LumiraWhat is a short vowel?
Short vowel sounds are the foundation of decoding. Once a reader can hear and write the five short vowels inside simple consonant-vowel-consonant words, most of the early reading code opens up.
Short i words — 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.
- big
- bin
- bit
- did
- dig
- dip
- fin
- hit
- in
- is
- lip
- nip
- pig
- pin
- pins
- sip
- sit
- tin
- tip
- wig
- win
Free decodable book: Decodable Short I
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.
Tim had a pin in a tin. Kit had a pin in a tin. Tim and Kit had pins.
The pig did dig in the bit. The big pig did sit. Tim hit the tin.
Kit can sip and dip. Tim can sip and dip. Lip and tip and sip and nip.
A fin is in the bin. A pin is in the tin. Kit did dig in the bin.
Tim can win a pin. Kit can win a tin. The big pig can sit.
The pig did dig and sit. Tim and Kit did sip. Bit and sit and hit.
Kit did hit the tip. Tim did hit the tin. The wig is on Tim.
Bin and tin and pin and fin and win. Pig and big and dig and sit.
Tim had a big wig. Kit had a pin and a tin. The pig did dig.
A bit is in the tin. Tim did sip from a tin. Kit did sit on a mat.
The pig is big. Tim is not big. Kit can dig and sip and sit.
Fin pin tin bin win lip tip sip nip. Tim and Kit did hit and sit.
Tim did dig in the bit. Kit did dig in the bin. The pig did sit.
Kit can nip and sip. Tim can win. The big pig did dig and sit.
A wig is on Kit. A pin is in a tin. Tim hit the tip of the tin.
Dig sip tip nip lip pin tin bin fin win pig big wig sit hit bit.
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
Build words: short i families
Blend CVC words with short vowel i
Read: The Pit (UFLI L10)
Read connected text from UFLI Foundations Lesson 10 decodable
Word sort: short i vs short o
Sort CVC words by their short vowel sound
Base + -ing (sit → sitting)
Add -ing suffix with doubling rule on short vowel bases