Long oo Sound: Moon vs Book, Word Lists and Worksheet

The letters oo can say two different sounds, and long oo sound jolly phonics lessons are where children learn to tell them apart. This is the sixth sound in Jolly Phonics Group 5, usually met around age 5, right after its shorter twin.

Long oo is the sound in moon and food: lips tightly rounded and pushed forward, tongue high and back, voice held on for a good long beat. Short oo, in book and look, uses the same two letters but a shorter, looser mouth shape. Jolly Phonics teaches both with one shared action, so this guide covers how to say long oo correctly, real word lists, four practice activities, and the worksheet link.

Saying Long oo and Spotting the Short One

For the action, children pretend to be the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock, rocking their head forward and back while saying “u, oo” — short first, then long. The forward rock on the long half is the cue to hold the sound and round the lips fully.

Because book, look, and good use the exact same two letters as moon and food, there is no visual clue at all — a child has to try both sounds on a word and listen for the one that’s real. “M-oo-n” only makes sense with the long sound; “l-oo-k” only makes sense with the short one. Practicing this try-both strategy out loud is more useful than any rule.

Watch the letters being traced here before moving to the worksheet:

Click here to know how to teach Jolly Phonics step by step. Later on, the same long oo sound also turns up spelled ue in blue, ew in new, and u-e in June, but oo itself is the spelling to master first.

A Cuckoo Clock Story

A little girl named Soo loved her evening routine. She fed the neighborhood cat, kicked off her boots by the door, and brushed her teeth tooth by tooth before climbing into bed. Every morning at eight, a small wooden cuckoo popped out of her bedroom clock to wake her, singing the same two notes: oo, oo, oo.

Word Lists for Long oo

The long oo spelling almost never opens a simple word a 5-year-old already knows, so there’s no honest beginning list to give here — just middle and end positions, where it appears constantly.

Middle: moon, food, spoon, room, boot, tooth, broom, school
End: too, zoo, boo, shoo, moo, kangaroo
Blending: m-oo-n → moon, f-oo-d → food, s-p-oo-n → spoon, b-oo-t → boot
Watch out: blood and flood keep the oo letters but say a short u instead, and door and floor look similar but say or.

Four Quick Practice Activities

• Real-word test (3 minutes): say “moon” with the short oo sound and the long one, and ask your child which version is a real word. Repeat with “book.”
• Flashcard word build (5 minutes): use the phase 2 and phase 3 flashcards below to build the word “poor,” then try other combinations.
• Grapheme table blend (4 minutes): write letters n, r, l, t, m, p, d next to oo using the graphemes table below. Say “mood” and have your child pick the letters to build it.
• Dictation (3 minutes): say moon, food, spoon, zoo, boot, and too slowly and have your child write each one down.

The word to build from these three cards is “poor.” Try a few other combinations with your own flashcard set too.

oo	n	r	l
t	m	p	d

The Worksheet

This tracing sheet practices the oo letter shape and a handful of long oo words:

More free downloads

Where Long oo Fits

Long oo is taught right after the short oo sound, since the two share both letters and one action. The next new sound most children meet is the /ch/ sound. See every sound in order in the Jolly Phonics complete guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between long oo and short oo?

Long oo, as in moon, holds the sound with tightly rounded lips and a high, back tongue. Short oo, as in book, uses the same letters but a shorter, looser mouth shape and no held vowel.

How do I know if oo says its long or short sound in a word?

There is no spelling rule that tells you in advance. Children learn to try both sounds on a new word and pick whichever one makes a word they actually recognize.

What is the Jolly Phonics action for long oo?

Children pretend to be the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock, rocking their head forward and back while saying “u, oo,” short then long, which also introduces the short oo sound in the same motion.

What comes after long oo in the Jolly Phonics sequence?

The next sound is ch, as in chip and lunch, which is made by squeezing a t sound and a sh sound together.