“OO” Sound As in Moon, or “OO” Sound As in Book?

One of the English language’s most complicated aspects 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 provided in the resource are: spoon, foot, tooth, stood, look, wood, food, scoop, cook, boot, zoo, and hood.

An answer sheet is provided.

Scaffold and Extend Your OO Sound Word Lessons

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, and Highlight OO Words

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 colored highlighters, have the students highlight the “oo” grapheme in each word according to its sound.

Long or Short “OO” Anchor Chart

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.

Why not project the activity onto a screen and work through it as a class to save paper? 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 teacher in Massachusetts and a Teach Starter collaborator.