Many teachers will call the most basic short vowel words “CVC words.” This stands for Consonant-Vowel-Consonant. These words have a short vowel sound in the middle of the word, and are some of the first words that children learn to read. 

Some examples of CVC words are: cat, leg, tip, hot, cub

• Notice how they follow the Consonant-Vowel-Consonant progression in only three letters. However, short vowel sounds can be part of much longer words as long as they follow the same progression within the words.
• For more examples, here is a printable lists of CVC words:  CVC word list 

Some examples of longer words with short vowel sounds are (notice the short sound is denoted by the curved line above the vowel):

Students typically learn to read and spell short vowel words by learning “word families”, or words that share the same vowel sound, for example the “ap” family would include the words: tap, cap, rap, map. When students understand short vowel sounds and word families they grow in their ability to read better.

To become fully fluent in reading short vowel words, students should practice the short vowels on their own, and practice reading them in a variety of words.