- Short Vowels Skill Explainer
Decodable — Val and the Rat
![Short a decodable val and the rat reading universe](https://files.readinguniverse.org/pdf/asset64ff16364043d2.70253611.pdf-30181.jpg)
Use this decodable text to give students practice reading closed-syllable words with short 'a'. For example, the letter 'a' in rat represents the short 'a' sound because the vowel is closed in by the consonant 't'.