How To Teach CVC Words
CVC words, or consonant-vowel-consonant words, are likely the very first words your students will learn to sound out phonetically and read. Your students are ready to learn how to read and spell CVC words if they have most letter sounds mastered. CVC words consist of a consonant, a vowel, and another consonant, such as the words mat, pen, and bug.
As a special education teacher, I find that introducing one short vowel a week works well. If you’re teaching general education, you may find that you’re able to progress more quickly. I follow the same general lesson plan for phonics each week, which is easier for both you and your students. In this post, I’ll use short a for the examples and explain how I would teach short a words over the course of a week.
Day 1
Show students a picture of a CVC word with short a, such as a bat. Model saying each sound and blending them together: “/b/ /a/ /t/, bat.” Explain that bat has three sounds, and that the middle sound is /a/. Explain that students will be learning to read words with /a/ as the middle sound. Place a word card that says bat next to the picture, or write the word bat. Write or show another short vowel CVC word, such as mat, and model saying each sound and blending to read the word. Show the corresponding picture. After modeling, lead students in guided practice of reading more words. Then, practice reading fluency sentences together that contain only CVC words and known sight words. You can find the needed picture cards, word cards, and fluency sentences in my Phonics by Design CVC Word Unit.
Day 2
Briefly review what you taught yesterday, and then tell students they’ll be practicing writing words with the /a/ sound today. Show a picture card with a short a word, such as tag. Model segmenting the word (/t/ /a/ /g/) and then writing each corresponding letter to write the word on the board or chart paper. Continue with other picture cards, having students segment the sounds as a group or taking turns. Finally, have students practice on their own by dictating words to them and having them write them down. You can also dictate a few short sentences that include only known sight words and CVC words.
Day 3
Today students will independently practice reading and writing CVC words with short a. I use the activity sheets included in my Phonics by Design CVC Word Unit and in my No Prep resources. You can get the Short A worksheets for FREE by signing up below!
Day 4
Review reading and spell words with short a before introducing a simple CVC word matching game they can play in pairs. Spread out the cards in a grid face down. When it’s their turn, the student will turn over two cards and identify the pictures and/or read the words. If it’s a match, they keep the pair. If not, they put the cards back, face down. Students alternate turns until all pairs have been matched. The student with the most pairs wins. You can find matching games included for each short vowel in the Phonics by Design CVC Words Unit.
Day 5
Assess students by dictating ten CVC words with short a and having them record them. If you have time and a small enough group, you may also wish to have individual students read a few CVC words for you as well.
This lesson plan schedule for teaching CVC words is simple but effective! You can cover one short vowel each week following the same structure.
Save yourself time by snagging everything you need to teach CVC words in one place with my Phonics by Design CVC Words Unit Bundle. You’ll get all the materials mentioned in this post for each short vowel (picture cards, word cards, fluency sentences, activity sheets, matching game), plus posters, flapbooks, and more! Snag it here.
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