R Controlled Vowel Word Hunt worksheet with a short story and pixel art illustration of children and a park.

Let’s go through the story together and find all the words that have an “r-controlled vowel.” That means we’re looking for words where a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) is followed by the letter r, and the sound changes because of it — like in “car” or “bird.”

We’ll read each sentence slowly and circle every word that has this pattern.

---

First paragraph:

> Today, we will go to the park. I hope we see a bird and hear it chirp. I hope we see a spider in the dirt. We will go in the car, it is not too far.

Words with r-controlled vowels:
- park → “ar”
- bird → “ir”
- hear → “ear” (this counts — “ea” + r makes a new sound)
- chirp → “ir”
- spider → “er” at the end
- dirt → “ir”
- car → “ar”
- far → “ar”

Wait — let’s double-check “hear”. Yes, “ear” here is controlled by the R — it doesn’t say “hee-ar”, it says “hirr”. So yes, include it.

Also, “spider” ends with “er” — that’s r-controlled.

So from first paragraph:
✔ park, bird, hear, chirp, spider, dirt, car, far

---

Second paragraph:

> It is time to go! My mom says, “We are off, like a herd of turtles.” On the way, we will see a farm with a barn.

Words:
- are → “are” — the “a” is followed by “r”, and it sounds like “ar” — YES!
- herd → “er”
- farm → “ar”
- barn → “ar”

Note: “turtles” has “ur” — but wait, “turtle” is pronounced “tur-tul” — the “ur” is r-controlled? Actually, yes — “ur” makes a sound like “er” sometimes. But let’s check: In “turtles”, the “ur” is part of “tur-”, which is r-controlled. However, some teachers might only count if the R comes right after the vowel without another consonant in between. Let’s look again.

Actually, “turtle” = “turt-le” — the “ur” is together, so yes, it’s r-controlled. BUT — in many elementary lessons, they focus on simple patterns like ar, er, ir, or, ur — and “turtle” fits “ur”.

But wait — the instruction says: “circle all the r-controlled vowels” — meaning the *vowel letters* that are followed by R.

In “turtles”, the “u” is followed by “r” — so “ur” — that should count.

BUT — let’s be careful. The word is “turtles” — plural. The root is “turtle”. The “ur” is still there.

However, in many school worksheets, they may expect you to catch obvious ones. Let’s list what’s clear:

✔ are, herd, farm, barn

What about “turtles”? Let’s think: If we break it down — t-u-r-t-l-e-s — the “u” is followed by “r”, so yes, “ur” is r-controlled. So we should include it.

But wait — the example given in directions: “Bossy R” — when vowel is followed by R. In “turtle”, the “u” is followed by “r”, even though there’s a “t” after — no, actually, the “r” comes right after the “u” — “u-r” — so yes.

Actually, “turtle” is often taught as having an r-controlled vowel — “ur” making the /er/ sound.

So let’s add: ✔ turtles

But hold on — the word is “turtles” — does the “s” change anything? No, the r-controlled part is still “ur”.

So second paragraph:
✔ are, herd, turtles, farm, barn

Wait — “on the way” — any? “way” has “ay” — no R. “see” — no. “will” — no. “with” — no. “a” — no.

So: are, herd, turtles, farm, barn

---

Third paragraph:

> My brother will bring a hammer to make a fort. My sister will bring her purse. I will bring my swim shirt to play in the water.

Words:
- brother → “oth” — wait, “o” followed by “t” then “h” then “e” then “r” — not directly followed by R. The “e” is before the “r” — so “er” at the end — YES! “brother” ends with “er” — r-controlled.
- hammer → “am” — no, “a” followed by “m” — not R. Wait — “hammer” — h-a-m-m-e-r — the last part is “er” — so “e” followed by “r” — YES!
- fort → “or” — YES!
- sister → “is” — no, but ends with “er” — YES!
- her → “e” followed by “r” — YES!
- purse → “ur” — YES! (“u” followed by “r”)
- shirt → “ir” — YES!
- water → “at” — no, but ends with “er” — YES! (“e” followed by “r”)

Let’s list them:

✔ brother (ends with er), hammer (ends with er), fort (or), sister (er), her (er), purse (ur), shirt (ir), water (er)

Is “swim” included? No — “swim” has no R. “play” — no. “in” — no. “the” — no.

So third paragraph:
✔ brother, hammer, fort, sister, her, purse, shirt, water

---

Now let’s compile ALL the words we found:

From paragraph 1:
park, bird, hear, chirp, spider, dirt, car, far

From paragraph 2:
are, herd, turtles, farm, barn

From paragraph 3:
brother, hammer, fort, sister, her, purse, shirt, water

Wait — did we miss any?

Let’s re-read the whole story quickly:

“Today, we will go to the park.” → park
“I hope we see a bird” → bird
“and hear it chirp.” → hear, chirp
“I hope we see a spider in the dirt.” → spider, dirt
“We will go in the car, it is not too far.” → car, far

“It is time to go! My mom says, ‘We are off, like a herd of turtles.’” → are, herd, turtles
“On the way, we will see a farm with a barn.” → farm, barn

“My brother will bring a hammer to make a fort.” → brother, hammer, fort
“My sister will bring her purse.” → sister, her, purse
“I will bring my swim shirt to play in the water.” → shirt, water

That seems complete.

Now, let’s write them in order as they appear in the text, so the student can follow along easily.

Final list of words with r-controlled vowels:

1. park
2. bird
3. hear
4. chirp
5. spider
6. dirt
7. car
8. far
9. are
10. herd
11. turtles
12. farm
13. barn
14. brother
15. hammer
16. fort
17. sister
18. her
19. purse
20. shirt
21. water

Wait — is “turtles” really expected? Let me think again.

In some curricula, they might not include “turtles” because the “ur” is inside the word and not at the end, but according to the rule — “when a vowel is followed by the letter r” — in “turtles”, the “u” is followed by “r” — so it should count.

But to be safe, let’s check common r-controlled vowel patterns taught in early grades: usually ar, er, ir, or, ur.

“turtles” has “ur” — so it fits.

Similarly, “purse” has “ur” — we included it.

So I think it’s correct.

Another one: “hear” — “ea” + r — that’s a bit trickier, but it’s commonly accepted as r-controlled because the R changes the sound of “ea”.

Same with “are” — “a” + “r” + “e” — but the “e” is silent, so it’s just “ar” sound.

All good.

So total 21 words.

But let’s count again to be sure:

Paragraph 1: 8 words
Paragraph 2: 5 words (are, herd, turtles, farm, barn)
Paragraph 3: 8 words (brother, hammer, fort, sister, her, purse, shirt, water)
Total: 8+5+8=21

Yes.

Now, for the final answer, since the task is to “circle all the r-controlled vowels” in the story, but since we can’t circle here, we list the words that contain them.

The student is supposed to circle the vowels that are controlled by R — but typically in such worksheets, they circle the entire word or the vowel+r combination.

Since the instruction says: “circle all the r-controlled vowels” — it might mean circle the vowel letters that are followed by R.

But in practice, for this level, they usually circle the whole word.

To be precise, let’s assume we list the words that contain r-controlled vowels.

So the final answer is the list of those words.

But perhaps for simplicity, since it’s a word hunt, we just list the words.

I think that’s fine.

Final Answer:
park, bird, hear, chirp, spider, dirt, car, far, are, herd, turtles, farm, barn, brother, hammer, fort, sister, her, purse, shirt, water