Make R-Controlled Vowels Fun! Low-Prep Clip Cards for Spelling Practice.
Spelling Test Practice Made Easy – R-Controlled Vowel Clip Cards (ar, or, er, ir, ur). Lately, I’ve noticed several educators questioning whether spelling tests are still an effective learning tool. This concern often stems from students disliking them or seeing little value in the process—especially when they memorize weekly word lists, only to forget them soon after. So, what is a solution that supports both the student and teacher with long-term gains?
As a young student, I remember learning the list of the week and forgetting it by the end of the month. As an educator, I have made it a point to serve up the spelling lessons in target groups of spelling-related skills that scaffold and support the student with explicit, systematic and cumulative approaches that are fun and not soul-crushing tests. One example is the R-controlled words. After teaching an R-controlled lesson and reading, there is always time left for a game with the same skills and later an R-controlled spelling test for monitoring the students’ gains and needs. By using clip cards, the students can focus on the targeted skills without distraction or shame. Using cards with pictures makes this feel like a game instead of a test.
Gamification of the R-controlled words with these cards is engaging and tactile for the students. They can be used before or after small reading groups, as centers or part of a diagnostic intervention strategy. Another fun R-controlled game is the Uno-style R-controlled game. This game has color-coded cards that can be easily sorted to be responsive to the student’s level of need. We often sort them into groups and practice with just /ar/ and /or/, the secondary group is /er/, /ir/ and /ur/, then finally play the complete game with all the R-controlled letters for review.
There are other ways to use the clip cards:
- They can be laminated and students can circle the correct answer.
- Students can have spelling races and write the correct spelling on the whiteboard table. * They love this one.
- They can write on paper, using the cards as a guide.
- They can be displayed on the class TV and let students write or type their answers.
Get the game here on TPT. 🤩 Pure Joy Teaching
While exploring the invention units, I noticed that my students respond really well to picture-embedded letters and word lists. I find them incredibly helpful for staying organized. These visual anchor charts are a valuable resource to have on hand during R-controlled vowel lessons. They are influenced the UFLI lessons 77-83.
Check them out here: R-controlled Spelling charts.
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