CVC Beginning and Ending Sounds Worksheet 07: Short o and u

Practise beginning and ending sounds in short o and u words

Seven words on this page use o; three use u. The vowel is provided rather than chosen by the pupil, but it still needs to be noticed while blending the finished label. Final consonants include g, p, t and b.

The short o and u beginning and ending sounds worksheet shows a young bear for cub, a wheel’s centre for hub and a submarine for sub. Introduce these intended labels before writing, especially when a child knows a longer word for the same picture.

What is included?

• A portrait activity with these ten picture words: hog, log, mop, top, cot, dot, pot, cub, hub, sub.
• A printed middle vowel in every label; pupils add twenty beginning and ending letters.
• An answer key on page 2 shows the completed labels and highlights the answers.
• Four pages in the PDF: one activity, its answer key, a thank-you page and terms of use.

Teaching this worksheet

Model hog with h and g around o, then invite the pupil to complete log by changing the beginning. With mop and top, establish the shared p ending.

Pause at cub on the short o and u beginning and ending sounds worksheet. Point to the printed u, say the whole word, then ask for c first and b last. This prevents the earlier o pattern from carrying into the spoken blend.

Use the answer key to compare cot and pot separately from cub and sub. Ask pupils to read the vowel as part of each completed word, even though they did not write it themselves.

Picture-word activities

• Compare cot, dot and pot with movable first letters while holding ot still.
• Point to the wheel’s hub and the submarine, naming hub and sub before spelling.
• Sort the completed labels into the seven o words and three u words.

Support and next steps

If hub is unfamiliar, indicate the central part of the wheel rather than asking a child to infer it. Offer the spoken label, then leave the choices h and b for the pupil.

Extend the short o and u beginning and ending sounds worksheet by asking for cub and cot from dictation on blank paper. Discuss how the beginning stays c while both the middle and ending change.

Worksheet 07 answers

Page 2 contains the printed answer key. For checking the first and last boxes, the completed words are:

• hog: first h, last g.
• log: first l, last g.
• mop: first m, last p.
• top: first t, last p.
• cot: first c, last t.
• dot: first d, last t.
• pot: first p, last t.
• cub: first c, last b.
• hub: first h, last b.
• sub: first s, last b.