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Phonics

Short U CVC Words

Printable phonics practice for short u, the short u in sun, a grunt from the throat. 32 words and 4 word families, as sound boxes, missing letters, family lists or handwriting practice.

32 words4 familiesSound boxesPDF · SVG
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Four steps

How to practise short u

  1. 1

    Say the vowel alone

    Hold the short u in sun for a second before using it in a word.

  2. 2

    Segment with sound boxes

    One box per sound, said slowly.

  3. 3

    Fill a missing letter

    The child supplies the sound that was removed.

  4. 4

    Read a family

    Learning one chunk unlocks several words at once.

Short u

It is the short u in sun, a grunt from the throat. Short u is the vowel adults slur most in ordinary speech, so it needs saying deliberately and slowly when teaching it.

The word families

A word family shares an ending, so learning the chunk once unlocks every word in the group. These are the short u families:

All the short u words on these sheets

sunrunfunbungunnunpunstunbugrughugmugjugdugtugplugcuthutbutnutgutshutjutrutcuppupupbusbudmudtubcub

Where this sits

Before this comes short o. After it comes short e.

Related printables

See every short vowel, or pair this with sight words, which cover the common words phonics cannot decode.

Answers

Frequently asked questions

It is the short u in sun, a grunt from the throat. Say it on its own, held for a second, before putting it inside a word.

-un, -ug, -ut, -ub. Each one gives a child several words for the price of learning a single chunk.

Short u is the vowel adults slur most in ordinary speech, so it needs saying deliberately and slowly when teaching it.

Go back to the vowel on its own, away from any word. Most vowel confusion is a listening problem rather than a reading one, and a child who cannot hear the difference between two vowels in isolation will not spot it inside a word.

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Work through every vowel

Five short vowels in teaching order, with word families for each.

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