Phonics - Long ‘oo’ or Short ‘oo’ - Free Printable

Let’s go step by step to sort the words into two groups:
Long ‘oo’ sound (like in “moon”) and Short ‘oo’ sound (like in “book”).

First, let’s remember what each sound feels like:

- Long ‘oo’ = sounds like “oooo” as in *moon*, *zoo*, *pool* — it’s a long, stretched-out sound.
- Short ‘oo’ = sounds more like “uh” or “ook” as in *book*, *look*, *foot* — it’s quick and short.

Now, let’s look at each word one by one and say it out loud (in your head or quietly) to hear which sound it makes.

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Step 1: List all the words

From the bottom of the sheet:

Row 1:
→ look
→ tooth
→ took
→ foot
→ cook
→ wood

Row 2:
→ school
→ zoo
→ hook
→ room
→ wool
→ pool

Total: 12 words

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Step 2: Sort them by sound

Let’s test each word:

#### Long ‘oo’ sound (like moon):

- tooth → “too-th” → long oo ✔
- school → “skool” → long oo ✔
- zoo → “zoo” → long oo ✔
- room → “rooom” → long oo ✔
- pool → “poo-l” → long oo ✔

That’s 5 words so far.

Wait — is there any other?

What about wood? Let’s check: “wud” → that’s short! ✘
cook? “kuk” → short ✘
hook? “huk” → short ✘
wool? “wul” → short ✘
took? “tuk” → short ✘
foot? “fut” → short ✘
look? “luk” → short ✘

So only these 5 have the long ‘oo’:

✔ tooth
✔ school
✔ zoo
✔ room
✔ pool

Wait — did we miss any?

Let’s double-check wood again. Some people might think it’s long, but no — it rhymes with “good”, “hood”, “could” — all short ‘oo’.

Same with wool — rhymes with “pull”, “full” — short.

Okay, so long ‘oo’ group has 5 words.

But wait — let’s count total words: 12. If 5 are long, then 7 should be short.

Let’s list the short ones now.

#### Short ‘oo’ sound (like book):

- look → “luk” ✔
- took → “tuk” ✔
- foot → “fut” ✔
- cook → “kuk” ✔
- wood → “wud” ✔
- hook → “huk” ✔
- wool → “wul” ✔

That’s 7 words.

Perfect — 5 + 7 = 12. All accounted for.

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Final Check:

Long ‘oo’ (moon-like):
→ tooth
→ school
→ zoo
→ room
→ pool

Short ‘oo’ (book-like):
→ look
→ took
→ foot
→ cook
→ wood
→ hook
→ wool

Yes — this matches how native speakers pronounce them.

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Final Answer:

long 'oo' sound (moon):
tooth, school, zoo, room, pool

short 'oo' sound (book):
look, took, foot, cook, wood, hook, wool