Short I - Phonics Worksheets - Free Printable

Let’s solve this step by step.

We are given a list of words in boxes:

hid, did, see, look, you
sit, pig, it, at, him
thin, dig, in, my, with
chin, gift, can, will, I
ship, on, that, big, in

Our job is to cut them out (in our mind!) and rearrange them to make sentences. Each sentence must use one short-i word — like “hid”, “pig”, “sit”, “dig”, “chin”, “ship”, “big”, etc.

Also, we must start each sentence with a capital letter and end with a period.

Let’s pick some short-i words first:
- hid
- sit
- pig
- dig
- chin
- ship
- big
- thin (also has short i)
- gift (has short i too!)
- will (not short i — skip for now)
- can (not short i)
- I (capitalized already — good for starting!)

Now let’s build simple sentences using one short-i word per sentence.

Example from the worksheet:
“Look at that big pig.” → uses “pig” (short i)
“Did you sit on my ship?” → uses “sit” and “ship” — but wait! The rule says “use a short-i word in each sentence” — so maybe only ONE per sentence? Let’s check the example again.

Actually, the example shows two sentences:
1. Look at that big pig. → has “pig” (short i)
2. Did you sit on my ship? → has “sit” and “ship” — both short i! Hmm… maybe more than one is okay? But the instruction says “Try to use a short-i word in each sentence.” So as long as there’s at least one, it’s fine.

But to be safe, let’s aim for one clear short-i word per sentence.

Let’s make 5 simple sentences (since there are 5 rows of words — probably expecting 5 sentences).

Sentence 1: Use “I” + “can” + “see” + “the” — wait, no “the”. We have “that”, “my”, “on”, “with”, etc.

Try:
“I can see the pig.” → but no “the”. We have “that”, “my”.

How about:
“I can see that pig.” → uses “pig” (short i) ✔

Sentence 2: Use “sit”
“You can sit on my ship.” → uses “sit” and “ship” — both short i, but that’s okay. Or just one? Let’s do:
“Sit on that big ship.” → uses “sit” and “ship” — still two. Maybe:
“He will sit.” — but no “he”. We have “him”, “you”, “I”.

Try:
“I will sit.” → uses “sit” ✔

Sentence 3: Use “dig”
“Can you dig in my garden?” — no “garden”. We have “chin”, “gift”, “thin”.

Try:
“I can dig with my chin.” → silly, but uses “dig” and “chin” — both short i. Okay? Maybe too weird.

Better:
“Dig that thin gift.” — doesn’t make sense.

Wait — how about:
“The pig can dig.” — no “the”.

Use available words:
“Pig can dig.” → not grammatical. Need subject.

“I saw the pig dig.” — no “saw”.

Let’s try:
“Look at that big pig.” — already used in example. Can we reuse? Probably not — we should make new ones.

New idea:
“Will you hide the gift?” — “hide” isn’t there. We have “hid”.

“Did you hid the gift?” — wrong grammar. “Hid” is past tense. Should be “hide” for present.

Wait — “hid” is past tense. So:
“I hid the gift.” → uses “hid” and “gift” — both short i. Good!

Sentence 4: Use “thin”
“That thin chin looks funny.” — no “looks”. We have “look”.

“Look at that thin chin.” → uses “thin” and “chin” — both short i. Okay.

Sentence 5: Use “big”
“That big ship can go.” — no “go”. We have “on”, “in”, “with”.

“The big ship is on water.” — no “is”, “water”.

Try:
“Ship is big.” — no “is”.

Use “I” again:
“I am on that big ship.” — no “am”.

Wait — we have “will”:
“I will be on that big ship.” — no “be”.

Hmm. Let’s use what we have.

Another approach: Make very simple subject-verb-object sentences.

List of usable subjects: I, you, he (no), she (no), it, pig, ship, chin, gift

Verbs: hid, did, see, look, sit, dig, can, will

Prepositions: at, in, on, with, my, that, him, it

Let’s try:

1. I can see that pig. → short i: pig ✔
2. You will sit on my ship. → short i: sit, ship ✔
3. He did hide the gift. — no “he”, “the”.
Instead: I did hide the gift. → short i: hid, gift ✔
Wait — “did hide” is redundant. Better: I hid the gift. ✔
4. Look at that thin chin. → short i: thin, chin ✔
5. Dig in that big pit. — no “pit”. We have “in”, “on”, “with”.

Wait — we have “in” twice. And “big”.

How about:
“The big pig is in.” — no “is”.

Try:
“Pig is big.” — no “is”.

Use “it”:
“It is big.” — no “is”.

Wait — we have “can”:
“It can be big.” — no “be”.

This is tricky. Let’s use “I” and “will”:

“I will sit on that big ship.” → uses “sit”, “big”, “ship” — multiple short i, but acceptable.

But we already used “sit” and “ship” in sentence 2.

Maybe vary.

Alternative sentence 5:
“Can you dig with my chin?” → uses “dig”, “chin” — both short i. Silly but works.

Or better:
“Gift is thin.” — no “is”.

Wait — we have “that”:
“That gift is thin.” — no “is”.

Perhaps accept that some sentences may have more than one short-i word, as long as each has at least one.

Final set:

1. I can see that pig.
2. You will sit on my ship.
3. I hid the gift.
4. Look at that thin chin.
5. Can you dig in my yard? — no “yard”.
Instead: Dig in that big hole. — no “hole”.

Wait — we have “in” and “big” and “ship” again? No.

Another idea:
“Ship is on big wave.” — no “wave”.

Let’s use “him” or “it”:

“It is big.” — still no “is”.

Perhaps:
“That big ship sank.” — no “sank”.

I think we need to stretch a bit.

How about:
“Big pig can run.” — no “run”.

Wait — we have “did”:
“Did you see that big pig?” → uses “big”, “pig” — both short i. Good!

But we already have “pig” in sentence 1.

Maybe it’s okay to reuse concepts, but not exact same sentence.

Let’s finalize 5 sentences that are grammatically correct and use at least one short-i word each, using only the given words.

Given words again:
hid, did, see, look, you
sit, pig, it, at, him
thin, dig, in, my, with
chin, gift, can, will, I
ship, on, that, big, in

Note: “in” appears twice — so we can use it twice.

Let’s construct:

1. I can see that pig. → short i: pig
2. You will sit on my ship. → short i: sit, ship
3. I hid the gift. → short i: hid, gift
But “the” not available. Oh no! We don’t have “the”. Big problem.

All our sentences assumed “the”, but it’s not in the word bank.

So we must avoid “the”.

Revise:

1. I can see pig. → awkward. Not natural.
Better: See that pig! → imperative. Uses “pig”.
Or: Look at pig. → still awkward.

In English, we often need articles, but since “the” isn’t provided, perhaps we use possessives or demonstratives.

We have “my”, “that”, “this” (no “this”), “him”, “it”.

So:

1. Look at that pig. → uses “pig” ✔
2. Sit on my ship. → uses “sit”, “ship” ✔
3. I hid gift. → still needs article.
How about: I hid my gift. → yes! “my” is available. Uses “hid”, “gift” ✔
4. Look at that thin chin. → uses “thin”, “chin” ✔
5. Dig in big hole. — no “hole”.
Instead: Dig in my yard. — no “yard”.

Wait — we have “in” and “big” and “ship” — but ship is used.

Use “it”:
It is big. — no “is”.

Another idea:
That big ship sank. — no “sank”.

Perhaps:
Can you dig? → uses “dig” ✔
But very short.

Or:
I will dig in my garden. — no “garden”.

Let’s use “him” or “it”:

He saw him. — no “he”, “saw”.

We have “did”:
Did you see him? → uses “see” — but “see” is not short i. Short i words are those with /ɪ/ sound: hid, sit, pig, dig, chin, ship, big, thin, gift, will? Will is /wɪl/ — yes, short i! “Will” has short i.

“Will” — w-i-l-l — yes, short i sound.

Similarly, “did” — d-i-d — short i.

“See” — s-e-e — long e, not short i.

“Look” — l-o-o-k — long o.

“You” — y-o-u — not short i.

“At” — a-t — short a.

“Him” — h-i-m — short i! Yes!

“My” — m-y — not short i.

“With” — w-i-t-h — short i! Yes!

“In” — i-n — short i! Yes!

“On” — o-n — short o.

“That” — th-a-t — short a.

“Big” — b-i-g — short i.

So many short i words: hid, sit, pig, dig, chin, ship, big, thin, gift, will, did, him, with, in (twice)

So we can use any of these.

Now, let’s make sentences without “the”.

1. Look at that pig. → pig (short i)
2. Sit on my ship. → sit, ship (short i)
3. I hid my gift. → hid, gift (short i)
4. That chin is thin. — no “is”.
Instead: Thin chin looks funny. — no “looks”.
How about: My chin is thin. — no “is”.

Problem: we lack linking verbs like “is”, “are”.

So perhaps use action verbs only.

4. Dig with my chin. → dig, chin (short i) — silly but grammatical.
5. Will you sit? → will, sit (short i) — but “sit” used.

Or: Did you see him? → did, him (short i) — “see” is not short i, but “did” and “him” are.

Yes! “Did you see him?” — uses “did” and “him”, both short i.

Perfect.

So final five sentences:

1. Look at that pig.
2. Sit on my ship.
3. I hid my gift.
4. Dig with my chin.
5. Did you see him?

Check each has at least one short-i word:

1. pig — yes
2. sit, ship — yes
3. hid, gift — yes
4. dig, chin — yes
5. did, him — yes

And all use only words from the list.

Also, start with capital, end with period.

Write them properly:

1. Look at that pig.
2. Sit on my ship.
3. I hid my gift.
4. Dig with my chin.
5. Did you see him?

Note: Sentence 4 is imperative, so no subject — that’s fine.

Sentence 5 is question, but the worksheet examples include questions (“Did you sit on my ship?”), so questions are allowed.

The instruction says “end it with a period” — but questions end with question mark. Contradiction?

Look back at user’s image description:

“Don’t forget to begin each sentence with a capital letter and end it with a period.”

But in examples, they have: “Did you sit on my ship?” — which ends with question mark.

Probably, for questions, use question mark; for statements, use period.

The instruction might be simplified for kids.

To be safe, follow the example: if it’s a question, use question mark.

In our case, sentence 5 is a question, so should end with ?.

But the instruction says “end it with a period”. Conflict.

Re-read: “end it with a period” — but examples show question mark.

Likely, the “period” part is for declarative sentences, and questions get question marks.

Since the example includes a question with ?, we’ll use ? for questions.

So adjust:

5. Did you see him? → ends with ?

But the instruction says “end it with a period”. Hmm.

Perhaps for this level, they want all to end with period, even questions? Unlikely.

Another possibility: the instruction is generic, and students should use appropriate punctuation.

Given the example has “?”, we’ll use ? for questions.

So final sentences:

1. Look at that pig.
2. Sit on my ship.
3. I hid my gift.
4. Dig with my chin.
5. Did you see him?

All good.

We could make more, but 5 is reasonable.

Now, write them as the answer.

Final Answer:
Look at that pig.
Sit on my ship.
I hid my gift.
Dig with my chin.
Did you see him?