Bringing Phonics to Life: How to Teach Short Vowel Protectors

Are you looking for a fun and engaging way to teach short vowel protectors? This post is for you! For me, teaching short vowel protectors is a little embarrassing, but the kids love it. Don't worry, it doesn't have to be embarrassing for you, unless you want it to be... 😉 Keep reading to learn more!

What are short vowel protectors?

Short vowel protectors are consonant combinations that are added to the end of a one-syllable word, after a short vowel sound. Their job is to "protect" the short vowel sound. Words like buzz, floss, batch and bridge all have protectors.

Short vowel protectors include: -ff, -ll, -ss, -zz, -ck, -tch and -dge.

Short vowel protectors are sometimes found in multisyllabic words, but it's usually when the multisyllabic word is a compound word (ex.: backpack, windmill, grassland).

How can I bring phonics to life with Short Vowel Protectors?

Who are the best protectors to help bring this phonics concept to life? Knights with all of their protective armor!

Teach your readers that when they see a short vowel protector in a word, code it by circling the vowel protector. This reminds us that it is only making one sound as it protects the short vowel. A breve can also be drawn above the vowel since the protector is a signal that the vowel will be short.

Now... When I teach this concept for the first time (FLSZ rule), and all the combinations after (-ck, -tch, -dge), every time I say “short vowel protector” I use my deepest voice, while doing body builder poses. Go ahead and picture it. Totally. Embarrassing. BUT… my students remember the concept of needing to protect that little short vowel with a big strong protector.

When should you teach short vowel protectors?

In our scope and sequence at Up & Away Literacy, we do not teach all of the short vowel protectors at once, but spread them throughout our scope and sequence. Once you've taught the first concept, which is the FLSZ Rule for us, you can point out other vowel protectors as they appear in texts before you've explicitly taught them (your students will have a general understanding of the concept).

Activity Ideas

Practicing this concept can be as simple as...

• Writing a word on the board, and having students do their own big muscle poses if the word has a short vowel protector. You could even make it game like Simon Says. If they make a big muscle, hero pose, and the word doesn’t have a short vowel protector… they’re out!
• Writing a word on the board, having students copy the word down and then circle the short vowel protector and mark the breve with a fun gel pen, highlighter, marker, etc.
• Keeping with the knights in shining armor theme, you could print shield templates and have your students hold up a their shield if a word has a protector in it.
• We also have loads of resources including: word lists, decodable readers (fiction & nonfiction), centers and games to practice this skill (click HERE).

Time for a FREEBIE!

Help your students remember short vowel protectors with our freebie anchor chart. Click the image below to get your free download. Enjoy! 😊

The Resources You Need, All in ONE Membership!

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In just a few clicks, your small group lessons are prepped and ready to teach—so you can spend less time planning and more time making an impact in your classroom. It’s planning made simple, effective, and affordable.

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