Hagwon Hub
R-Controlled Vowels
ar, or, er, ir, ur — bossy r changes the vowel.
About the R-Controlled Vowels worksheets
This free phonics pack has 13 printable A4 pages: ar, or, er, ir, ur — bossy r changes the vowel. You can edit the words on every page, print it or save it as a PDF, and there's a matching PowerPoint lesson to teach it with. It's made for English teachers in Korea and works for kindergarten and elementary classes, hagwons and tutoring.
The rule
When r comes after a vowel, it changes the vowel sound. We call it "bossy r".
What's inside
- Learn It: Bossy R
- Bossy R: ar: Read each word. Say the "ar" sound.
- Bossy R: or: Read each word. Say the "or" sound.
- Bossy R: er: Read each word. Say the "er" sound.
- Bossy R: ir: Read each word. Say the "ir" sound.
- Bossy R: ur: Read each word. Say the "ur" sound.
- Which R Sound? 1: Say the picture. Circle the letters that finish the word.
- Which R Sound? 2
- Which R Sound? 3
- Write the R Sound 1: Write ar, or to finish each word.
- Write the R Sound 2: Write er, ir, ur to finish each word.
Words in this pack
car, star, jar, shark, arm, yarn, corn, fork, horse, horn, storm, sword, tiger, letter, ladder, flower, spider, butter, bird, girl, shirt, circle, first, third, purse, turtle, nurse, church, surf, turkey
Example sentences
- A shark swims in the dark.
- The girl saw a bird.
- The nurse has a purple purse.
How to use it in class
Introduce the sound with the picture pages and have students say every word out loud before they write. Then move on to the circling, matching and writing pages. Short daily practice works better than one long session, so two or three pages a class is plenty.
