‘OO’ As in Moon, or ‘OO’ As in Book?

One of the most complicated aspects of the English language is that one grapheme (a letter or group of letters that represent a sound) can represent multiple phonemes (sounds). Such is the case with the ‘oo’ digraph!

Think about the words ‘moon’ and ‘book’. In the word ‘moon’, the ‘oo’ makes a long sound. In the word ‘book,’ the ‘oo’ makes a short sound. Confusing, huh?   

This basic cut-and-paste worksheet has been designed to help younger students identify the long oo’ sound and the ‘short oo’ sound in common words. Students must cut out the words provided and paste them into the appropriate column. The words in the resource are spoon, foot, tooth, stood, look, wood, food, scoop, cook, boot, zoo, hood.

An answer sheet is provided.

Tips for Scaffolding and Extension

This phonics activity has been designed to support your students in developing a deeper understanding of grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Should you need to support or extend students in your class, you may wish to try the following ideas: 

Decode, Listen, Identify, Highlight

Before asking the students to complete the worksheet independently, review each word in the list as a class. Say the word aloud while the students listen for the long or short ‘oo’ sound. Using two different coloured highlighters, have the students highlight the ‘oo’ grapheme in each word according to the sound it is making.

Long or Short ‘OO’ Poster

Provide students with a blank piece of paper or cardboard. Have them create a poster using their own words containing the long and short ‘oo’ sounds. They may include words and pictures. This can be hung up in the classroom and used as a reference. 

Download the File Format That Best Suits You

Use the dropdown menu next to the Download button to select between the PDF or Google Slides version of this resource.

Because this resource includes an answer sheet, we recommend you print one copy of the entire file. Then, make photocopies of the blank worksheet for students to complete.

To save paper, why not project the activity onto a screen and work through it as a class? Have students take turns coming up to the board. Instead of cutting and pasting, have students use a marker to write the matching words inside the table.

This resource was created by Alessandra Pastor, a Teach Starter collaborator.