Free printable · Sound: ur / ir / er
ur ir er Decodable Story – The Bird in the Fern (Free Printable)
A short decodable story that practises the ur / ir / er sound, plus a matching handwriting sheet. Every word can be sounded out by a child who has learned vowel teams, apart from a few common tricky words.
Download the free PDF (2 pages, A4)Prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use.
For parents
- Read the story together three times this week. Your child colours a star each time.
- Point to each word as they read. ur, ir and er all make the same sound. Spot each spelling in the story and sort them.
- Hunt for the ur / ir / er words and write six of them in the boxes.
- Finish with the tracing sheet: trace the grey words, then write each one on its own.
For teachers
- Fits a systematic synthetic phonics sequence at Set 3 · Vowel teams, after teaching the ur, ir and er spellings. Suits Year 1.
- Tracing sheet uses the QLD Beginners handwriting style.
- 61 words, 11 different ur / ir / er words, short sentences.
- Use for small-group reading, repeated reading for fluency, or homework.
- Photocopy freely for your class.
ur / ir / er words in this story
- bird
- fern
- thirsty
- curly
- chirps
- turns
- burrows
- dirt
- flutters
- her
- perfect
Tricky words used
- a
- little
- the
- is
- she
- to
- her
- what
- day
Common words that can't be fully sounded out yet. Practise them by sight.
More Vowel teams printables
Practise ur / ir / er with Digby
In Wombat Words, your child reads stories like this one aloud and Digby follows along, then they trace the tricky words in their school's handwriting style. You get a report showing which sounds they've mastered.