R-Controlled Vowels (ar, er, ir, or, ur) — Drag Drop
Literacy · Grades 1–3 · 1 card
How to run it
Ask the student to say the word and name the spelling before each move — bird, i-r. Because ar and or have distinct sounds and ir does not, this small set will show quickly whether the student is sorting by ear or by memory. Use it after the flashcard deck rather than instead of it; six items will not teach the pattern but they will show whether it is there.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentShow the card and wait 3 seconds for the student to read it.Log as correct
- Point to itPoint to the letter pattern that matters, or tap under each sound.Log as cued
- Sound it outSay the first sound together, then let the student blend the rest.Log as cued
- ModelRead it, tapping each sound; the student reads it after you.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer cards and start with the patterns the student already reads, such as 'car' and 'star'.
Read the words in a sentence, or spell them from dictation.
Matching IEP goal
Given decodable word cards, such as 'car' and 'star', Student will read the target pattern accurately in 8 of 10 words across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a visual cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
A six-word drag-and-drop round — car, star, water, bird, shirt, fork — derived from the sixteen-word r-controlled deck. Short on purpose, which makes it a check rather than the main practice: six items placed and named takes two minutes, and it samples four of the five spellings.
What to listen for
Watch bird and shirt, which share a spelling and a sound and can both be placed correctly by guessing. Notice water, where the er is unstressed and the vowel is weaker — a student who places it with the ar words has heard a schwa rather than a clear er, which is a reasonable mistake.
Carrying it home
Sorting six written words by their vowel pattern is a two-minute task on paper. Any early reader has these words in their books already — car, bird and fork turn up on almost every page, and spotting which spelling each one uses is the whole exercise.
What's in this activity
- car
- star
- water
- bird
- shirt
- fork
Questions
- How is this different from the flashcards?
- It uses six of the sixteen words and asks the student to place each one. It is a quick check rather than a full practice.
- Is it free?
- Yes, no account or card needed.
- Which should I use first?
- The flashcard deck, which covers all five spellings with several examples each. Use this afterwards to check the pattern is holding.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.