Go Fish Phonics Game – CVC Short Vowel O & U Words for Reading Fluency

This CVC word game is the perfect way to make phonics practice fun and interactive! Students will love playing Go Fish with short O and U vowel words as they practice decoding, blending, and fluency skills. With both picture support cards for beginners and word-only cards for advanced readers, this literacy game adapts easily to different reading levels.

Unlike simple color-matching games, students must actually read each word to form pairs—ensuring that phonics, word recognition, and reading fluency come first. With 24 CVC short O words and 24 CVC short U words spanning a variety of word families (-un, -ug, -og, -op, -ut, etc.), this activity offers repeated practice in an engaging and hands-on format.

Two Ways to Play

• With picture support – Great for early readers who need visual reinforcement
• Without pictures – Perfect for decoding, fluency, and word family practice

What’s Included

• 24 CVC short O word cards with picture support
• 24 CVC short U word cards with picture support
• 24 CVC short O and U text-only cards for fluency
• Color and blackline printing options
• Teacher directions with easy setup and game rules

How to Play

1. Shuffle the cards and deal 5 to each player. Place the rest in a draw pile.
2. Players take turns asking another player for a card to make a pair (e.g., “Do you have jog?”).
3. If the other player has the card, they hand it over. If not, they say “Go Fish!” and the asker draws from the pile.
4. Play continues until all matches are made. The player with the most pairs wins.

Why Teachers Love It

• Engages students with hands-on phonics practice
• Reinforces CVC decoding, blending, and fluency
• Flexible for small groups, literacy centers, partner practice, or intervention
• Perfect for ESL, ELL, and early readers needing vowel sound support
• Print-and-play design makes prep quick and easy

Perfect For Teachers Searching For

• CVC short vowel games and activities
• phonics decoding and blending practice
• literacy centers for early readers
• ESL and ELL phonics word games
• printable CVC Go Fish card games

Pair It With

For even more vowel practice, pair this resource with the GO FISH Literacy Card Game for CVC Short Vowel E and I . Together, these sets provide a complete collection of phonics activities that strengthen decoding, vocabulary, and reading fluency across multiple vowel sounds.

Also available on TpT

Go Fish Phonics Game – CVC Short Vowel O & U Words for Reading Fluency