If your child is doing well with phonemic awareness and is competent in sounding out cvc words, he or she may be ready to learn r controlled vowel sounds! If your child is ready to add r-controlled vowels to her repertoire of phonics skills, I have the perfect activities for teaching the r-controlled vowel sound of AR. These r-controlled vowel activities are playful and fun, and a great way to help your child learn the AR sound in no time at all.
Learning through play keeps learning joyful for your child, as it should be! Children are natural learners when allowed to learn through play, exploration, and by engaging their senses. You will be amazed at how easy it can be for your child (and you!) to learn how to read when you take a playful approach. It is also a great way to bond with your child because you will be enjoying quality time together. Learning and bonding at the same time – you get a two-for-one! Read on for a step-by-step guide for teaching your child the Bossy R sound of AR through fun activities for r-controlled vowels.
Introduce the Bossy R Sound of AR
Before you get started with activities for r-controlled vowels, you will want to briefly introduce the concept of Bossy R to your child. This post will specifically focus on the sound of AR, but I have linked activities below for teaching the other r-controlled vowels.
For introducing the Bossy R sound of AR, I recommend using letter tiles, magnetic letters, or a moveable alphabet of some kind. Engaging your child’s senses is an effective way to help your child learn quickly and retain what she has learned. Using physical letters is a great way to engage the sense of touch – so do this whenever possible! In a pinch or if you need to keep things simple (which is important and necessary – I totally get it! I have six kids!), you can use a whiteboard or just write on a piece of paper.
Place the letter A in front of your child. Ask him what sound it makes. Make sure he answers with the short vowel sound (the sound at the beginning of the word apple). If he is unsure, go ahead and remind him of the sound.
Now place the letter R in front of your child. Ask her what sound it makes. Now tell your child that the letter R is a bossy bossy letter. The letter R likes to tell vowels what to do. When Bossy R comes right after a vowel in a word, it changes the sound of the vowel. It makes the vowel make a new sound. When Bossy R comes right after the letter A, the letter A and letter R together make a new sound – the sound at the end of the word car. I like to call this the pirate sound.
Once you have explained the AR vowel pattern to your child, you can try practicing some Bossy R words. You can use the word cards below, spell out some words with your moveable alphabet or letter tiles, or write them on the white board or paper. Again, I recommend letting your child use his hands to touch the letters whenever possible for a sensory learning experience.
As your child is getting the hang of reading the AR sound, you might want to begin with the 3-letter words on the following word list: art, bar, car, far, tar, ark
If your child is doing well with the three-letter AR words, here are some more common words that use the AR sound to try: star, park, dark, mark, bark, farm, barn
Once your child gets the hang of reading these new words, you can move on to different activities for practicing the r-controlled sound of AR. If your child is having a hard time, don’t worry! Take a break and come back to activities for r-controlled vowels another day. Your child will get it when he is ready, and with lots of practice he will be reading AR words easily. Remember to keep your phonics instruction light and fun. If your child shows signs of frustration or fatigue it’s time to stop for the day.
Fun Activities for R-Controlled Vowels – AR
The following activities for learning the r-controlled sound of AR can be done with an individual child or in small groups. They are appropriate for homeschool or kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade classroom students. You can use the activities as stand-alone lesson plans for English language arts or in addition to your phonics program.
Fun Musical Activities for R-Controlled Vowels – AR Like a Pirate
One of the best and fastest ways to help your child learn – and remember – a new concept is by learning through music. Make that vocal music and add in movement – and you’ve got a powerhouse of learning. The following r-controlled vowel activity is simple, fun, and requires no preparation. It is an easy way for a busy parent or teacher to help little learners remember the sound of AR and make progress toward the ultimate goal of learning to read.
All you need for this fun activity is a song called AR – Pirate Song from an album called Sounds Fun Phonics. It can be found on Spotify, and may be on other streaming services as well (if you find it on another streaming service, please please please let me know in the comments so I can pass that information on! Thank you!). If you want to make the activity extra fun, you can bring in some accessories – pirate hats (you can use the free printable one below!), eye patches, swords – whatever you like! Feel free to skip that and keep it simple if that is what you need, or go wild and create an extra magical memory with your child. Either way, your child will love it!
Play the AR – Pirate Song and sing, dance, and act like a pirate with your child. The sillier the better! Play the song a few times so that your child has the chance to really remember the lyrics. When the song is over, ask your child what the sound of AR is. Make sure she remembers that the sound is ar (as in the end of the word car) – like a pirate! Another helpful thing about learning phonics through music is that if your child is having trouble remembering a sound, you can start singing the relevant song to help him remember.
Now that your child has learned the sound of AR, it’s time for some fun phonics games! It’s a good idea to practice a new phonics skill in different ways to help solidify the new concept. Don’t try to do all the activities in one day however. Just 5-20 minutes of practice a day is plenty for young readers.
Fun Activities for R-Controlled Vowels – Phonics Games
This activity for practicing the sound of AR is a fun game for literacy centers, small group work, or independent work for a homeschool student.
Fun Activities for R-Controlled Vowels – AR Walk the Plank
Materials Needed for AR Walk the Plank
Learning the sound of “ar” is easy with this fun r-controlled vowel activity! All you need is:
- AR Pirate Hat Printable (you can find all the printable files at the end of the post) (this is optional – it’s just for fun and an extra reminder of the sound of AR)
- AR Ship Front and AR Pirate Ship Back (either color or black and white)
- AR Words Printable (see below)
- White cardstock – If you don’t have a source for card stock already, check Amazon, Walmart by the printer paper, or your local craftstore
- Laminator (optional for durability – I highly recommend laminating if you are planning to use this activity for multiple children)
Instructions for AR Walk the Plank:
- Print on cardstock: the AR Pirate Hat, the AR Words, the AR Pirate Ship Front, the AR Pirate Ship Back (you do not need both the color and the black and white version – choose one or the other. I included the b/w version for kids who like to color or parents who don’t have a color printer). Please remember that these digital resources are for individual use or single classroom use only. They are not to be reproduced, altered, or sold in any way. By downloading, printing, and using these files, you agree to these terms.
2. Cut out all the pieces (color them first if you chose the b/w version). The words will be cut with a tab on the top and on the bottom, which will create a trifold so the words can stand up.
3. Laminate the ship pieces and hat, if you choose to do so.
4. Assemble the hat by cutting a strip of paper the size of your child’s head and taping it to the back of the hat.
5. Assemble the pirate ship – use a wooden block or small box to support the pirate ship. Tape the sides of the pirate ship to either side of the block or box. This is to help the ship stand up. Fold the plank down and tape it down to the back of the pirate ship.
Now you can do the activity!
- Let your child wear the pirate hat and remind your child that ar makes the sound “ar” like a pirate makes (also the sound in car and far). Feel free to have fun with this and to get silly and theatrical in speaking like a pirate – your child will love it!
- Now your child can practice reading the ar words and making them walk the plank!
- Fold the tabs on the words so that the words can stand
- Your child can use the pirate sword to push the words off the plank when he reads them
- Practice only as long as your child is having fun and help him as much as he needs. You can do a few words a day for a few days, or however long your child stays interested.
Here’s an example video to help you get started:
Fun Activities for R-Controlled Vowels – the Car Goes Far!
This fun activity is great practice for reading AR words and requires almost no preparation. All you need is a car – as in a matchbox type car or plastic car of some kind, a dry erase or wet erase marker (a wet erase marker works better for this, so I recommend using the wet erase marker if you have access to one), a rag with a damp corner, and a flat surface, such as a table top.
Have your child sit on one side of the table while you sit on the opposite end. With the wet erase marker, write an AR word on the car and roll the car to your child.
Ask your child to read the word, then send the car across the table back to you. Wipe off the word with the damp corner of the rag, then write a new AR word on the car before you send it back to your child. Continue practicing this way for a few minutes or until your child begins to lose interest or get tired.
I hope you and your child enjoy these activities for r-controlled vowels!
Happy teaching!
More Fun Activities for R-Controlled Vowels:
More Fun Ways to Practice Reading:
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