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.
ur 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.
- burn
- burst
- church
- curb
- curl
- fur
- hurt
- nurse
- purr
- purse
- surf
- turn
Free decodable book: Decodable R-Controlled UR
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 has a cat with fur. Leo has a cat with fur too.
The cat can purr. Mia and Leo like the purr.
Leo can turn. Mia can turn too. Mia and Leo turn and turn.
Mia did not get hurt. Leo did not get hurt too.
A nurse is at the church. Mia and Leo saw the nurse.
Fur turn burn hurt church curl burst curb nurse purse surf.
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
ur (r-controlled)
Read ur as in fur and turn
Word sort: er, ir, ur (same sound)
Sort words that all say the same r-controlled vowel sound by spelling