Short O Words

Vowel sounds come in two varieties: long vowels and short vowels. When it comes to decoding words, beginning readers most frequently start with short vowels. Why? Because short vowels have fewer spelling variations. That makes it easier to master the sounds before moving on to the more complex long vowels. Some short vowels have only a single common spelling pattern, such as the Short A sound, while others are a bit more complicated, like short O. Let's take a look at short O words.

ln phonics, the Short O (ŏ) is formed by dropping the jaw and placing the tongue low and flat in the mouth. Below is an example of Short O sound mouth formation.

As with all phonics sounds, it is a good idea for new readers to practice saying short O words in front of a mirror. Doing so will allow them to see how their mouth moves when making the Short O sound.

Pro Tip: The short O sound can also be formed by other letter combinations, such as “aw” or make produce a different sound in words such as dog. This sound is actually formed differently than the short O, with the mouth slightly less open. These letter combinations can sometimes sound different than the traditional short O sound, depending on the speaker's accent or dialect.

Before children can learn to read, they must first understand the sound a letter makes. The Short O sound (ŏ) can be heard in the words hot, cop, and doll.

The best way to teach the short O sound is by focusing on words that begin with a short O, such as ox, olive, and odd. This approach is recommended because it is easier for children learning phonics to isolate the first sound in a word than to break a word apart into its individual phonemes (or sounds). 

Pro Tip: Be careful to avoid words beginning with a Long O, such as over or open, or with an R-controlled vowel such as orchid or orange.

When practicing short O words, try saying them aloud. Encourage your child to repeat back to you the first sound in the word. Then ask them to determine what letter makes that sound. 

Some additional words that begin with a Short O sound include: - Obelisk - Object - Occupy - Octave - Offense - Office - Opera

Once your child has mastered identifying the Short O sound at the beginning of a word, move on to CVC short O words.

Children who are just beginning to read and decode words are most likely to encounter the short O words in the form of CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. Some examples of CVC short O words include pop, fog, rob, and cot. 

As a child’s decoding skills increase and encounter longer words, the short O will appear with letter blends. Common short O words include spot, block, drop, and chop.

Pro Tip: While the use of a single O is the most commonly used spelling of the short O sound, it is not the only way to make the sound. As a reader’s decoding skills advance, they will learn advanced short O spelling patterns including the vowel teams “au” as in caught and “aw” as in saw, as well as the digraph “al” as in talk. Both letter combinations make the short O sound without using the letter O and are technically short O words. Learning to decode these Short O spelling patterns comes later in a child’s reading journey, and can only be achieved after mastering the short O sound.

 Below are more examples of short O words. For short O word lists and short O activities, see the activity section after this article.

Pro Tip: Before giving your child short O words to read, say the words aloud yourself. Certain words called closed syllable exceptions look like short O words, but are in fact make long O sounds. Some examples include post, hold, and gold.

Children learn to read by blending sounds together. One of the best ways to work on this skill is through the introduction of word families.

A word family is a set of words that share a common feature. For early readers, that common feature is typically the ending sound of the word.

Below is a list of short O word families to begin with:

• -ob
• -od
• -og
• -op
• -ot
• -ox

Pro Tip: Although words containing “or” seem like they should be Short O words, they actually fall under a unique category called “r-controlled vowels” that are neither short vowels nor long vowels. 

Pro Tip: The letters "ow" are considered a vowel team or a diphthong, and make a different sound than Short O.

As children’s abilities to blend letters improves, they may move into more complex short O word families such as:

• -ock
• -ond
• -ong

Word families may be presented as a list of words for a new reader to practice decoding, such as the one below.

Understanding short O words is about more than being able to read a single word containing a short O. It is also about being able to recognize the sound a short O makes in a word. Begin by asking your child to read single words that use the short O sound. Then try stringing several words together to form a sentence. Below is a sample of decodable text featuring short o words:

• Tod got a hot pot.
• Rod jogs a lot.
• Rob hops on top of a fox.

Note that each of these sentences features only CVC words. Once your child has mastered reading CVC words featuring the short O sound, try introducing short O words that feature consonant blends. Below are sample short O words decodable sentences using consonant blends:

• Bob got a glob of snot.
• The frog flops on a log.
• Tom plods to a stop.

Pro Tip: Writing sentences without the words such as the, and, and is can be challenging. These words are high-frequency words and are among the first children memorize. Don't be afraid to include them in sentences, but to be sure to help your child read them.

Focusing on a single vowel at a time is a great way to cement a child's recognition of what sound a letter makes. Charge into Reading Short Vowel Decodable Reader Set. For more practice with the Short O Vowel Sound, check out Hop Frog: A Short O Decodable Reader, part of the Charge into Reading Short Vowel Decodable Reader Set, available to buy today. This 5-book set is stage 1 in our structured system of decodable readers reviewed and approved by literacy specialist Marisa Ware and written by best-selling author Brooke Vitale.

Understanding the Short O spelling pattern is about more than being able to read a word containing a short O. It is also about being able to recognize the sound a short O makes in a word. Once a child has mastered other short vowel sounds, encourage them to identify the vowel used in common words.

Print a short O word on a piece of paper, with a picture of the word on the other side. Do this for several words, all using the short O sound. Then create 5 piles—one for each vowel. Encourage your child to read the word. Then flip the card over to see if they read it correctly.

Once your child has mastered short O words, add cards that feature all five short vowel sounds. Encourage your child to say the name of the picture word out loud as many times as needed to identify the vowel used. Then ask them to put the card in a pile labeled with the correct short vowel sound. Once all of the words are sorted, turn the cards over to see if the words were properly sorted.

This kind of hands-on activity engages an early reader in the process of recognizing words and reinforces spelling patterns in a way that endless reciting, copying, and workbook pages cannot.

Pro Tip: As your child’s reading advances, this same activity can be repeated using the various spellings of the Short O sound: o, aw, au, and al.

Ask your child to read sentences featuring short O words. Then test their comprehension by asking them to draw a picture of what they read.

Download our short O activities and word lists below for more practice.