CVC Word and Picture Matching Worksheet 33: Short u

Gum refers to the mouth illustration rather than chewing gum. Hum is shown by a person with musical notes, and tug by someone pulling. Mum is the mother pictured with a child. These meanings distinguish parts, actions and people.

The short u word and picture matching worksheet page contrasts final g and m. Gum starts with the letter that ends tug, while mum repeats m at both ends. Reading all positions helps separate the labels.

What is included?

• Four printed word choices: tug, gum, hum, mum.
• Four pictures down the left side, ordered hum, mum, gum, tug.
• A matching activity on page 1 and a separate answer key with the correct connections on page 2.
• The four-page PDF also contains a thank-you page and terms of use.

Teaching this worksheet

Point to the mouth picture and introduce gum. Blend g-u-m, then compare hum by changing its first consonant to h. Briefly hum a tune to establish the action before matching.

For short u word and picture matching worksheet, identify mum in the parent-and-child drawing. Read m-u-m with m at both ends. Finish with tug, listening for g rather than m at the end.

Check page 2 after the four choices are complete. If tug is confused with gum, compare both outer letters and the pulling versus mouth meanings before correcting the line.

Picture-word activities

• Build gum and hum with tiles and replace only the first consonant.
• Read mum and notice the repeated m around u.
• Mime tug and hum after reading their printed labels.

Teaching notes and quick assessment

On this CVC word picture matching worksheet 33, notice whether the pupil reads the whole word or matches from the shared ending and picture position. Ask for the difference between tug and gum before accepting either line.

A secure reader blends all four labels, identifies the distinguishing grapheme and checks the connection for mum by rereading it. This follows the decoding emphasis in the Department for Education reading framework. Keep the answer page hidden until all four choices are explained.

Support and next steps

Supply gum while pointing to the mouth area, and hum while demonstrating the sound. If the parent picture is named mother, explain that this sheet uses mum.

After short u word and picture matching worksheet, dictate mum and tug on spare paper. Ask the learner to attend to both ends, since only u is shared between those words.

Worksheet 33 answers

The answer page shows the correct connections. Reading the activity pictures from top to bottom:

1. hum matches word 3 in the right-hand column.
2. mum matches word 4 in the right-hand column.
3. gum matches word 2 in the right-hand column.
4. tug matches word 1 in the right-hand column.