To play, students share a game board, and each student chooses a ladder (1 will take the short vowel ladder and 1 will take the long vowel ladder) and places his/her marker at the bottom. The kids then shuffle the word cards (or picture cards for your lower kids) and take turns choosing a card and reading the word aloud. Then, if the word has a short vowel sound in the middle, the person with the short vowel ladder gets to move his/her marker up one rung. If the word has a long vowel sound, the person with the long vowel ladder gets to move his/her marker up a rung. The partner who makes it to the top first is the winner! You could also have the students write the word on the ladder rungs or on a separate piece of paper if you want your students to have the writing practice too.
**Created by Mrs. Kilby at confessionsofaprimaryteacher.blogspot.com