Free printable short e phonics worksheets. Five practice activities: decodable passage, word sort, phrasing cards, rapid naming chart, and word search.
A free illustrated mini-book for Short E, plus the same story as a passage sheet for highlighting.
A full-color picture book your student reads on their own. Skill: Short E. Print, cut and staple.
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Pip had a pet hen. The hen was red.
Red got out of her pen. Her legs got wet. Pip had a big net. Red ran and ran. Pip ran to get her pet. But she did not get Red. Pip set the net on the grass.
Pip had a good tip. She set a dry grass bed in the pen.
“Rest, Red,” said Pip.
The wet hen did not run. The grass bed was not wet. Red got in the pen. Red sat on the bed. Pip fed her pet.
When e sits between two consonants, it usually says its short sound, /ĕ/, as in egg.
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The words this story set practices, in the two groups used by the word sort.
bed, red, fed, led, wed, hen, pen, ten, men, den, pet
ped, hep, kem, teg, zeb, nen, bem, jev, wep, ked
Short E 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 e 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 e sounds — each comes with its own set of worksheets.
Learning short 'e' CVC words like "bed," "red," and "hen" is a crucial step in early phonics, typically following short 'a' and preceding other short vowels. For many kindergarteners, the short 'e' sound can be particularly tricky because it’s often confused with short 'i' (e.g., "pen" sounding like "pin") or even short 'a' (e.g., "men" sounding like "man"). The mouth position for short 'e' is relaxed, with the tongue slightly lower and further back than for short 'i', which requires a tighter, higher tongue position. Emphasizing the clear, relaxed "eh" sound in words like "jet," "wet," and "leg" helps children distinguish it from similar-sounding vowels, preventing common mispronunciations and strengthening their decoding accuracy. Mastering this distinction is fundamental for building a solid reading foundation. Our short 'e' CVC worksheets provide targeted practice to solidify this sound. Begin with the decodable passage, "Red the Hen," encouraging your child to sound out each word, focusing on the clear "eh" in words like "Red," "hen," "fed," and "men." After reading, use the word sort activity to categorize words by their short 'e' sound, perhaps contrasting them with previously learned short 'a' words if that’s a point of confusion. The phrasing cards are excellent for building fluency; have your child read phrases like "a red hen" or "wet jet" with expression. Finally, the Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) chart helps build speed and recognition for these high-frequency short 'e' words, ensuring they become instantly recognizable for emergent readers.
For more early literacy resources, explore our sight word flashcards, tracing worksheets, handwriting worksheets, and coloring pages.
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