Reading For All System
Multisensory Reading Resources for Every Learner
Reading For All

Level 1 — Lesson 6

Mix It Up!
A + E   Short A & Short E Together
🔀
Can You Tell Them Apart?
Abby's sound /ă/ and Effort's sound /ĕ/ can be tricky to tell apart. This lesson puts them side by side so you can hear the difference. Listen carefully and give it your best effort!
🏆 Mixing Sounds Takes Extra Effort!
Usher, Otto, and Issue are cheering you on! Telling short A and short E apart is an important issue to solve — and with effort, you've got this.
Remember: Abby = /ă/ (open your mouth wide) • Effort = /ĕ/ (mouth a little less open)

Anchor Words

👧
Abby
/ă/ — short A
In Focus
💪
Effort
/ĕ/ — short E
In Focus
📣
Issue
/ĭ/ — short I
Lesson 3
👦
Otto
/ŏ/ — short O
Lesson 4
💃
Usher
/ŭ/ — short U
Lesson 5

Today Abby and Effort team up! Can you hear the difference between /ă/ and /ĕ/?

👂 Listen & Compare

These word pairs sound almost the same — only the vowel changes! Tap to hear.

bat 🔈 /b/ /ă/ /t/
vs
bet 🔈 /b/ /ĕ/ /t/
pan 🔈 /p/ /ă/ /n/
vs
pen 🔈 /p/ /ĕ/ /n/
mat 🔈 /m/ /ă/ /t/
vs
met 🔈 /m/ /ĕ/ /t/
Consonant Short A vowel Short E vowel

🎓 Practice Words

Tap each word. Is the vowel short A or short E? Look at the color!

🐱 cat /k/ /ă/ /t/ Short A
🛌 bed /b/ /ĕ/ /d/ Short E
👜 bag /b/ /ă/ /g/ Short A
🐔 hen /h/ /ĕ/ /n/ Short E
🧢 hat /h/ /ă/ /t/ Short A
🧬 net /n/ /ĕ/ /t/ Short E

Tap a word above to see it broken apart:

c
a
t
cat
Consonant Short A vowel Short E vowel

📚 Word Bank

All the short A and short E words in this lesson — color-coded!

cat hat sat bat mat rat fat bag tag ran pan van map cap nap sad mad had bed red fed led hen men pen ten den bet get jet let met net pet set wet gem leg

📖 Silly Story Time!

Short A words are in amber and short E words are in green.
Pick words, mix the sounds, and read it out loud!

The and the

Abby had a and a .

The sat on a and a .

Otto the in a .

The to the and the on the .

Usher said, "The and the had a on the !"

Abby, Otto, and Usher the and the on the !

The End!

Sight Words Used

These common words appear in the story. Practice reading them on sight!

a the and on in to had said