Short i Sound Words

Confused about how to teach your child short i sound words? Grab a free printable short i sound word list and picture chart in this post.

Not long ago, I got a DM from a follower on Instagram.

“I understand the consonants. I can say ‘This is the letter B. Its sound is /b/'” she typed.

The next DM said, “I get stuck on the vowels.”

This is super common. After all, there are 19 vowel sounds but only 5 vowel letters in the alphabet.

So, read on to find out how to help your child learn the short i vowel sound. You can grab a free printable word list and a picture chart to help your child read words with short i.

What is the short i sound?

The short i sound is the vowel you hear at the beginning of the word igloo or itch. You can also hear it in the middle of the word pig.

When you see the letter i between slashes like /i/, it represents the short i sound. So you will say the sound not the letter name.

Short i is the sound most commonly associated with the alphabet letter i. However, it is important to remember the alphabet represents sounds.

Written language is a code of speech sounds represented by symbols. We call those symbols letters.

So the letter i represents the short i sound, but at times is also represents other sounds.

Confused? If so, it’s okay. None of us were taught this well enough in school so keep on reading to learn more about short i sound words.

What is the difference between short i and long i sounds?

Now, you might be wondering why some words with the letter i have a different sound. The letter i often spells the short i sound or the long i sound.

Think about the words “kid” and “kind.” Kid has the short i sound /i/. Kind has the long i sound /ī/.

Here are more word pairs that show the difference between short i and long i sounds:

• kit and kite
• fin and fine
• rip and ripe

The first word has the short i sound and the second word has the long sound. It’s important to remember that letters spell sounds – they do not make sounds.

Short i Word Families List

Our brains are good at finding patterns. When reading words, our brain pays attention to word parts called rimes.

The rime is the ending. These are also called word families.

So when you teach your child to read short i words, using word families can be really helpful.  However, do not rely on this strategy. Your child needs a lot of practice sounding out words phonetically.

Here is a short i word families list:

• -ib
• -ick
• -id
• -ift
• -ig
• -ill
• -im
• -imp
• -in
• -inch
• -inge
• -int
• -ip
• -iss
• -it
• -itch

You can show your child how to read words in word families.  Use a whiteboard like this:

• Write the word family on the right side of the board in black dry erase marker.
• Grab another color marker.
• Write the beginning consonant (or consonants) on the left side. This is called the onset.
• Ask your child to decode the word.
• Erase the onset and write another one.
• Ask your child to decode.
• Repeat through several words.

An example of reading words in the short i word family would be:

• Write “ick” in black marker.
• Use a red marker to write the onset “k.”
• Your child decodes the word kick.
• Erase the “k” and write the onset “st.”
• Your child decodes the word “stick.”

Practice reading short i word families can help your child remember common word parts more quickly.

Short i word list

You can grab this free printable short i word list in the box below. Use this word list to help your child read short i words.

The list is divided into these groups:

• CVC words
• Beginning blends
• Ending blends
• Digraphs
• Spelling rules and two blends

You want to start with the simplest CVC words and work to hard words as you teach your child phonics step-by-step.

Short i CVC Words

When your child is learning to read, start with simple CVC words with a short i vowel sound:

• big
• his
• pit
• tip
• did
• rip
• sip
• bit
• fin
• mix
• dim
• pin
• gig
• zip
• wit
• him

Short i Words with Beginning Blends

These words have short i vowel and a beginning blend:

• drip
• grip
• brim
• grit
• slim
• trim
• grin
• crib
• skip
• skim
• swim
• twig
• slid
• slit
• clip
• spit

Short i Words with Ending Blends

This word list has short i word that also have an ending blend:

• gift
• lift
• rift
• sift
• milk
• silk
• wind
• wilt
• tint
• hint
• lint
• limp
• list
• mist
• fist
• disk

Digraphs with short i

These words have consonant digraphs and a short i vowel:

• thin
• this
• with
• smith
• which
• chin
• rich
• whiz
• dish
• wish
• fish
• ship
• lick
• pick
• stick
• brick

Short i words with spelling rules

These words are the most complex short i vowel words. They have some spelling rules like “tch” or they have two blends and digraphs:

• blimp
• print
• stilt
• brisk
• grill
• sniff
• fizz
• bliss
• stiff
• spill
• skill
• drill
• itch
• pitch
• stitch
• twitch

Grab your free short i word list in this box below. This printable is a gift for my email subscribers, but you’re welcome to unsubscribe at any time.

Using the Short i Vowel Sound Word List

To use the short i vowel sound word list, you actually need to start with the consonants your child already knows.

For most children, this means starting with CVC words.  On a whiteboard, simply write the CVC words one at a time.

Guide your child through sounding out the letters. Then help your child blend it into a word.

As your child masters that skill, then you can introduce the short i vowel words with consonant blends and digraphs, or a combination of those phonics skills.

Short i Sound Words with Pictures

A lot of children need a visual to help anchor a new sound in their memory. This is a short i sound anchor chart.

On this free printable short i chart, you will find these words:

• bib
• stick
• kid
• lift
• pig
• inch
• mint
• hiss
• hit

You can play games where you stretch out the sounds and your child points to the word. You could say point to : /hhhhh/ /iiiiii/ /ttttt/.”

Need Help Understanding Vowel Sounds?

It’s hard to help our children learn to read when we were not taught this way in school. A lot of times parents feel inadequate.

But guess what – a lot of teachers don’t have this knowledge either!

This is exactly why I created Sounds School for parents (and teachers). You can learn:

• the 44 sounds in the English language
• the most frequent ways they are spelled
• a simple routine to teach your child the sounds
• how to teach your child to blend them into words
• a concrete and easy way to practice spelling sounds

Plus you get hands-on support from me! Learn more about Sounds School here.

Phonics short i Sound Words Worksheets

If you need phonics short i sound worksheets, check out what is available in the Printable Parents’ Shop.

Vowel Sounds Worksheets

These Vowel Sounds  Worksheets help your child hear the vowel sounds first. This is called phonemic awareness. It is very important for children to understand the sounds before they learn to read them.

With over 100 worksheets, your child will learn all 18 vowel sounds. With scripts for parents and teachers, you’ll know exactly what to say to your child as you work on the vowel sounds.

You can find the Vowel Sounds Worksheets in the Printable Parents’ Shop.  You can also find these Middle Sounds Worksheets on Teachers Pay Teachers.

CVC Blending Worksheets

The CVC Blending Worksheets help your child learn to read the short vowel sound.

Blending the short i sound into words can be challenging for some children. With these worksheets, your child just starts with blending the first two sounds.

There are 22 pages shorted into word families. The short i word families include:

• ib
• id
• ig
• im
• ip
• it

There are also 10 additional pages for mixed review.  Check out the CVC Word Blending Worksheets in the Printable Parents’ Shop. You can also find these Successive Blending Worksheets on Teachers Pay Teachers.