Phonics Skill Guide
9 Illustrated Words

Short O Sound (/ŏ/)

The letter 'o' represents the short /ɑ/ vowel sound in closed syllables.

Practice Words with Sound Boxes

Each word below features explicit Elkonin sound boxes. Have the child tap each sound box while saying the individual sound, then blend them together.

Illustration of dog
dog-og
3 letters • 3 sounds
d/d/
o/ɑ/
g/ɡ/
Illustration of log
log-og
3 letters • 3 sounds
l/l/
o/ɑ/
g/ɡ/
Illustration of pot
pot-ot
3 letters • 3 sounds
p/p/
o/ɑ/
t/t/
Illustration of mop
mop-op
3 letters • 3 sounds
m/m/
o/ɑ/
p/p/
Illustration of top
top-op
3 letters • 3 sounds
t/t/
o/ɑ/
p/p/
Illustration of box
box-ox
3 letters • 3 sounds
b/b/
o/ɑ/
x/ks/
Illustration of fox
fox-ox
3 letters • 3 sounds
f/f/
o/ɑ/
x/ks/
Illustration of fog
fog-og
3 letters • 3 sounds
f/f/
o/ɑ/
g/ɡ/
Illustration of hop
hop-op
3 letters • 3 sounds
h/h/
o/ɑ/
p/p/
Free Printable

Short O Worksheets

Practice the short o sound with a print-ready worksheet. Each worksheet is built from the same verified word data as this skill guide.

Short O Missing Vowel

6 illustrated CVC words — students fill in the missing o.

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Short O Sound Boxes

6 illustrated CVC words — students stretch sounds and map to Elkonin boxes.

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Short O Picture Match

6 illustrated CVC words — students draw lines to match pictures to words.

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