PHONICS FRIDAY--A VOWEL SORT

Today was a fun but very busy day:)  My husband and I took our little guy to the zoo.  He had a ball but we were all exhausted by the end of the trip.  I am still not great at scheduling my posts in advance therefore my PHONICS FRIDAY is late tonight.  One of my many goals for this summer is to become more organized and getting my posts done in advance.  I am so bad about doing stuff last minute.

Distinguishing between long and short vowel sounds is HUGE for kiddos learning to read.  In our district, we utilize Fundations to teach students basic phonics concepts.  It begins with introducing short vowel sounds and then introducing long sounds starting with the silent "e".  I sometimes take for granted that students can hear the vowel say its "name" and they don't need to practice sorting the long and short vowel sounds.  Practice with this skill is important.  It reinforces that students understand the difference between the two sounds or tells you clearly that they need more opportunities to practice. 

I created a little freebie to practice sorting the short and long sounds for the letter A.  I did a picture sort and a word sort.  I would love to know which you prefer to use to practice this skill and why!

Click on the pictures above to grab your freebie.  I hope you enjoyed this PHONICS FRIDAY!  Any ideas on what you would like to see next week please feel free to let me know!!!  I am open to ideas, thoughts, and suggestions.  Until next week!