Bossy R for Kids: Hear and Spell ar and or (Grade 1 and 2 English)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Today we meet Bossy R! When the letter r comes right after a vowel, it bosses that vowel around and changes its sound. We call these r controlled vowels.

Listen to the difference. Cat has a short a. But put an r after the a, and you get car. The a is not short anymore. Together, a r says ar, like a pirate!

Here are some ar words. Star. Farm. Park. Shark. Yarn. Read each one slowly and listen carefully for the ar sound. Sometimes it is in the middle, and sometimes it is at the end.

Now meet o r. Hot has a short o. But in the word for, the r bosses the o, and it says or. Or sounds just like the word or in, this one or that one.

Here are some or words. Fork. Corn. Horse. Storm. Short. Listen closely as you say them out loud. Each one has the or sound, because the r is bossing the o.

Bossy R has more friends too. E r, i r and u r all say er, like in her, bird and fur. But today, let's be experts on ar and or first.

Now it's your turn. This word makes a loud toot. H, blank, blank, n. Should the missing letters be a r or o r? Pause and try. It is horn, spelled with o r!

Great job! When r follows a vowel, it changes the sound. A r says ar, like star, and o r says or, like fork. Practice bossy R in the English Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!