Hi, everyone! I'm Caroline and uh oh. Oh no! Oh no! What's wrong with Letter O?
I think Letter O is feeling oh so nervous because she has to go to the doctor.
Have you ever been nervous to go to the doctor? Don't worry, Letter O! I just
know that the doctor is so [emphasizes long O sound], so [emphasizes long O sound] nice!
Hello [emphasizes long O sound], Letter O [emphasizes long O sound]! There's no [emphasizes
long O sound] need to worry! Just open [emphasizes long O sound] up and say O [long O sound]. We're
here to help. Now, why don't we try opening up and saying, O [emphasizes short O sound].
Letter O's trip to the doctor was A-OK.
Today, we're going to learn a little bit more about the Letter O!
I bet you remember that vowels can say their letter names. Letter names are long sounds.
This letter can say its letter name to make a long sound. Here's the letter!
Do you know this letter's name?
This is the letter O! The sound O [long O] is the same as the name of
the letter. We can also call this sound long O. Can you make this sound with me?
O [long O sound]. Can you think of any words that have the long O sound?
Hm. O [long O sound].
Maybe, open. Say it with me! Open [emphasizes long O sound].
Did you hear the long O sound at the beginning of the word? Or, ocean? The long O sound isn't
always at the beginning of the word. Can you hear the O sound in the word toe? Say it with me! Toe!
O! [long O sound] How about the word blow? There are lots more words where we hear the
long O sound in the middle of the word, like in soap. Do you hear it? Soap.
Or in the word road. What other words can you think of?
I thought of comb, bone, home, and throne.
Vowels can say their name to make their long sound, but they can make short sounds too.
We know that the long O sound is O [long O sound]. Do you know what the short
O sound is? Short O makes the sound O [short O sound].
We know it's a vowel sound because the sound is coming from the middle
of our mouth. O [short O sound].
I remember that this is a short sound because I think of the Letter O
going to the doctor [emphasizes short O sound]. Let's practice making the short O sound.
Pretend you're at the doctor!
Make the sound with me! O [short O sound]. Let's do it again! Open up and say, O! [short O sound]
Can you think of any words that have the short O — O [short O sound] — sound? How about
otter? Do you hear the short O sound at the beginning of the word?
Otter. We can check by pretending we have to say O [short O sound] at the doctor. Otter.
What other words have the short O sound? Hm. Maybe octopus. Say it with me! Octopus. Octopus.
Short O doesn't just come at the beginning of a word.
There are a lot of words where we hear the O [short O] sound in the middle of the word.
Like in hop. Say it with me! Hop! Do you hear the O [short O] sound?
Or mop. What other words can you think of? I thought of pop, top, frog, sock.
Let's practice making our long O and short O sounds. I'm going to make the sound 3 times,
then you can make the sound 3 times. Let's do long O first.
O [long O sound]. O. O. Keep repeating after me! O... O! O!
Nice job. How about short O? Repeat after me! O [short O sound]. O. O.
Keep repeating after me! O!... O. O!
When we start reading, we have to remember that when we see the letter O it could be making its
long O — O [long O] — sound, but it could also be making its short O — O [short O] — sound.
Let's practice saying words and listening to sounds so we can hear the difference.
I'll show you a picture. You can say the word.
Let's do this one first. What is it? Dog? What sound do you hear? Long O or short O?
Say it with me. Dog. O [short O sound]. That's short O! Remember our doctor sound? O. O. O.
Hmmm... What about "goat?" Goat. Do you hear long O or short O?
Goat. That's long O! My mouth needs to open [emphasizes long O sound]!
Let's practice with some more words!
Stop.
That's short O! O. O. O.
Globe.
That's long O! O.
Log.
That's short O! O. O. O.
Toast.
That's long O! O!
Rose.
That's long O! O.
Boat.
That's long O! O.
Clock.
That's short O! O. O. O.
Blocks.
That's short O! O. O. O.
Smoke.
That's long O! O.
When Letter O went to the doctor today, he learned that he is A-OK. And today,
we learned that letter O can say its letter name O to make a long O
sound. O [long O sound]. And we learned that O can also make a short O sound. O [short O sound].
We open our mouth like we're at the doctor [emphasizes short O sound]!
O [short O sound]. Say, O [short O sound], Letter O! No worries this time!
Keep practicing these 2 sounds and keep an ear out for any O [long O] or O [short O] sounds you hear!
And don't forget to always be clever!