What is the Short A sound?

The Short A sound in phonics (ă) is an open middle vowel sound. The Short A is formed by pushing the tongue forward, with the tip of the tongue pushing against the back of the lower teeth. In saying the Short A, the jaw is dropped and the mouth is open wide, as in the picture below. It is a great idea to encourage readers to look in the mirror when making the Short A sound so that they can see how their mouth move.

How to read the Short A sound?

The Short A sounds like the word “apple.” Below are more examples of Short A words. For Short A word lists and Short A activities, see the activity section after this article.

Children who are just beginning to read and decode words are most likely to encounter the Short A in CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. Some examples of Short A CVC words include cat, lab, bad, and gag. As a child’s decoding skills increase and they encounter longer words, the Short-A will appear with letter blends. Some common Short A words include bank, flash, stamp, and clang.

What are the Short A word families?

• ab
• act
• ad
• ag
• aft
• am
• amp
• an
• and
• ang
• ank
• ant
• ap
• ash
• ask
• ast
• at
• ax

Pro Tip: Although words containing “ar” seem like they should be Short A words, they actually fall under a unique category called “r-controlled vowels” which are neither short vowels nor long vowels. The letters “aw” are considered a vowel team, and make a different sound than Short-A.

Common Short A word families include -ab, -ad, -ag, -am, -ap, -at, and -ax. As children’s abilities to blend letters improve, they may move into more complex Short E-word families such as -act, -aft, -amp, -and, -ang, -ank, -ant, -ash, -ask, and -ask.

Short A Decodable Text

Understanding the Short A spelling pattern is about more than being able to read a single word containing a short A. It is also about being able to recognize the sound a short A makes in a word. Begin by asking your child to read single words that use the short A sound. Then try stringing several words together to form a sentence. Below is sample decodable text using the short A sound:

• The lad had a tan cap.
• Jan had ham. Tad had jam.
• A rat ran at a van.
• Pam had a nap.

Note that each of these sentences features only CVC words. Once your child has mastered reading CVC words featuring the short A sound, try introducing short A sentences that feature consonant blends. Below are sample Short A decodable sentences using consonant blends:

• The trap snags a yak.
• Brand and Tad swap caps.
• The crab grabs a clam.
• Dad and Jan had a spat.

Pro Tip: Writing sentences without the words such as *the, and, and is can be challenging. These words are high-frequency words and are among the first children memorize. Don’t be afraid to include them in sentences, but to be sure to help your child read them.*

Focusing on a single vowel at a time is a great way to cement a child’s recognition of what sound a letter makes. For more practice with the Short A Vowel Sound, check out Pat Had a Hat: Short A Decodable Reader, part of the Charge into Reading Short Vowel Decodable Reader Set, available to buy today. This 5-book set is stage 1 in our structured system of decodable readers reviewed and approved by literacy specialist Marisa Ware and written by best-selling author Brooke Vitale.