UNIT 1
40
1.9
R
-Controlled Vowels (
er,
ir, ur
), Less Common
R-
Controlled Vowels,
and
L-
Controlled Vowels
Opening
In our last lesson, we discussed the r-controlled vowels ar and or. Today we’ll dis-
cuss several other r-controlled vowels.
Objective
Students will learn er, ir, ur and several less common r-controlled vowels. They will
also learn about l-controlled vowels.
Procedure
R
-Controlled Vowels
er, ir, ur
Tell students that er, ir, and ur all say the same /er/ sound, as in her, bird, and fur.
Have students read and spell words that fi t each of the following patterns:
er (as in fern)
fern perch jerk stern servant
her berth serf tern serge
term verse lantern winter merge
ir (as in bird )
bird birth shirt squirt thirsty
girl chirp fi rm squirrel thirty
fi rst twirl thirst skirmish confi rm
ur (as in nurse)
nurse blur turn turtle further
purse sturdy hurt nursery murder
church curve curl purple disturb
bust urge curly hurling churning
Less Common
R
-Controlled Vowels
Introduce the following less common r-controlled patterns. Have students read
and spell these words:
L
e
s
s
o
n
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41
Lesson 1.9
ear /er/ ear /air/
er/err ar/arr
earn bear perish parish
learn wear berry garish
heard pear merry barbarian
earth tear marry
rehearse
L
-Controlled Vowels
With the l-controlled vowel a, the letter a rarely gets a short sound before l. Write
these words on the board and ask children to read them:
fall call halter
falter tall wall
Words containing the letter u followed by ll (e.g., bull, pull, and full ) often must be
memorized.
Closing
What are the major vowel • r patterns? [or, ar, er, ir, ur]
What are the common • l-controlled vowels? [al, all]
Follow-Up
Have students look for • r-controlled and/or l-controlled vowel patterns in
their literature or textbooks.
Have students complete the activities in Handout 1.9.•
© copyrighted material by PRO-ED, Inc.
Student Handout Answers
UNIT 1
42
17
H
a
n
d
o
u
t
Handout 1.9
1.9
R
-Controlled Vowels
(
er, ir, ur
), Less
Common
R
-Controlled
Vowels, and
L
-Controlled Vowels
Reminder
Er, ir, ur, and sometimes ear have the sound /ûr/, as in her, girl, fur, and heard.
Activities
1. Read the words below:
bird curl her pearl girl
fern church heard chirp blur
purse tern churn learn stern
germ earn birth search skirt
2. Write the words above in the corresponding columns below:
er ir ur ear
3. Write 3 sentences containing at least 2 /ûr/ words:
a.
b.
c.
her bird curl pearl
fern girl church heard
tern chirp blur learn
stern birth purse earn
germ skirt churn search
Ex: The girls were all in fi rst grade.
Ex: Put the ferns in front of the church.
Ex: We heard the birds chirping outside.
© copyrighted material by PRO-ED, Inc.
