot of ink. So, I have prepared anchor charts that consume comparatively lesser ink and can be used as a wall display.

 

Click on the above image to download the PDF file for ar er ir or and ur words with pictures.

I hope you find these resources useful.