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PSPKK12337 Comments

Games that build fluency with CVC words

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free games to help get fluency with CVC words

Do you have learners who sound out CVC words, but do it oooh sooo slowwwlly?

Cat isn’t “cat.” It’s “/k/ /ă/ /t/.”

Or maybe they mix up their middle vowels. Sip becomes “sap.”

I’m currently working with a group of sweet, bright first graders for about 20 minutes each morning before they start the school day.

Before our first session, their teachers had told me that they needed help with basic reading skills.

So I printed the most advanced of my Race to the Pond games – the one which includes CVC words with all five short vowels. I put the students in pairs, and we began to play.

But when I saw how slowly they sounded out the words – and how often they mixed up those middle vowels – I knew I needed to back up.

roll and read game

So I created a set of 18 Roll & Read games. Each one builds on the one before.

Every game follows the same pattern. Students roll a die, read the corresponding column, and color in a circle at the bottom. They keep doing this until they demonstrate that they can read each row quickly and smoothly.  When they do well on a full page, we color the trophy, and they advance to the next game.

I call them our Fast & Fluent games.

roll and read game being played

This is the second game. Even though this game also features short a CVC words, each row has a variety of different word families.

YOU’LL LOVE THIS PRACTICAL BOOK!

Looking for an easy-to-read guide to help you reach all readers? If you teach kindergarten through third grade, this is the book for you. Get practical ideas and lesson plan templates that you can implement tomorrow!

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This game requires students to read to the end of each word. To pass the page, the students have to read each word at a decent rate.

They have to do better than  “/t/ /ă/ /b/.”  I sometimes let “taaaab” go, depending on the learner. However, my goal is for each of them to be fast and fluent with all the CVC words.

roll and read game being played

After students demonstrate fluency with short a words, they move on to short o words – first a page of rhyming words, like this one. Following it is a page of mixed short o words.

roll and read game

The last game, number 18, includes a mix of short vowel CVC words.

With practice, all five students are getting better at sounding out their CVC words correctly and quickly!

Teaching tips

  • You’ll likely find that you can spend at least 10 minutes on the games your first few sessions.  But after that, they will start to lose their appeal. Play other games for the majority of your session, but return to these folders for at least 5 minutes of focused practice.
  • Some students will love the dice aspect, and others will tire of it. Don’t require them to use the die unless they wish.
  • If you listen to a child work through a page and s/he reads a few columns well, color the die at the top of each of these columns. That way the child will know that s/he has “passed” those columns and need only work on the remaining ones to move on to the next game.
  • Sometimes sounding out CVC words finally “clicks.” If that happens, you may find that a learner who previously struggled can read the final game without difficulty. In that case, of course, you wouldn’t finish the folder. I recommend moving on to words with blends and digraphs.

Be sure to visit my Free Printables page to see all the other options I share for reading CVC words!

YOU’LL LOVE THIS PRACTICAL BOOK!

Looking for an easy-to-read guide to help you reach all readers? If you teach kindergarten through third grade, this is the book for you. Get practical ideas and lesson plan templates that you can implement tomorrow!

GET YOUR COPY TODAY!

Decodable Passages: CVC Words

$12.00

Use these 23 decodable passages to help new readers develop fluency with CVC words. Each page includes blending practice, a short reading passage, a comprehension question, and spelling practice.

Buy Now

Get your free reading games!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Blending Lines for CVC Words

$7.00

Teachers love our no-prep, easy-to-use blending lines!

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Free Reading Printables for Pre-K-3rd Grade

Join our email list and get this sample pack of time-saving resources from our membership site! You'll get phonemic awareness, phonics, and reading comprehension resources ... all free!

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Filed Under: CVC Words, Reading Tagged With: CVC words, first grade, kindergarten

You May Also Enjoy These Episodes:

Worksheets for o-e words What is sound-symbol association in a structured literacy classroom? Specific ways to teach morphology in the lower grades – with Fiona Hamilton
Books about opposites
40 math games for math fact fluency

Reader Interactions

37 Comments

  1. Patricia Montoto

    June 12, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    Thank you so much !! Amazing work.

    Reply to this comment
  2. Julia Kugland

    April 23, 2020 at 2:55 pm

    Your games are wonderful and would work perfectly for this digital learning time. Are the materials ok to post on seesaw for children in my class to access and print?

    Reply to this comment
    • Kate Dowling

      April 24, 2020 at 8:31 pm

      Hi Julia!

      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. Please check your email for a response from Anna. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  3. Suzanne Pettifer

    April 13, 2020 at 11:46 am

    Would these printables be appropriate for us to use in our packets that we are printing for our district for students who are not able to access online resources?? I dont want to disadvantage you or to break any copyright laws
    Thanks!
    Suzanne

    Reply to this comment
    • Kate Dowling

      April 13, 2020 at 1:13 pm

      Hi Suzanne!

      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant.
      Please check your email for a message from Anna. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  4. Evgenia

    September 10, 2019 at 7:26 pm

    Thank you sooooo much??? for your creative and amazing ideas

    Reply to this comment
  5. Carrie Rael

    April 8, 2019 at 2:48 pm

    I have started to use both the CVC and the CVC with beginning blends. It is great to be able to differentiate while all practicing the same skill. I created a cover sheet for these books with the race car and the trophies. I would love to share with you but am not sure how to get it to you. If you send me your email I can send it to you. My kids are so excited to “play this game!”.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      April 14, 2019 at 8:34 pm

      Hi Carrie! You can reach me here: anna(at)themeasuredmom(dot)com.

      Reply to this comment
  6. Rubbia

    April 8, 2019 at 3:30 am

    Great – Thanks alot .. my kid enjoyed going through these 😀

    Reply to this comment
  7. Deanna L Richison

    March 29, 2019 at 12:02 pm

    Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with me. It will help me in working with my small groups and build the children’s confidence in their reading .

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      April 27, 2019 at 8:57 am

      You’re welcome, Deanna!

      Reply to this comment
  8. Stacey

    January 26, 2019 at 11:45 am

    Thank you so much. Just what I needed.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      January 27, 2019 at 7:46 am

      You’re welcome, Stacey!

      Reply to this comment
  9. Lori

    January 19, 2019 at 6:50 am

    Thanks for making some wonderful printables and sharing them with the world!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      January 23, 2019 at 7:02 am

      You’re very welcome, Lori!

      Reply to this comment
  10. Krista

    December 1, 2018 at 6:41 pm

    Hi Anna,
    Does the Fast and Fluent game come in blends and digraphs? I can’t seem to find one but would love that next level as it is very motivating.
    Thank you,
    Krista

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      December 1, 2018 at 7:36 pm

      I’ve had a few requests for that and am hoping to get it into the subscriber library this month. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  11. Julie Behnke

    November 30, 2018 at 6:21 am

    Anna – You are awesome and soooooo….generous. Thank you for all of the work you put into these activities. And, thank you for sharing!!! You are amazing. May God continue to bless you and your family.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      December 9, 2018 at 7:32 am

      Thank you for your kind words, Julie!

      Reply to this comment
  12. Alice

    November 29, 2018 at 7:46 am

    My son is in K and is a bit behind his peers. I stumbled upon your website and absolutely love what you do and share with us. It’s help him and I tremendously. Thank you. Thank you so, so, so much!!!!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      November 30, 2018 at 7:24 am

      You’re very welcome, Alice!

      Reply to this comment
  13. Gigi Beaumont

    November 28, 2018 at 1:07 pm

    Love this! Thank you so much! This is so helpful!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      November 30, 2018 at 7:23 am

      You’re welcome, Gigi!

      Reply to this comment
  14. Karon Axtell

    November 28, 2018 at 12:31 pm

    OMGosh, I am so excited to have these for our intervention time. Thanks so much 🙂

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      November 30, 2018 at 7:23 am

      You’re welcome, Karon!

      Reply to this comment
  15. Adina

    November 28, 2018 at 9:09 am

    I really enjoy your materials and they help me advance my students in creative and structured ways. I have a question that has been bothering me for a while. Why is the word “dog” included in short o words? At least for Americans, with an American pronunciation, the word “dog” does not sound like “fog, hog, jog, frog,” etc. Yet it is always used as a short o, cvc word. Why?
    Thank you so much!

    Reply to this comment
    • Julie Behnke

      November 30, 2018 at 6:24 am

      Adina – I just read your comment. Interestingly, I, as a native born American from San Diego, California, I do pronounce “dog” the same as fog, hog, jog, etc.! I would love to hear how you pronounce it! ~ Julie

      Reply to this comment
      • Adina

        December 11, 2018 at 12:19 pm

        Julie and Anna, thank you both for commenting! I’m hoping this conversation will clarify this point for me. I pronounce “dog” as “dawg”, but “frog, jog, etc.” have the same short o sound as in “pot, hot, lock, etc”. I also wish I could hear how you pronounce it!

        Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      December 3, 2018 at 10:01 am

      Hmm – I grew up in Virginia and now live in Wisconsin, and to me the words rhyme.

      Reply to this comment
  16. Jodee Dungan

    November 28, 2018 at 7:24 am

    Wow. Thank you so much. These are perfect for my Title I Reading students

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      November 30, 2018 at 7:21 am

      You’re welcome, Jodee!

      Reply to this comment
  17. Barbara

    November 27, 2018 at 7:48 pm

    Thank you, Anna! These will provide some much needed cvc practice. You are very generous.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      December 9, 2018 at 7:30 am

      You’re welcome, Barbara!

      Reply to this comment
  18. Kathy Smith

    November 27, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    Thank you for all of your great ideas!!! I definitely will use these with my “kids”.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      December 9, 2018 at 7:30 am

      You’re very welcome, Kathy!

      Reply to this comment
  19. Jennifer

    November 27, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    These are just what I was looking for! Perfect for a homework! Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      December 9, 2018 at 7:29 am

      I’m so glad you like them, Jennifer!

      Reply to this comment

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