Roll, Read & Cover: Short U is a hands-on, interactive phonics game designed to help early readers build confidence and fluency with short u CVC words. Students roll two dice – one for the onset (beginning sound) and one for the rime (word ending) – and blend the two parts together to form a word. If the word matches a picture on their game board, they cover it. This fun and fast-paced activity helps reinforce blending, segmenting, decoding and word recognition.

Designed for use in literacy rotations, small group learning or partner work, this resource gives students the opportunity to build, read and identify short u words such as sun, mug, jug and bug. With repeated exposure to medial vowel sounds and image-word matching, students strengthen their phonemic awareness while developing foundational reading skills.

With minimal prep and maximum engagement, Roll, Read & Cover: Short U is a classroom favourite for consolidating short vowel sounds in an enjoyable and effective way. Students will love the game-like format as they practise reading and blending aloud with confidence.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Blend onset and rime to form and read short u CVC words
• ✅ Improve decoding and segmenting skills for early reading
• ✅ Reinforce phonemic awareness and word recognition
• ✅ Build confidence in applying short vowel sounds
• ✅ Support oral language and cooperative learning through partner play

What’s Included:

• Printable onset and rime dice templates
• Game boards featuring image prompts for short u CVC words
• Instructions for setup and gameplay

Materials Needed:

• Printed game boards and dice (preferably on cardstock)
• Scissors to cut out and assemble dice
• Counters or tokens for covering images on the board

How to Use:

1. Print the game boards and dice. Use coloured card to distinguish the onset and rime dice.
2. Cut and assemble the dice. Provide each student or pair with a game board and set of counters.
3. Students roll both dice, blend the onset and rime to form a word, and check if the word matches a picture on their board.
4. If it matches, they cover the image. The first student to cover all images is the winner.

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Use as a literacy centre activity to consolidate short u sound knowledge
• 💡 Pair with mini whiteboards so students can write each word as they go
• 💡 Incorporate into your phonics rotations or targeted intervention groups
• 💡 Use to complement explicit lessons on medial u vowel sounds

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Review all onset and rime options with your class before play begins
• 💛 Laminate game components for long-term classroom use
• 💛 Extend the activity by having students write a rhyming word or sentence using the rolled word
• 💛 Allow peer partners to assist with sound blending for students still developing confidence

Roll, Read & Cover: Short U is a playful and effective way to support early phonics instruction. Students stay engaged while strengthening essential reading skills—one roll, read and cover at a time!

Available in our basic fun font and all Australian state fonts.