Free printable word families u phonics worksheets. Five practice activities: decodable passage, word sort, phrasing cards, rapid naming chart, and word search.
A free illustrated mini-book for Word Families U, plus the same story as a passage sheet for highlighting.
A full-color picture book your student reads on their own. Skill: Word Families U. Print, cut and staple.
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Pip the pig had a big, hot bun and a nut. But the nut fell! Pip ran to his mat. His mug and jug sat on the mat. No nut. He ran to his cot. His cot was in the hut. But no nut.
He sat on his big red rug. He felt a bump in the rug. Pip set his bun on the rug. He had a big tug. His nut! He put the nut on his bun. It was so much fun.
The words this story set practices, in the two groups used by the word sort.
bug, dug, hug, jug, mug, pug, rug, tug, bun, fun
gun, nun, pun, run, sun, but, cut, gut, hut, nut
Short U words to read, match and write, with pictures. Each PDF has its answer key on page 2.
The sheets above are free. The pack is every sheet for short a, i, o, e and u in order, a review set and all the answer keys, ready to print.
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4 ready-to-print PDFs for this story's word families u words. Each one opens as its own file.
Cut-apart word cards to sort: -ug / -un Family or -ut Family. 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 word families u sounds — each comes with its own set of worksheets.
Understanding CVC word families with the short 'u' sound, like those found in -ug, -un, and -ut, is a crucial step in early phonics. This skill typically follows mastery of short 'a', 'e', and 'i' sounds, as the short 'u' can often be a tricky vowel for emergent readers. Young learners frequently confuse the short 'u' sound (as in 'bug' or 'sun') with the short 'o' sound (as in 'bog' or 'son') or even sometimes a schwa sound. For instance, 'bun' might be mispronounced as 'bon', or 'cut' as 'cot'. The subtle difference in tongue placement and mouth shape for /u/ versus /o/ requires focused practice to prevent these common confusions and solidify accurate decoding. Our worksheets provide targeted practice to build fluency with these short 'u' word families. Begin by using the decodable passage from "The Nut in the Rug" to help children identify and read words like 'rug', 'nut', and 'run' in context. Next, engage with the word sort activity, guiding students to categorize words such as 'mug', 'gun', and 'hut' into their respective -ug, -un, or -ut families, reinforcing visual and auditory patterns. Use the phrasing cards to practice reading short phrases that include these words, improving reading rhythm and comprehension. Finally, the Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) chart offers a fun way to build speed and automaticity in recognizing and pronouncing these essential CVC words.
For more early literacy resources, explore our sight word flashcards, tracing worksheets, handwriting worksheets, and coloring pages.
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