Fun and Easy Vowel Sorting Activity for Long and Short Vowel Sounds

We are hard at work with  Magic ‘E’ words with my first grader. As she has been a very reluctant reader, we are taking the learning process very slowly. She is beginning to build confidence as we review, review, review the basic concepts. This vowel sorting activity for long and short vowel sounds is a perfect review activity for her.

Materials for the Vowel Sorting Activity for Long and Short Vowels:

2 paper ‘lunch’ sacks (these fun Zebra print paper bags add extra fun!)

Black card stock (I actually used some scrapbooking tags I found on clearance, but card stock will work great)

White chalkboard marker

Yes, I know I have three bags in the picture… I thought I was going to do something else, then changed my mind…lol! Just pretend bag #3 is not there!

Okay, so side note, I was going to review all magic ‘e’ words, but amazingly some of the letters don’t really have enough words to merit reviewing. Like long ‘e’…. That led me down another path, so that we could still review magic ‘e’, but have enough words to actually do something.

So we compared long ‘a’ to short ‘a’ with magic ‘e’ words and CvC/CCvC words.

On approximately half of the cards I wrote words that had an ‘a’ in the middle and magic ‘e’ at the end. On the other half of the cards I wrote short ‘a’ words.

Really complex, I know…

Basically, I included words that she would be able to decode herself while still providing challenges such as two similar words like cap and cape.

After you’ve written your words, take two cards and label the paper bags. This is a good opportunity to teach the kids what the ‘long’ and ‘short’ symbols are.

Then, set the bags and the word cards on the table and let the kids sort the cards.

If you’ve been around here before, you know that I’m a really big fan of activities that do not require lots of time to prepare. I homeschool four kids and we’re currently traveling full-time, so I don’t have a lot of time to spare.

This activity took me less than 10 minutes from start to finish including taking pretty pictures to show you.

Follow me on Pinterest for more fun, low-prep reading ideas!