OR sound
Videos and songs to help First Grade kids learn how to pronounce the OR digraph sound. Learn words that have the OR sound.
Learn the OR sound
The “ar” sound in English is a single sound, even though it’s spelled with two letters. It’s called an “r-controlled vowel” because the “r” changes the way the vowel “o” is pronounced.
Examples and Practice:
Here are some words to practice the “or” sound:
Examples: or, for, more, born, corn, form, north, short, sport
Other Spellings that Can Sound Like “or”
Sometimes other spellings can produce a similar sound to “or”:
aw: law, saw, draw
au: August, author, cause
oar: board, roar, soar
Try saying these words slowly, paying attention to the rounding of your lips and the position of your tongue.
The following diagram shows some words with the OR sound and some words with the OR sound. Practice saying these words. Scroll down the page for more examples.
Common Mistakes to Avoid:
- Saying a short “o” sound: The “or” sound is different from the short “o” sound in words like “hot” or “dog.”
- Not rounding the lips enough: The lip rounding is important for the “o” part of the sound.
- Overemphasizing the “r” sound: The “r” should blend smoothly with the “o.”
Bossy R | OR Words
Phonics - Or sound
or sound song
Chant and blend words with the OR sound.
| R-Controlled Vowels & Digraphs | ||
|---|---|---|
| AR Sound | Er,Ir,Ur | OR Sound |
| Ar,Er,Ir,Or,Ur | Ou, Ow | Oi, Oy |
| OO Sound | ||
Learn the sound of the letters
Learning Short Vowels
| Short Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Short A | Short E | Short I |
| Short O | Short U | Short Vowels |
Learning Long Vowels
| Long Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Long A | Long E | Long I |
| Long O | Long U | Y (vowel) |
| Long Vowels | Short & Long Vowels | |
Compare Short & Long Vowels
| Short & Long Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Short & Long A | Short & Long E | Short & Long I |
| Short & Long O | Short & Long U | |
Learning Consonants
Try out our new and fun Fraction Concoction Game.
Add and subtract fractions to make exciting fraction concoctions following a recipe. There are four levels of difficulty: Easy, medium, hard and insane. Practice the basics of fraction addition and subtraction or challenge yourself with the insane level.
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