Lumira

Short vowel

Short u words

A word list, a complete free decodable book, and how to teach this pattern — all drawn from Lumira's structured phonics curriculum.

All phonics patterns › Short u words

What 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 u 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.

Free decodable book: Decodable Short U

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.

Gus can run. Sam can run. Gus and Sam can run.

The sun is up. Gus had fun in the sun. Sam had fun too.

A bug is on the rug. The bug ran. Gus and the bug ran.

Gus can hug the pup. Sam can hug the pup. The pup had fun.

Gus has a cub. The cub is in a tub. Gus and the cub had fun.

Sam had a cup. Gus had a cup too. Sam and Gus sat and had a cup.

The hut is on the mud. Gus ran in the mud. Sam ran in the mud too.

Gus can cut the bun. Sam can cut the bun. The bun is on a mat.

A pup sat on a rug. The pup had a bun. Gus had fun with the pup.

Gus and Sam sat in the sun. Gus had a cup and a bun. Sam had a bun too.

The cub ran on the rug. The pup ran on the rug. Gus had fun in the sun.

Sam sat in the hut. Gus sat in the hut too. The pup and the cub sat in the hut.

Bug rug cub tub cup cut bun fun run sun hug pup hut mud.

Gus and Sam had fun in the sun. The pup and the cub had fun too. The bug ran on the rug.

How to teach it

  1. Say the sound on its own first, several times, before showing any letters.
  2. Show the spelling and name it explicitly — tell the reader what it says rather than asking them to work it out.
  3. Blend two or three words from the list together, out loud, slowly.
  4. Read the decodable book above, where the pattern repeats in real sentences.
  5. Come back to it two or three days later. Cumulative review is what makes it stick.

Lessons that practise this pattern

Related short vowel patterns

Practise this in Lumira