R-Controlled (er) Worksheets

Free printable r-controlled — er phonics worksheets. Four practice activities: decodable passage, word sort, phrasing cards, and rapid naming chart.

Grade: 1st-2nd Phase 4: Vowel Teams & Advanced Pattern: ER r-controlled vowel

her fern herd jerk perk term perm verb herb after river never

1 Decodable Reading Passage

A short, decodable story embedding r-controlled — er words. Students read the passage then highlight all the target words.

Jane's Purple Fern

Skill: R-Controlled — ER • Sight Words: the, is, a, and, to, was, it, she, he, they, said, have, with, you, are, be

Coloring page included in PDF

Jane had a big fern. Its green stem did not perk up. “It needs water,” said her mother. Jane got a big pot from under the sink. She filled it with water. But the pot was too much for her to hold up! Her big sister, Kim, saw her. “I can help you with that,” said Kim. Together, they carried the super big pot of water over to the fern. Jane held one side and her sister held the other. After they gave it a drink, the fern looked better. “Thank you, sister,” Jane whispered to Kim.

Circle or highlight all the ER r-controlled words in the story above. How many did you find?

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2 Word Sort

Cut out the word cards and sort them into the correct columns: Real Words vs Nonsense Words.

Real Words

Nonsense Words

her

fern

herd

jerk

perk

term

perm

verb

herb

after

cerz

perz

lerz

herz

ferz

kerz

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3 Phrasing Practice Cards

Practice reading these phrases for fluency. Cut out the cards and read them quickly and smoothly.

the her on fern

a fern in herd

the herd and jerk

a jerk with perk

the perk on term

a term in perm

the perm and verb

a verb with herb

the herb on after

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4 RAN Chart (Rapid Naming)

Read each word in the grid as quickly as you can. Time yourself and try to beat your best time!

Decodable RAN Chart — R-Controlled — ER

herb

her

perk

sister

under

sister

herb

sister

perk

her

under

her

under

Target words: her, perk, herb, sister, under

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5 Word Search

Find and circle the r-controlled — er words hidden in the grid. Words go across, down, and diagonally — a fun way to reinforce r-controlled — er word recognition.

R-Controlled — ER Word Search

Q

B

L

E

J

H

E

R

D

A

P

E

R

M

G

E

W

Q

N

F

F

E

R

N

C

L

R

I

C

T

O

Z

H

T

V

J

I

K

E

E

L

E

K

E

R

P

V

H

E

R

H

G

N

R

R

I

E

V

T

V

N

T

E

M

F

B

V

R

W

E

Q

G

V

X

A

W

Y

E

K

R

Z

L

E

Q

Q

V

Q

K

R

B

Y

Q

R

M

K

L

N

M

H

V

AFTER FERN HER HERB HERD JERK NEVER PERK PERM RIVER TERM VERB

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📖 Decodable Readers for R-Controlled — ER

Next step: once your child can sound out these words, have them read a matching decodable mini-book. Each R-Controlled — ER reader is a printable story + coloring page using only sounds they've learned.

Jane's Purple Fern

← R-Controlled (ar) Worksheets View All Phonics Skills R-Controlled (ir) Worksheets →

Free Printable R-Controlled (er) Worksheets

These free r-controlled (er) worksheets provide structured phonics practice for the ER r-controlled vowel. Activities include a decodable passage embedding target words in a fun story, a word sort activity to distinguish real and nonsense words, phrasing practice cards for fluency building, and a rapid naming (RAN) chart for automaticity. Each worksheet prints cleanly on standard US Letter paper.

For more early literacy resources, explore our sight word flashcards, tracing worksheets, handwriting worksheets, and coloring pages.

R-Controlled (er) Worksheets

1 Decodable Reading Passage

2 Word Sort

3 Phrasing Practice Cards

4 RAN Chart (Rapid Naming)

5 Word Search

📖 Decodable Readers for R-Controlled — ER

Free Printable R-Controlled (er) Worksheets

More Free Printable Tools

Sight Word Flashcards

Tracing Worksheets

Handwriting Worksheets