R-Controlled Vowels

literacy connection

Common Letter Patterns --Two of the most common letter patterns in beginning reading are CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) and CVC-silent e (consonant, vowel, consonant followed by a silent e). If you teach beginning readers these two simple rules, they can read many words quickly. Begin with children who know their letters (and perhaps the distinction between consonants and vowels).

If you see the CVC pattern, the vowel in the center almost always has a short sound (cat, run, top). If you try the short vowel sound and it doesn’t sound like a word you know, try the long vowel instead.

If you see the CVC-silent e pattern, the first vowel almost always says his name (is long) and the second vowel (the e) is quiet. Examples: give, take, same. This same rule applies most of the time when there are two vowels in a word, even if they are together (examples: rain, read, seed, tear) - the first one says his name and the second one is quiet.

Just teaching these two beginning pattern rules will have your students reading many simple words quickly. You can also combine one-syllable words that follow these patterns to have your students reading compound "big" words in no time. Examples of those include pancake, footwear, mailman, or sunshine (note even this last one is CVC & CCVC-silent e combined).