Figuring out the vowel sound is the hardest part of learning to read.  There are some simple rules to help figure out if the vowel will make a short or long sound. 

 - If the vowel is sandwiched between two consonants the vowel will make a short vowel sound. These are consonant-vowel-consonant words or CVC words or syllables.

 - If the word or syllable ends in a vowel (hi, go, me, or he) it will make a long vowel  sound. These are consonant-vowel words or CV words or syllables.

 - If the word or syllable ends in an e (cake, bite, or rule) it will make a long vowel  sound. These are consonant-vowel-consonant-silent 'e' words or CVCE words or syllables.

 - If there are two vowels sandwiched between two consonants (read, feel, or rain) the first vowel will make a long vowel  sound. These are consonant-vowel-vowel-consonant words or CVVC words or syllables.

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