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Reading For All

Level 1 — Lesson 8

Usher & Otto Team Up!
U + O   Short U & Short O Together
🤝
Short U or Short O? Let's Find Out!
Usher's sound /ŭ/ and Otto's sound /ŏ/ can sound alike. But Usher and Otto are here to help you tell them apart. Listen closely and give your best effort!
💪 Usher & Otto — Effort Solves Every Issue!
Abby, Effort, and Issue are cheering from the sidelines! Telling short U and short O apart is an issue worth solving. With effort, Usher and Otto will help you master both sounds.
Remember: Usher = /ŭ/ (round your lips a little) • Otto = /ŏ/ (open your mouth wide and round)

⚓ Anchor Words

👧
Abby
/ă/ — short A
Lesson 1
💪
Effort
/ĕ/ — short E
Lesson 2
📣
Issue
/ĭ/ — short I
Lesson 3
👦
Otto
/ŏ/ — short O
In Focus
💃
Usher
/ŭ/ — short U
In Focus

Today Otto and Usher team up! Can you hear the difference between /ŏ/ and /ŭ/?

👂 Listen & Compare

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

cub 🔈 /k/ /ŭ/ /b/
vs
cob 🔈 /k/ /ŏ/ /b/
hug 🔈 /h/ /ŭ/ /g/
vs
hog 🔈 /h/ /ŏ/ /g/
cut 🔈 /k/ /ŭ/ /t/
vs
cot 🔈 /k/ /ŏ/ /t/
Consonant Short U vowel Short O vowel

🎓 Practice Words

Tap each word. Is the vowel short U or short O? Look at the color!

🐛 bug /b/ /ŭ/ /g/ Short U
🐕 dog /d/ /ŏ/ /g/ Short O
🥛 cup /k/ /ŭ/ /p/ Short U
🍲 pot /p/ /ŏ/ /t/ Short O
☀️ sun /s/ /ŭ/ /n/ Short U
🦊 fox /f/ /ŏ/ /ks/ Short O

Tap a word above to see it broken apart:

b
u
g
▼
bug
Consonant Short U vowel Short O vowel

📚 Word Bank

All the short U and short O words in this lesson — color-coded!

bug dug hug jug mug pug rug tug bud mud bun fun run sun but cut gut hut nut rut cub hub rub sub tub cup pup gum hum yum bus bob cob job mob rob sob nod pod rod dog fog hog jog log cop hop mop pop top box fox cot dot got hot lot not pot tot

📖 Silly Story Time!

Short U words are in rose and short O words are in blue.
Mix them up and read it out loud!

The and the

Usher got a and Otto got a .

The did the and the did on the .

Abby got a and a for the .

The did in the and in the .

Otto said, " the and the !"

Usher, Abby, and Otto did the and the in the !

The End!

⭐ Sight Words Used

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

a the and in on for did got said
Reading For All • Level 1, Lesson 8 • Mixed Short U & O CVC Words