Learning objectives
- Identify pictures whose names have the short a sound.
- Write a to complete a three-letter short a word.
- Read a sentence made of short a words and show its meaning in a drawing.
Students pick out pictures with the short a sound, write a to finish four picture words, and read and draw two short a sentences.
Only the colour PDF is ready for this resource so far. The other formats are on the way.
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Children listen for, write and read the short a sound. First they name six pictures and pick out the four with short a, so they have to listen for the vowel. Next they write the missing a in van, fan, bag and pan, tying the letter to the sound they just said. Last they read two sentences such as "A rat naps on a mat.", draw each one and reread it up to three times. The answer key marks every picture and describes what each drawing should show.
Run the warm-up from the key before the picture check: say van, pig, nap, sun and fan, and have children tap their chin only on the short a words.
Ant is the one picture where short a comes first rather than in the middle. If a child leaves it unchecked, say "a-a-ant" slowly so they hear the vowel at the start.
Check the drawings for the details in the words: the second sentence needs a tan van with Dad inside, not just any car.
Ways to adjust the short a page for different learners.
Each one is checked against the official document. Where the resource covers only part of a standard, the note says so.
Students write the missing a to finish van, fan, bag and pan and read short-a words such as rat, mat and van; writing whole CVC words from sounds alone is not included.
Students say picture names and decide which have the short a sound in them, listening for a sound in the middle of a word; blending and swapping sounds are not practised.
Students read two short decodable sentences (A rat naps on a mat. Dad sat in the tan van.) and draw them to show the meaning; it is two sentences, not a longer text.
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