Grade 2 Phonics, Decoding & Spelling Patterns: Bossy R (r-controlled vowels)
216 printable 2nd Grade phonics worksheets on Bossy R (r-controlled vowels). 6 activity types: Crack the Code, Lesson, Read and Draw, Roll and Read. The first three are free to download; All Access opens all 216.
Practice pages support a program; they are not the lesson. These sheets reinforce Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency — Grade 2, the complete K–5 reading curriculum from Faith Readers. See every program →
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Includes 6 activity types: Crack the Code, Lesson, Read and Draw, Roll and Read, Word Ladder, Word Search.
Teaching Bossy R (r-controlled vowels)
What it is
Bossy R, or r-controlled vowels, means an r after a vowel changes the vowel's sound: car, her, bird, fork, hurt. The vowel is neither short nor long; the r takes charge.
When a child is ready
Teach it after short vowels and magic e are secure, because r-controlled words break the rules the child has just learned.
If they struggle
If the child reads car as ca-r with a short a, teach the vowel and r as one team that is read together (ar, or, er, ir, ur). Sort words by team, then read them. er, ir, and ur usually share one sound, so group those three.
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