Let’s usher in the letter U as it joins the Alphabet Parade. The letter U worksheets introduce the short and long sounds made by the letter U, provide practice spotting the letter U in printed words, and show children how to write the uppercase and lowercase versions of the letter U. As with all alphabet parade worksheets, each worksheet includes extra tips and activity suggestions you can try at home to help your child quickly gain familiarity with the letter U.
The two sounds made by the letter U can both be a bit tricky for young children to hear and say, since they are very similar to sounds made by other vowels. The short letter U sound is very similar to the short letter O sound, as heard in the words hut and hot. When introducing your child to the short letter U sound, encourage him to deeply exhale as he makes the sound, as if sighing at the end of an exhausting day. To practice saying this sound, give your child a piece of paper and his scissors. Then ask him to make confetti, snipping away at the paper and saying the word “cut” each time he makes a snip. Although short vowel sounds can be challenging for young children, time and practice are all that is needed to gain confidence identifying the short vowel sounds.
The long letter U sound, as with the other vowels, is the name of the letter. To help your child practice making the correct long U sound, play a game called “Me or You.” State some activities and let your child decide who should do it by answering “me” or “you” to each idea. For example, some activities you could suggest might be, “eat apple pie,” “clean the bird cage” or “ride a bike.” Use your imagination to make this game fun.
Writing both the uppercase letter U and the lowercase letter u is relatively easy for children, since both are drawn with only one stroke. Remind your child to keep the bottom curve of the U fairly open, as children sometimes are eager to finish the letter and it becomes narrow, causing it to resemble the letter V. The added challenge when writing the lowercase letter u is remembering to stop after drawing the curve and, without picking up the pencil, change direction and draw the remaining downward stroke to complete the letter.
Coming Next Week: The Letter E.