Identify the 'er, ir, ur' Sound in Words

Find the /er/ sound in words like bird, fern, and fur.

1st Grade - English Language Arts - R-Controlled Vowels

About This Skill

In words like bird, fern, and fur, the letters E, I, or U can team up with R to make the same bossy-R sound: the /er/ sound. In this Grade 1 skill, children look, listen, read, and choose, connecting three spellings ('er', 'ir', and 'ur') to one sound in single-syllable words while avoiding short-vowel look-alikes. Support fades across three levels (picture + audio with word choices -> written word + audio with picture choices -> audio with written choices), so children move from hearing the sound to reading and listening for it.

Skills & Topics

  • Phonics & Word Skills
  • Phonics
  • Phonemic Awareness
  • Word Recognition
  • Short Vowels
  • Decoding
  • R-Controlled Vowels
  • Letter-Sound Correspondence

Curriculum Alignment

  • RF.1.3: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
  • RF.1.3.b: Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
  • ENG-Y1-RWR.2: Respond speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes.
  • AC9E1LY12: understand that a letter can represent more than one sound and that a syllable must contain a vowel sound
  • 1RF3: Know and apply phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.