The letter combinations/pairing of: o_e, oa, ow, oe can also make the long "o" sound. Here is an interesting "o" word for you, did you know the name for "pound" key (#) it's "octothrope". I guess hashtags weren't a thing when they dreamt up that word. Another cool fact, the word "dreamt" is the only English word to end with the letters "mt". The most common long "o" words are: go, so, no, bone, joke, rose, close, boat and soap. The most common short "o" words are: cop, dog, hot, jog, mom, mop, pot, son and won. These worksheets were developed to help students learn how to identify the sound of words that fit this mold. Students will also learn the unique sounds that can be used to produce similar sounds. This will help improve their overall reading fluency.
Long and Short O Vowel Sounds Worksheets
Click the buttons to print each worksheet and associated answer key.
The Long O Sound
It is best to sound out everything with this worksheet. Circle the objects that have a long O (ō) sound. Then write the word under the picture.
Short O (ŏ) Words
Circle the short ŏ words. Within this list of terms- mop, stop, stoke, rope, rob, pot, hobble, agony, from, sober, sopping, frozen.
Long O, Short O
You will identify the sounds that are present with a series of different terms. Color the Long O words RED. Color the Short O words BLUE. Color all other words GREEN.
Fill Up The Box
Complete each sentence with a Long O word from the word box. Note the number of terms that are found in the boxes and the number of sentences that there are.
Circle and Say It!
You will determine which word demonstrates a certain sound and then you will work on identifying matching sounds. Draw that line to make yourself understand your longs and shorts.
Short o Search
Say the name of the picture. Circle the word that is found within a virtual sea of letters.
Long O Passage Search
This is a new type of puzzle we are working on. There is a long reading passage that you must circle words in that match a sound profile. The passage begins as: Joe loved music, and his favorite instrument was the oboe. Joe took oboe lessons. He learned to play loud and he learned to play soft. He learned to play fast and he learned to play slow. He was soon ready to perform, and his teacher asked him if he would be in a show.
Cut and Glue
Get your glue sticks ready to go. Cut out the pictures. Glue them next to the correct short O words.
Short O Worksheet
Say the name of each picture. If it has a short o sound, draw a line to connect the picture to the short o. Can you think of two things whose name contains the short a sound?
Long or Short O?
Read each word and say aloud to yourself. Does it have a long O (ō) sound, or a short O (ŏ) sound? Color in the circle next to the correct sound.
Short Draw Me
Read each word aloud. Then draw a picture of what you think it would look like. You can also draw a scenario where it may be present.
Short o Words
Name each picture. Spell the name on the line. Do your best to spell them and circle the sound of interest.
Can You Hear the Short O (ŏ)?
Circle the word in each set that starts with a short o (ŏ) sound. You will have 4 to choose from.
What are Long and Short O Vowel Sounds and What Words are They Found in?
The English alphabet comprises 26 letters out of which, only five are termed vowels. These vowels are: A, E, I, O, and U. Vowels are letters that can be sounded only by opening your mouth and using your voice without using your tongue.
Vowels have two sounds - long vowel sounds and short vowel sounds. The difference between a long and a short vowel sound is easy to understand. A long vowel is made by calling the name of the letter. E.g., a 'long O' sounds exactly like how you'll read the letter O.
Short vowel sounds, however, do not have a long sound. Rather, they are pronounced quickly and make a short sound instead. Short vowels usually sound like this: slowly say the word bog and notice how you pronounce the O. It sounds like the word awe. This awe sound is the short vowel sound. A handy tip to identify short vowel sounds is: if it doesn't sound like any of the vowel letters, it is a short vowel.
The Vowel O
Each vowel has a unique pronunciation that makes different types of sounds while we pronounce the vowel words. Here, we will discuss the vowel 'o' and the different sounds it produces when used in a word.
Short O Vowel Sound Words
Following is a list of phonics words with the short o vowel sound:
Bog, bop, con, cod, cog, cot, cop, don, dog, dot, fog, god, got, hog, hot, jog, jot, lob, log, lot, lop, mob, mom, mop, nod, not, odd, pod, pop, pot, rod, rot, sod, Tom, tot, top
If you pronounce the above-mentioned words, you'll observe that while speaking these words, the vowel 'o' is never stressed. The short vowel 'o' doesn't require a forced sound and is quick to roll off the tongue.
Long O Vowel Sound Words
The long 'o' vowel words require you to stress the vowel 'o' to distinguish its sound from the rest of the letters in the word.
Here is a list of words with the long 'o' vowel sound:
Oval, Total, Yoga, Hotel, Rose, Quote, Robe, Globe, Probe, Lobe, Adobe, Row, Coat, Note, Wrote, Boat, Goat, Float, Hope, Mope, Pope, Cope, Scope, Elope, Coal, Soap, Toast, Poach, Wardrobe, Envelope, Snow, Toe, Hello, Doe, Swallow, Roe, Dough, Window, Though, Elbow, Although, Meadow
They are termed 'long vowel' sounds because the speaker has to stress for a long time on the vowel 'o' while saying these words.
How to Sound the Long O Words
The long 'o' sound can be spelled and sounded through the following six ways:
1. Using Letter O:
In these words, the long /o/ sound is made using just the letter o.
Examples: Top, Oval, No, Total, Ago, Yoga, Hotel, Gecko, Program
2. O_E Words:
Some words use the split digraph O_E to sound the long /o/ vowels. Also, known as magic e words, they have the vowel o in the middle of the word and the vowel e at the end of the word.
Examples: Hope, Cope, Rose, Close, Quote, Impose, Expose
3. OA Words:
The letters oa make these words spell and sound the long /o/ sound.
Examples: Toast, Coach, Groan, Bloat, Float, Croak, Poach, Soap
4. OW Words:
In these words, the long /o/ sound is spelled with the letters ow. The ow appears at the end of these words.
Examples: Crow, Elbow, Snow, Sorrow, Hollow, Swallow, Window, Tomorrow
5. OE Words:
The oe words use the letters oe at the end of to spell the long /o/ sound.
Examples: Foe, Doe, Toe, Aloe, Woe
6. OUGH Words:
These words use the letters ough for spelling the long /o/ sound/.
Examples: dough, though, although, ought, cough, rough