Short U Worksheets & Activities

This is the fourth set of phonics worksheets and activities that we have created focused on CVC Short Vowels.  We have sets for Short A, Short I, Short O and now Short U. 

These are a great resource that provides extra practice with reading and writing words with CVC phonics patterns.

These Short U Phonics Worksheets & Activities are a great addition to your short u word work literacy centers. They can also be used for small group reading, independent work time, and even homework.

What is Included in the Short U Phonics Worksheets?

These Short U Phonics Worsheets focus on short u CVC words and include 119 NO PREP printables.

The short u CVC phonics patterns are grouped by word family:

• Section 1: -ut / -ub / -ud (44 short u worksheets)
• Section 2: -un / -um / -ug (46 short u worksheets)
• Section 3: -us / -uff / -uzz / -up / -ull (32 short u worksheets)

These can also be printed at a reduced size and can be used for interactive notebooks.  This Phonics Interactive Notebook blog post will give you ideas on how to move beyond the worksheet into a phonics notebook.

There are 18 worksheet templates with multiple versions of most templates within each section.

The 18 templates are:

1. Color the Picture
2. Circle the Same Word
3. Read, Trace, Write
4. Read, Write, Color
5. Spell & Write
6. Match & Write
7. Circle the Word
8. Read and Check
9. Write Two Times
10. Read, Match, Write
11. Sentence Scramble Cut & Paste
12. Write a Sentence
13. Picture Sort
14. Word Sort
15. Write by Word Family
16. Cut & Paste Onset Rime
17. Cut. Paste. Write.
18. Cut & Paste Onset & Rime Write

Short U Words on the Worksheets 

• Short u with t, b, d: but, cut, hut, gut, rut, nut, cub, hub, nub, rub, sub, tub, cud, dud, bud, mud, sud
• Short u with n, m, g: bun, fun, nun, run, sun, bum, gum, hum, sum, bug, dug, hug, mug, rug, tug, jug, lug
• Short u with s, ff, zz, p, ll: bus, puff, huff, cuff, buzz, cup, pup, sup, dull, gull, hull, lull

Examples of Each Short U Worksheet Pages

These 18 short u phonics worksheets are repeated in each of the three sections above and often include multiple pages to accommodate the entire word list of each section.

Many of the worksheets utilize the blending cues available on our Blending Cards. Blending cues are dots to segment the word, dotted lines to blend the word, and a large arrow to “read it fast”.

Students can use the blending cues to read the word, then do the work on the worksheets. If you’re already using the Blending Cards, these worksheets are a great accompaniment.

1- Color the Picture

On this first worksheet, students read the word using the blending cues. They then color the picture that matches the word.

After students complete the worksheet, they could cut it out in strips and boxes and create flashcards with the words and pictures.

2 – Circle the Same Word

On this short u phonics worksheet, students read the word using the blending cues and then circle the matching word.  This is a great way for students to start recognizing the word as a group of letters altogether.

3 – Read, Trace, Write

This worksheet has students read the word using the blending cues, then trace and write the word.

4 – Read, Write, Color

This short u phonics worksheet is similar to the first one; however, now students are asked to write the sounds of each word and read and color the image.  Double consonants take up one space because they make one sound together. 

5 – Spell & Write

On this worksheet, students look at the picture, segment the word, and circle the letters that make it. They then write the word on the blank space.

6 – Match & Write

This is a match-and-write worksheet in which students look at the picture and then find it within the given word.

7 – Circle the Word

This worksheet asks students to circle the word that matches the picture from a list of three words. 

This worksheet makes a great interactive notebook activity when cut up.  Students can take one square, circle the word, and glue it in their notebook. 

8 – Read and Check

This short u worksheet is a bit more complicated and great for your more advanced readers.  It asks students to read and check the sentence that goes with the picture.

9 – Write Two Times

On this worksheet, students write the word twice. To make it more interesting, ask students to use different colors.

10 – Read, Match Write

On this worksheet, students read the sentence and figure out which word is missing, given the list of words.  Students write the missing word in the blank space.

11 – Sentence Scramble Cut & Paste

For this worksheet, students are presented with three or four words that make a sentence. Each row has its own set of words. Students cut apart the words and create the sentence.

If students have difficulty with this task, give them hints, like the period ends the sentence and the sentence starts with a capital letter.

12 – Write a Sentence

This worksheet is similar to the above worksheet, except instead of a cut and paste, students are asked to write the sentence, given the three or four words.

13 – Picture Sort

This is a traditional picture sort. Students say the word in the picture and determine the word family that matches.

14 – Word Sort

This is similar to a traditional word sort but includes blending cues to help students read the words.

This is another sheet that would be good for interactive notebooks.  Cut the columns and glue them down to a page in a notebook. Students sort and glue the words in the appropriate columns.

15 – Write by Word Family

This is another worksheet that emphasizes word families. Students write the words that go along with the word family on it. The onsets for each column are grouped together, and each column is sorted by the rime.

16 – Cut & Paste Onset & Rime

This worksheet is the opposite of the above. Students are given the onset and match the rime with the picture.

17 – Cut. Paste. Write.

This short u worksheet is a cut-and-paste where students match the word. Students then write the word in the blank space.

#18 Cut & Paste Onset & Rime. Write.

In the final short u phonics worksheet, students match the onset and rime and then write the word.

Many of the short u phonics worksheets are similar with some small tweaks. One worksheet may ask students to match a word and another may ask them to write it.

Providing so many different options provides plenty of choices, variety, and practice with short u phonics patterns.

How to Purchase the Short u Phonics Worksheets

The Short U Phonics Worksheets can be purchased on my website.

You can also purchase these other CVC phonics worksheet sets:

• Short A Phonics Worksheets
• Short I Phonics Worksheets
• Short O Phonics Worksheets
• Short U Phonics Worksheets
• Short E Phonics Worksheets
• Mixed CVC Vowels Phonics Worksheets

Here are a few more sets that are separated out and bundled together:

• Just the Sentences – CVC Sentence Worksheets
• Just the Word Sorts – CVC Word Sort Worksheets
• CVC BUNDLE with other CVC Phonics Resources

These are VCE Phonics Worksheets that follow a similar format as the CVC worksheets above. They have been adapted to increase the complexity of the tasks on some sheets.

• VCE BUNDLE
• VCE A
• VCE I
• VCE O
• VCE U

We are in the process of creating a worksheet for E and then will move onto other phonics patterns with similar formats.

Phonics Interactive Notebook Activities

If you’re interested in using these worksheets in an interactive notebook format, see this blog post for details on how to do that.