{"id":37921,"date":"2024-12-31T05:42:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T13:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.abcmouse.com\/learn\/?p=37921"},"modified":"2026-04-27T12:56:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T19:56:41","slug":"r-controlled-vowels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abcmouse.com\/learn\/advice\/r-controlled-vowels\/37921","title":{"rendered":"R-Controlled Vowels – Tips and Activities for Teaching Young Learners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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How to Teach R-Controlled Vowels: Tips and Activities for Early Readers <\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Find effective strategies and fun ideas for helping children understand this unique type of vowel sound. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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By Jill Staake<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reviewed by Dr. Nika Fabienke<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Table of Contents<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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What Are R-Controlled Vowels?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are the R-Controlled Vowels Rules? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of R-Controlled Vowel Words<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Is It Important to Teach R-Controlled Vowels? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Teach R-Controlled Vowel Words<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Activities to Help Teach R-Controlled Vowels<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When we first teach kids about vowels<\/a>, we usually focus on the long<\/a> and short<\/a> vowel sounds. However, vowels come with many rules and nuances, such as how the sounds they stand for can change when you throw the letter R<\/em> into the mix, forming an r-controlled vowel sound.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you\u2019ve definitely said and heard many words with r-controlled vowels, the phrase may be new to you. Here\u2019s an explanation of these vowels and how you can help your child understand and recognize them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What Are R-Controlled Vowels? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When a vowel<\/a> is followed by the letter R<\/em> in a word or syllable, it often changes the pronunciation of that vowel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For example, consider the words ban<\/em> and barn<\/em>. The first word, ban<\/em>, is a typical consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) word, with the vowel pronounced using its short a<\/em> sound (\/\u01ce\/). But when you add an R<\/em> to the word, as in barn<\/em>, the vowel sound becomes something different altogether\u2013\u201cb-ahr-n.\u201d This is an example of the letter R \u201ccontrolling\u201d a vowel. Some people call this concept the \u201cBossy R\u201d rule to help students remember that the R changes the way the vowel is pronounced. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Tip: <\/strong>R-controlled sounds also appear in longer words, such as first, charm,<\/em> and short<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What Are the R-Controlled Vowels Rules? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As with any phonics rule in English, there are always exceptions. However, these guidelines can be helpful for students as they work to understand r-controlled vowels.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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-ar<\/em> is pronounced \/ar\/ <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n