Teaching R-Controlled Vowel Patterns

Will you be teaching r-controlled, or r-influenced, vowel patterns soon? Let this blog post be your handy go-to as you brush up on what an r-controlled vowel is, when students are developmentally ready to learn about them, common spelling mistakes to expect from students, and ideas to make teaching students about r-controlled vowel sounds fun and effective!

What is an R-Controlled Vowel?

R-Controlled vowels, also known as R-Influenced vowels (and sometimes lovingly called "Bossy R"😂) are the vowels immediately followed by the letter r where the inclusion of the r changes the way the vowel is typically pronounced. The r, when directly following one vowel, has vowel-like qualities because it makes the vowel that precedes it neither long nor short. 

Teachers often use the analogy for students that the r “robs” the vowel that it follows of its normal sound and leaves behind a new sound. For example, in the word car, even though it follows the CVC pattern, the r takes away the ability of the a to be short. Instead it makes a new sound like /ar/. (See for yourself…say "c-a-t" and "c-a-r" to notice the difference in how the a's are sounded.)

Words with r-controlled vowels can be found with a, e, i, o, and u vowel sounds. I've listed the most common r-controlled vowel spelling patterns (with example words) for students in the Within Word Pattern stage:

In what grade-level are R-Controlled Vowel Sounds taught?

While I use the Words Their Way continuum of spellers to assess my students and identify the developmental level that I will target with their instruction, it's also helpful to know what is typical for teaching R-Controlled Vowel Patterns.  Students working on r-controlled vowel sounds are typically in the Middle Within Word Pattern Stage. These students already have a firm foundation of long vowel patterns and are ready to tackle vowel patterns and sounds that are a bit less concrete. Students in this stage typically know the meaning of most words with r-controlled vowels, but they struggle to spell them accurately. 

Within Word Pattern students are typically in 2nd-3rd grade, but you may find that some 1st grade students fall into this stage and that some 4th-5th graders are still developing these skills. As a 5th grade teacher, I always had one or two small groups that were in the Within Word Pattern stage. 

What are some common mistakes students make when writing and spelling R-Controlled Vowels?

Mistakes are plentiful for students who have not yet mastered spelling words with r-controlled vowels, because it's challenging and "tricky" to confirm the spelling of these words by simply sounding them out. When students try to spell words with r-controlled vowels phonetically, they struggle to accurately represent the vowel because the r has “robbed” it of its own sound and left behind a new sound. 

Example → A common misspelling of first is “furst” or girl is “gril”. 

To make things even more confusing, students will encounter different ways to spell the same sound; a large number of homophones contain r-controlled vowels.

Example → The or (thorn, pork, storm), ore (bored, store, pore), oar (board, roar, soar), and our (pour, court, four) spelling patterns all have the same /or/ sound, making it difficult for students to know how to accurately spell many of these words. 

Examples of R-Controlled Homophones → poor vs pour; board vs bored; soar vs sore; fore, for, and four; wore, war

If you want to work specifically on R Controlled Homophones with your students, you can check out my games and activities for this topic!

Students must learn the various spelling patterns for r-controlled vowels in order to become accurate spellers.

What types of activities benefit students working on R-Controlled Vowels?

When students are first introduced to r-controlled or r-influenced vowels, it is important for them to be able to compare what they know and understand to the new patterns they are studying. For instance, in Spark the Torch, students draw from vowel pattern cards that include short a, short o, /ar/, and /or/ in order to make their moves. This requires students to be able to distinguish between the short vowel sounds they are used to in CVC words from the new vowel sounds that are made when r follows the vowels a or o.

Once students become more familiar with r-controlled vowels, they learn that many of the unique r-controlled vowel sounds can be represented with a variety of letter patterns. 

In Steer the Herd Clear, students work with words that make the ûr sound and the ēr sound but both can be spelled using the ear spelling pattern. 

Not only do students need to be able to differentiate the various spelling patterns in order to move along the game board, but the recording sheet also requires them to categorize the words, identify oddballs or words that are exceptions to the spelling patterns being practiced, and answer reflective questions related to the concepts embedded in the game.

Why Picture-Based Activities for Teaching R-Controlled Vowels?

Using picture-based activities that depict words with r-controlled vowels is an excellent teaching strategy for spellers in the middle Within Word Pattern stage. Because so many r-controlled words sound the same but follow different spelling patterns, the removal of the written word truly challenges students to apply what they have been learning to think through how to accurately spell these words.

I’ve created Spin, Cover, Build, Write activities for all the r-controlled vowel sorts in Within Word Pattern. Students spin to cover a word or image spelled with the r-controlled vowel pattern. This activity can be done either independently, with a partner, or in a small group. These activities are also wonderful assessment tools for teachers because they push students to go beyond simply sorting a group of words by sight. 

You can find all of the games and activities I suggest for teaching r-influenced vowel patterns in this R-Controlled Vowel Patterns BUNDLE.

JUST REMEMBER, PRACTICE MAKES PROGRESS!

Let’s be honest. When teaching students about r-controlled or r-influenced vowel sounds, we can be certain of one thing - students will be more successful with LOTS of practice and feedback.

By allowing students who need to practice these skills the time to do so, rather than pushing them to tackle even more confusing word study concepts too quickly, like diphthongs and ambiguous vowels, we can help students achieve more success and less frustration. 

Games and activities like I've suggested also gives us the opportunity to elicit and clear up any confusion students may have internalized about the spelling of r-controlled vowels. As you help your students successfully master these skills, be sure to plan opportunities to circle back to previously taught word study concepts and allow students time to revisit familiar and previously used activities, such as common and less common vowel patterns.

Looking for more Within Word Pattern Resources?

You can get all of the Within Word Pattern Stage games and activities in a time-saving , money saving bundle!

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