Reading / Grade 1 / supported practice
Change a short-u word
Learning goal: Read short-u word chains with a helper, check the middle, and prepare for mixed short-vowel practice.
Before you start: Work with an adult on short u and the sounds used in sun, run, rub, cut, hut and hum. Review short a before comparing cut and cat.
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Short-u Word Changes - Practice 1
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1. Read a short-u word
Video: 0:00
This word is sun. We are reading the written word, not looking at the Sun. Listen to the middle sound with your helper: sun. Learn any unfamiliar letter sounds first. Point from left to right, join the sounds, and read the whole word. Each of these three letters helps us know what to say.
2. Change the start
Video: 0:23
Start with sun. Change the first letter to r. Read run. Sun. Run. The middle and last letters stay in place. Only the first letter changes. We can read run while sitting still. There is no race today. Give each letter your attention and read the whole word at your own pace.
3. Change the end
Video: 0:50
Start with run. Change the last letter to b. Read rub. Run. Rub. Check that last letter carefully. To rub is to move something back and forth against a surface. We only need to read the word. Point to the changed letter, then go back to the beginning and read all three letters together.
4. Read about Gus
Video: 1:17
Gus is a name. Read this sentence: Gus can run. What can Gus do? He can run. Read it again, joining the words smoothly without hurrying. Does it say Gus won a race? No. It says he can run. Our imagined race would need more words before it belonged in this sentence.
5. Pause and try a fresh chain
Video: 1:44
Pause here. Start with cut. Change only the first letter to h. Read your new word. Now change its last letter to m. Read that word too. Check all three letters after each change. Ask your helper for a sound if needed, then try to join the sounds yourself.
6. Check your fresh chain
Video: 2:08
Cut becomes hut when c changes to h. Hut becomes hum when the last letter changes to m. Cut. Hut. Hum. A hut is a small, simple building. To hum is to make a tune with your lips closed. You can describe that instead of doing it. Read the words once more with your helper.
7. Notice a middle change
Video: 2:34
Fun fact: cut and cat keep the same first and last letters. Changing the middle letter makes another word. Read cut, then cat. Your helper can model the different middle sounds. Do not let the matching end letters trick you into saying the same word twice. The middle gets a turn too.
8. Finish, then mix your words
Video: 2:57
Try the worksheet below, then its second sheet on another day. These questions check letter changes, not spoken reading. When you are ready, mix some words from our earlier lessons with these words. Read each one carefully. Your helper can choose a sound to practice again. Learning is not a race to the last page.
Show your understanding
You can point, explain aloud, draw or write.
- Track first, last and middle letter changes while rereading each whole word.
- With a helper, read a fresh chain and explain Gus can run, then revisit words from earlier sessions. Choice questions do not measure spoken fluency.
Try it yourself
Pause at cut. Make two changes and read each new word before hearing the check.
Continue to the worksheet with your helper. Mix previously learned words when ready.
Next: your worksheet
Short-u Word Changes - Practice 1https://s3u.com/ra1s9
Lesson: https://s3u.com/lessons/change-a-short-u-word