The short vowel series consists of 5 books. Each book focuses on one vowel at a time.

All 5 books are cleverly written with cvc words that contain the same vowel.

Short Vowel 1 Can a Cat eat a Rat? Short a

Short Vowel 2 Rob Short o

Short Vowel 3 Fun in the Mud! Short u

Short Vowel 4 Jen the Hen Short e

Short Vowel 5 The Fit! Short i

 Sequence
Letter Recognition and Sounds

If you want a strong foundation in letter

recognition and sounds, I encourage you
to use the super letters packet to put up
in the classroom. It will reinforce all that
you will be doing during guided reading. I
would strongly suggest you use the super
vowels packet. They are for free in my
store.
Super Letters A-Z Super Vowels a,e,i,o,u
 Guided Reading

Alpha 1 through 8 covers all letters

in the alphabet along with common
sight words. These serve as a great tool
for teaching early literacy skills. They
are also excellent for those students that
are having difficulty learning letters and
sounds and are in need of response to
intervention (RTI)!
Alpha 1 Alpha 2 Alpha 3 Alpha 4

Alpha 5 Alpha 6 Alpha 7 Alpha 8

 Digraphs
After your students complete Alpha 1 thru
8, I recommend you continue with Alpha 9
and 10. These packets focus on the most
common digraphs: ch, th, wh, sh. A great
compliment to these packets is the digraph
story. It’s a great book that teaches the
sound of the digraphs through a cute story.

Alpha 9 Alpha 10 Digraph Story

 Word Families

After completing the Alpha series (1-10),

you want students to move on to the Word
Family series. This series contains books
that do not have a pattern to them.
Students must be able to recognize a
decent amount of sight words. This series
will give students plenty of opportunities to
practice blending and segmenting onset and
rimes which is the step prior to tackling
CVC words outside a family pattern.
at family ug family ig family

an family op family
 Short Vowels
The short vowel series is meant for students
that are slightly beyond emergent reader books.
These books are composed of sight words along
with CVC words focusing on one certain vowel.
This series targets students that are able to
blend and segment fairly well but still need to
sharpen those skills. You will also see that this
series goes more in depth with the CCSS. Many
Close Reading Strategies are introduced in this
series.
Short a Short o Short u

Short e Short i
 Long Vowels
The long vowel series is meant for students
that are early readers. These books are
composed of sight words along with words
containing long vowel spelling patterns. This
series targets students that are able to blend
and segment well and are now ready to be
taught spelling patterns. You will also see that
this series goes more in depth with the CCSS.
Many Close Reading Strategies are introduced in
this series.
 Management

All lessons are designed for small group instruction.

Ideally there should be 4-6 students in a group but I have had as many as 8
in a group.

 Foundational skill lessons are 10-15 minutes.

 Guided Reading is 10-15 minutes.
 Combining the foundational skills lesson with the guided reading should
take NO LONGER than 25 -30 minutes.

*Monday’s guided reading takes the longest. The guided reading lessons
will shorten as the week goes on.

IMPORTANT!!
Groups are not meant to be on the same guided reading books! If you
have 3 groups you may have the following:

 Group 1 short vowel a

 Group 2 on short vowel i
 Group 3 may not be on a short vowel bag because they are beyond. Maybe
they are covering long vowels.

I call them “bags” because all the books along with the worksheets and
cards are in a gallon size zip lock bag.
Day 1 Can a cat eat a rat?

State objective
“This week we will build and read words that have the short /a/ in the middle
of the word. We will also memorize sight words. All of these words will be in
the book of the week that we will be reading today (show book).

Go over all the little letters and place them on the table for the kids to see. Go
over all the picture cards and explain that they will be building these words using
the little letters. Go over the meaning of any unknown words.

Take out the building words mat and go over the vowels on top. Then, point out
the three boxes. Explain what the beginning middle end means underneath. Tell
them that they will be using this mat to build short a words. Model for them the
first word by building the word. Have students build the following words using the
mat.
List of words: lad yam ham man rat dad cap pan cat
Note!! Have them build the words in different order, to sharpen their phonetic skills.

For example:
“We are going to build the word lad.
First, let’s segment the word /l/ /a/ /d/ .
What sound do you hear at the end of the word?
Yes, we hear the /d/ sound.
In what box should we place the letter d?
(Place the letter d in the box the child chooses)
Now, what sound do you hear at the beginning of the word lad?
(Place the letter l in the box the child chooses).
Finally, what sound do you hear in the middle of the word lad?
( Place the letter i in the box the child chooses).
Let’s sound out the word we just built to make sure it’s right”.
Once you are done building all the words, carefully give each student at least one word they
just built. Be careful not to get the little tiles out of order while passing them out. Place all the
picture cards in the middle of the table. Have students read their word and grab the picture
card that goes with their word.
Day 1

Take out the Super Reader Reading Strategies mat. Go over all the
strategies and leave on the table.

Go over and read all the sight words using the sight word flash cards. Remind them that these
words are sight words and therefore, the goal is to memorize them.

Pass out a book for each child and remind them that this book is filled with the sight words
they just read and the words they built earlier.
Read the title together. You might want to have a brief discussion about what the book might
be about. Begin reading the book. (Each child reads a page while the rest are following with
their finger

It is very important to use the strategy mat when a child gets

stuck on a word. This is especially important on the first read! If
you do not finish reading the book because you ran out of time it’s
OKAY!! Spend your time really instilling those reading strategies!!!!!!
When they get to page 13 STOP, do not let them turn the page!! Ask the following:

“I want us to STOP for a minute and make a prediction.”

“What do you think is going to happen next? “

“The cat caught up to the rat! “

“What do you think the cat will do?”

Go around and have students make a prediction. If you really want to dive into
Common Core, have them explain and justify their prediction!!
*** You may want to extend the lesson by stopping all together and have them illustrate their
prediction. You can write their prediction on their illustration as they dictate it to you or have
them write it. THIS IS JUST AN EXTENSION TO THE LESSON IF YOU WISH TO
ELEBORATE

When they finish reading the book, point out the very last page and read together
or pick different kids to read the sight word list and the short a word list.
Remind them of the objective of the week.
Copyright © 2012 Veronica Sigala. All rights reserved Can a Cat Eat a Rat?
Day 2 Can a Cat eat a Rat?

State objective:
“Today we will build words with short /a/ and sort them into groups
that rhyme. Then, we will read the book Can a Cat eat a Rat?”

Go over all the little letters and place them on the table for the kids to see. Go over all the
picture cards and explain that they will be building these words using the little letters.

Take out the building words mat and point out the three boxes. Remind them what beginning
middle end means underneath each line. Tell them that they will be using this mat to build the
words they just went over with the picture cards.

List of words: lad ham yam man rat dad cap cat pan

Have them build the words in different order, to sharpen their phonetic
skills.

Note!! If a child tells you the wrong letter or line to place the letter, leave it. See if the child
catches the mistake when he goes back and sounds out the word.

Leave the words they built on the table. Once they are done
building the words, have them place the picture card that
goes with the word.

Have them group together the words that rhyme.

lad ham man cat cap

dad yam pan rat ???

For the word that doesn’t have a word that rhymes, see if students can come up
with a word.

copyright © 2012 Veronica Sigala. All rights reserved Can a Cat Eat a Rat?
Day 2

Take out the Super Reader Reading Strategies mat. Go over all the
strategies and leave on the table.

Go over and read all the sight words using the sight word flash cards.

Pass out a book for each child.

Have them point out where the Author and the Illustrator names are located.
Ask them what role each has in the book.

Have them read the book by taking turns reading out loud while the rest point to
the words.

Make sure you encourage those reading strategies whenever they get stuck on
a word!!

STOP AND DISCUSS!!

Pg 4&5

“Look at the illustrations on both pages.”

“One picture depicts reality, and one depicts fantasy.”
“The illustration on pg 4 is fantasy.”
“ A bat does not have a mouth and it does not eat yam.”
“ Also, the yam looks sad.”
“ A yam does not have feelings, so it can’t be sad.”
Pg 6&7

“ Look at the illustrations on both these pages.”

“One picture depicts reality and one depicts fantasy.”
“Point to the illustration that depicts fantasy.”
When they finish reading, point out the last page and read together or pick different kids to
read the sight word list and the short a word list. Remind them of the objective of the week.
copyright © 2012 Veronica Sigala. All rights reserved Can a Cat Eat a Rat?
Day 3 Can a Cat eat a Rat?

State objective:
“This week we are reading the book Can a Cat eat a Rat? Today we
will learn that by just changing one letter in a word, you change the
whole word!”

Build the word lad on the build a word mat and sound it out as you build
it.
Continue by saying

“This word says lad. BUT! I want it to say pad.

“We are going to change this word to pad by just changing one
letter. “

“Let’s sound out the word pad AND I will be pointing to each letter
in the word lad on the mat so we can figure out which letter we
need to change.”
Segment pad orally as you point to each letter in the word lad on the mat.

“/p/ /a/ /d/ what letter did not go with the sounds in the word pad?”
“Yes! We need to change the letter l to an p!”

Remove the letter l from the mat and replace it with the letter p.
“Now the word says pad! Let’s sound it out to double check!”

Continue this activity all together or have kids take turns as the rest watch. Use
the following words:

lad pad pad pat pat cat

cat cap cap map map man

Day 3

Take out the Super Reader Reading Strategies mat. Go over all the
strategies and leave on the table.

Pass out a book for each child.

Have them point out the title page. Ask them what information the
title page contains.

Each child reads a page while the others point to each word.

STOP AND DISCUSS!!

Pg 2&3
“Look at the illustrations on both pages.”

“One picture depicts reality, and one depicts fantasy.”

“ The illustration on pg 2 has a cap that’s about to eat jam.”

“The illustration on page 3 has a man that’s about to eat jam.”

“ Point to the illustration that depicts reality. “

When they finish reading, point out the last page and read together or pick
different kids to read the sight word list and the short a word list. Remind them
of the objective of the week

Copyright © 2012 Veronica Sigala. All rights reserved Can a Cat Eat a Rat?
Day 4 Can a Cat Eat a Rat?

State objective:
“This week we are reading the book Can a Cat eat a Rat?. Today we
will practice one last time reading and writing words with short
/a/.We will also practice reading and writing some sight words that
are in the book of the week.”

Pass out Review worksheet and say the following:

“Point to the first box (model). I will write the letter h. Now you do it.”

“Point to the next box (model). I will write the letter a. Now you do it.”

“Point to the last box (model) I will write the letter m. Now you do it.”
“Let’s sound out all the letters. What word did we make?”

Yes, we made the word ham!”

“ Write the word ham one more time on the rectangle.”

Do this for the following words: ham lad yam pan

Once you are done with the short a words, test them on 4 sight words of your
choice. Let’s say you picked the word how.

“Now we will practice some sight words of the week.”

“Point to the rectangle box.” (Write the word how)

“What word did I write?”

“Yes, this is the word how, now you write it.”

“Point to the next rectangle. Write the word one more time.”

Have them fold their papers on the dotted line and give them a little test.
Make sure you tell them the words in the same order they wrote them so
they can unfold and correct their own paper.
Day 4

Take out the Super Reader Reading Strategies mat. Go over all the
strategies and leave on the table.

Pass out a book for each child.

Each child reads a page while the others point to each word.

STOP AND DISCUSS!!

Pg 7
“Look at the illustration.”

“ What did the illustrator draw to help the reader know that the
man cutting the ham is a dad?”

Pg 14&15

“Why was the rat running away from the cat?”

“Why did the cat tap the rat and then run away?

“Which character had a problem?” Have students explain the problem.

“ Why did the illustrator put a question mark above the rat’s head?”

Have a discussion over what that question mark meant and why the
illustrator placed it there. Make sure you remind them at the end of
the discussion how important the illustrator is in telling the story.

Copyright © 2012 Veronica Sigala. All rights reserved Can a Cat Eat a Rat?
Day 5 Can a Cat Eat a Rat?

“This week we have been reading the book Can a Cat eat a Rat?
Today we will do a close read of this book!”

Explain that a close read is when you re-read a book and really pay attention to
what the author is telling the reader. It also means you must prove your
answers by going back to the book and showing where you got the answer!

“As we read today, this is what you should keep in mind”:

 What is the author telling you here?
 What are the important words or unknown words?
 What is the structure (rhyming, repetitive words or phrases,
tone) and what does it tell us?
 What is the author’s purpose?
I have a close reading anchor chart for only $1.50 that has visuals to help students keep in
mind what to look for.

Pass out the book and ask them to open the books to where the story starts.
Each child reads a page as the rest follow along silently.

STOP AND DISCUSS!!

Pg 8.
“What phrase does the author repeat over and over in the book?”
Yes! I have noticed the phrase No! No! How silly is that!

“Why do you think the author keeps repeating:

No! No! How sill is that!

“What does the author really want us to think when she repeats this
phrase?”

Really discuss this question! Hopefully you can get them to understand that
authors write different types of texts. Some text are fantasy and some are
realistic. The author wants the reader to understand the difference between
fantasy (silly) and reality.!
Day 5
Continue reading the book until you finish.

Ask students:
What was the author’s purpose?

Was this book written just for entertainment?

Was this book written to teach the reader something?

Were there many purposes?

Spend some time on these questions. Encourage students to explain their answer.
Some may even go back to the text to defend their answer.

For example, Maybe a student answers that the author’s purpose was to
tell a funny story. Have him go into the text and find parts of the book
that are funny to support his answer.

The main purpose for this lesson is to get students used to

explaining their answers and providing evidence for their answers.
It may be very difficult for them at first. You will see that with
enough coaching and practice, many will eventually do this without
being asked!!!

Pass out Short a Day 5 worksheet. Read the questions to them but have them
answer on their own!

End by explaining the importance of reading AND understanding what they read. Restate
objective.

Copyright © 2012 Veronica Sigala. All rights reserved Can a Cat Eat a Rat
Cut and make into tiles to build words

l a d y am
h a mm a n
r a tdad
c appan
c a t
Cut and make into sight word flash cards

yes the can

said no is
oh he and
that will
who how
Cut around the perimeter and make into bingo mats

yes oh who
the is that
can he will
said no and
how can who
yes that the
how the can
yes he and
will that no
oh is said
oh how he
who and will
Cut around the perimeter to make into bingo mats
 Instructions to assemble the book
The following are the pages you need to run off back to back:
 Run off Cover page back to back with last page with list of sight
words and letters
 Run off Title page and list of short a words back to back with
pages 2 and 15
 Run off Pages 3 and 14 back to back with pages 4 and 13
 Run off Pages 5 and 12 back to back with pages 6 and 11
 Run off Pages 8 and 9 back to back with pages 10 and 7

Stack pages in order and fold hotdog style. Staple in the middle.

Book Management
I have managed the books in two ways. Back in the day when the budget wasn’t an issue,
I let my students keep books. I provided all my students with a gallon size zip loc bag
where they kept all their reading books. I used these personal book bags as part of my
classroom management. Once my students were done with their work during whole group
time, they had to take out their personal book bag and either color or read their books.
That was my cue to go check their work. It prevented students from constantly coming
up to me to let me know they were done. Unfortunately, times have changed and I have
been limited with running off copies for the past 2 years. Now I don’t let them color
them and I recycle them from student to student. For example, once a group has passed
the Alpha books and are in word families, I collect those books and use them with
another group that is still in the alpha series. I still use them as part of my management
system. Now they have to take out their personal book bags and ONLY read them. That
is my cue to go check their work. I actually had most of the books in pretty good
condition by the end of the school year and was able to use them for the following
school year!
I added independent worksheets in case you don’t have help.
You can use these worksheets while you are working with
another group.

Two of these worksheets are writing worksheets where they

practice writing sight words that are in the book as well as
CVC words with the short vowel the book is focusing on.

Sentences for the independent writing worksheets:

Who can bat?

A man can!

He sat on the mat!

I also included sight word bingo !

 Students must use reading strategies or cuing systems when tackling
that first read! The following strategies are essential in a strong reader. I
call using these strategies being a “Super Reader”.

 “Super Looking Goggles” look at the pictures on each page

before you begin to read

 “Super Mouth” look at the beginning letter of any word you

might have trouble with

 “Time Machine” go back in time and reread the sentence when

you got stuck on a word

 “Super Stretchy Band” sound out each letter in the word

 “Super Noodle” think, and ask yourself if that word makes sense

 “Super Magnifying Glass” look for spelling patterns or words you

know within the word

 “Super Swapper Card” change the vowel sound

Thank you for visiting my store! If you like
this Short Vowel product then you might
want to try out my super hero strategies!

Freebies! Freebies!

Consider the following if you are looking for

products that will give your students strong
foundational skills. Included in each packet is
a guided reading book that will give students
the opportunity to put into practice those
skills being taught! They are all free at my
teachers pay teachers store!!

Freebies! Freebies! Freebies!

Thank you for visiting my store!
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