Free printable short a phonics worksheets. Five practice activities: decodable passage, word sort, phrasing cards, rapid naming chart, and word search.
A free illustrated mini-book for Short A, plus the same story as a passage sheet for highlighting.
A full-color picture book your student reads on their own. Skill: Short A. Print, cut and staple.
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Max had a cat. His cat was Pat. But Pat was not on his lap. Pat was not on his bed. Pat was not on his cap. Pat was not in the big bag. No Pat. Max was sad.
Max had a look at his mat. The mat had a big fat lump. Max had a tug on the mat. Pat ran! “Pat! You bad cat!” said Max. He sat on the mat. Pat sat on his lap. It was a nap for Max and Pat.
When a sits between two consonants, it usually says its short sound, /ă/, as in apple.
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The words this story set practices, in the two groups used by the word sort.
cat, bat, hat, mat, sat, tap, cap, nap, map, van, dap, tat, gat
zat, bap, han, nal, dav, rab, vad
Short A words to read, match and write, with pictures. Each PDF has its answer key on page 2.
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4 ready-to-print PDFs for this story's short a words. Each one opens as its own file.
Cut-apart word cards to sort: Real Words or Nonsense Words. Answer key on page 2.
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More picture worksheets: beginning sounds, ending sounds, rhyming and syllables — new pictures every time you print.
A new decodable story with the same short a sounds — each comes with its own set of worksheets.
Short A CVC words are often the very first consonant-vowel-consonant patterns young readers encounter, forming the bedrock of early decoding. This foundational skill helps children blend three distinct sounds together smoothly, like in "c-a-t" to make "cat." A common challenge for kindergarteners is distinguishing the short 'a' sound /ă/ from other vowel sounds they might hear in everyday speech, or sometimes even stretching it into a long 'a' sound. For instance, a child might initially pronounce "tap" as "tape" or struggle to isolate the /ă/ in "nap," blending it too quickly with the surrounding consonants. Recognizing the clear, quick /ă/ in words like "bag," "ran," and "dad" is crucial for building their confidence and accuracy before moving on to other short vowels. Our Printable Scholar worksheets are designed to reinforce these essential short 'a' CVC patterns. After reading the engaging story, "Max's Hiding Cat," encourage your child to revisit the decodable passage, pointing to and sounding out each short 'a' word they find, such as "hat" or "ran." The word sort activity helps them categorize words like "fan" and "van," strengthening their visual recognition of the pattern. Use the phrasing cards to practice reading short phrases like "a sad dad" or "tap the mat" with fluency, emphasizing the correct short 'a' pronunciation. Finally, the Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) chart for short 'a' words provides a fun way to build speed and automaticity, quickly identifying words like "jam" and "cap" without hesitation.
For more early literacy resources, explore our sight word flashcards, tracing worksheets, handwriting worksheets, and coloring pages.
Printable Scholar
