LumiraWhat is an r-controlled vowel?
When a vowel is followed by r, the r changes the vowel sound entirely — it is neither long nor short. These are sometimes called bossy-r vowels, and they need to be taught as their own category rather than as vowel-plus-r.
ir words (r-controlled vowel) — word list
Every word below appears in the decodable book on this page, so a reader who practises the list will meet the same words again in context.
- bird
- chirp
- dirt
- first
- girl
- shirt
- skirt
- stir
- swirl
- third
- twirl
Free decodable book: Decodable R-Controlled IR
This is an original Lumira decodable reader, written so that a child can sound out nearly every word using patterns they have already been taught. The full text is below — read it here, or open it in the app to read it together with the words highlighting as you speak.
Mia saw a bird. Leo saw a bird too. They like it.
The bird can chirp. Mia and Leo saw the bird chirp.
A girl had a shirt. Leo had a shirt too.
Mia can twirl. Leo can twirl too. Mia and Leo twirl and swirl.
Leo got up first. Mia got up third. They like it.
Bird girl first third shirt skirt swirl twirl dirt chirp stir.
How to teach it
- Say the sound on its own first, several times, before showing any letters.
- Show the spelling and name it explicitly — tell the reader what it says rather than asking them to work it out.
- Blend two or three words from the list together, out loud, slowly.
- Read the decodable book above, where the pattern repeats in real sentences.
- Come back to it two or three days later. Cumulative review is what makes it stick.
Lessons that practise this pattern
ir (r-controlled)
Read ir as in bird and girl
Word sort: er, ir, ur (same sound)
Sort words that all say the same r-controlled vowel sound by spelling