Phonics Worksheets

We always find that students who are taught phonics at an early age, later in life, have very strong spelling skills. Phonics is basically a system that helps students learn the relationship between sounds and the letters that create those sounds. The main focus is usually on common sound-spelling related words. As students progress they are taught how to decode or breakdown words which also helps them build words of their own. One of the fundamental approaches to being a solid reader and having that skill lead to a great base of comprehension is understanding these sound relationships in words. The worksheet topics below will help students learn distinct phonics skills.


Add and Delete Phonemes - These units of sound can transform an entire word. We demonstrate this by slapping them on and removing them along the way.

Beginning Sounds - These are found at the front of the words and are the first thing you hear in the word.

Blend, Segments, and Onsets of Single-Syllable Words - We explore just about every aspect of terms that fit into this category.

Blending Sounds To Make Words - This is a great method to use to understand new forms of vocabulary as they come across to you.

Blends - Get those sounds to role together to give off a unique tone. You will learn how to master this as you get used to it.

Changing Phonemes to Make New Words - This technique can be applied to the front and back of words to help you better understand new terms.

Consonances - This is a literary device that focuses on the use of repetition and use of duplicate consonants.

Consonant Blends - These two and three letter pairs result in a unique mood and tone.

Consonant Digraphs - Very similar to blends, but there is a subtle difference.

Counting Phonemes - The natural progression here is to move on to syllables next.

Counting Syllables in Words - See what I just said? It just flows in the right direction. Alphabetically too.

CVC Words - These words follow a consonant, vowel, consonant pattern. Common examples include: dog, hat, men, and sat.

CVCe (Silent e) - These words make the vowel say its name. Knowing when to apply this is helpful as you build on your reading skills.

CVVC Words - We step it up by jamming another consonant in there. These make the words a little more difficult for the students to pronunciate.

Decoding Grade 2 Two-Syllable Words - This is the second major progression in phonics skills. Students will work through many different techniques.

Decoding Multisyllable Words - We help you investigate a systematic approach to this. You will see a dramatic improvement in your abilities.

Decoding Strategies - Commonly we see five different strategies, but I have literally seen over two dozen techniques used in a decade and half of teaching.

Decoding Two-Syllable Words - This is a much simpler form of the topic that we approached just above.

Diagraphs - Two letters that when paired together give off a unique tone.

Diphthongs - These gliding vowels work together to give off a distinctive noise that is easy to hear.

Diphthong, Vowel Digraph and Pattern - We look at a collective of concepts in one shot at improving our abilities.

Dividing Syllables - We show you how to break these up and make a high level of sense for yourself.

Hard C - This gives off a (kuh) sound like that found in: cat and cake.

Hard G - This gives off a (guh) tone as you find in the words: girl and goat.

Initial and Final Consonant Blends - You will get skilled at using one or both versions of this and it will make you a more confident speller.

Isolate and Pronounce Phonemes - This is one of the paramount skills that are attributed to phonological awareness.

Letters and Sounds - These are separated and all by themselves.

Long Vowel Sounds - These are easy you just say the name of the letter and is the tone it gives off.

Long vs. Short Vowels - We start by comparing words and move on how to recognize this when you across a new word.

Making Rhyming Words - How do you angle these to make them roll off of your tongue?

Minimal Pairs - These are words that differ only by an individual sound.

Open and Closed Syllables - This is all about deciphering how the vowel and consonants are organized.

Phoneme Isolation - This is all about discovering sounds present in a word and locating them.

Phoneme Segmenting - The goal here is to break everything up into each accent that you hear.

Phoneme Substitution - Take some tones out and why not put some of them back in?

Phonemic Alliteration - The focus of these is the start of the word.

Phonetic Spelling - We discuss this technique and give you plenty of practice in using it.

Primary Consonant Sounds - We learn to identify them and use them in our own writing.

Pronunciation - We explore how to say a series of different vocabulary words that are grade appropriate for students.

Pronouncing Phonemes - Bring these things to your voice and make them dance.

R Controlled Vowels - This change in intonation happens when the letter (r) trails a vowel that has been placed.

Reading Readiness - We give you a series of techniques to prepare your students, but also help you gauge where they are at with it.

Rhyming - We see which words can give us the same sound.

Same Sounds - This can occur at the word level, but the focus here is on sentence and multi-sentence levels.

Short Vowel Sounds - These give off a different tone than letter name by itself.

Soft C - This makes a (suh) sound. This is present in words like cement, circus, and celery.

Soft G - This results in the (juh) tone. You will find this in the words gel, age, and bridge.

Spelling New Words : Based on Phonics - We walk you through the entire technique and approach that we encourage you to use.

Syllables - We encourage you to use the clap technique and say the words aloud until you get comfortable.

Syllables In Spoken Words - This is focused on speech and talked language.

Using Spelling Patterns When Writing Words - Once you identify the technique that was used or identify a model that is present within the word, your ability to spell will improve.

Variant Vowels - This is when a series of letters produce a singular vowel tone.

Vowel Team Conventions - You will learn to identify them and use them when you read.

Word Families - They all share a universal form or feature. They are easy to recognize once you get some training under your belt.

Word Ladders - These build right off of the previous worksheet topic. This is a really fun activity for students.

Writing Beginning and Ending Consonants - Where do you place them and what does it result in?

Writing Short Vowel Sounds - You learn to put this skill into practice and master it.

How to Approach Teaching Phonics


I find that students have a great deal more success with phonics when they discover most of the skills themselves. This is not an area where rote learning will succeed. Yes, repetition helps, but repetition in a variety of areas is best. The best approach to teaching these skills is through guided learning. The main focus has to be on making each lesson fun for your students. They will become much more engaged. Students that are focused on learning really suck it up like a sponge.


To get students started, I often perform letter fills with them as a class. This is where I present students with a picture and have a pre-spelling word written on the board with a few (usually two) letters missing. A great technique that can be used to help students along is identifying a word or object. Have students write the word that represents like object. Then have students create a list of words that have the same phonemes within them. You can also work up to a full game of hangman where students have to determine missing letters.

After students get a good glimpse of phonics using an analytical approach, it is a great idea to shift to an analogous approach. Students begin to read through onsets and rimes when they come across unfamiliar words. The concept of onsets is to focus on the beginning or start of a word and the sounds it makes. Rimes are the ending of the words. If students fully understand the onset of a word and a rime, it is pretty easy to take on the battle of meeting new words. Students will start to see connection between words they were taught first through letter groups and then by pairing familiar words together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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