Phonics & Reading · Kindergarten–Grade 2 · Quick reference
Phonics(Sounds · Rules · Syllables)
Every letter sound, digraphs and blends, short and long vowels, silent e and the vowel teams, bossy r and the sliding vowels, the spelling rules and silent letters, the six kinds of syllables and how to divide big words, the schwa and the big endings, prefixes, suffixes and the three spelling changes, sight words and fluency.
1Letter Soundskindergarten · one letter, one sound (to start)
| Letter | Sound | Key word | Letter | Sound | Key word |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | /b/ | ball | n | /n/ | net |
| c | /k/ | cat (soft /s/ before e, i, y: city) | p | /p/ | pig |
| d | /d/ | dog | qu | /kw/ | queen |
| f | /f/ | fish | r | /r/ | run |
| g | /g/ | goat (soft /j/ before e, i, y: gem) | s | /s/ | sun (/z/ in is, has) |
| h | /h/ | hat | t | /t/ | top |
| j | /j/ | jam | v | /v/ | van |
| k | /k/ | kite | w | /w/ | web |
| l | /l/ | lamp | x | /ks/ | box |
| m | /m/ | man | y | /y/ | yes (a vowel at the end: my, happy) |
| z | /z/ | zip |
Doubles and ck
ff, ll, ss, zz after a short vowel at the end of a short word: off, bell, kiss, buzz (the “floss” rule). ck after a short vowel: duck, back; k after anything else: book, milk. c before a, o, u; k before e, i: cat, kit.
| Letter | Sound | Key word |
|---|---|---|
| a | /ă/ | apple, cat |
| e | /ĕ/ | egg, bed |
| i | /ĭ/ | igloo, pin |
| o | /ŏ/ | octopus, hot |
| u | /ŭ/ | up, cup |
Blending and splitting
- Blend: say each sound, then slide them together: /s/ /a/ /t/ → sat. Stretch it: sssaaat.
- Split (segment): hear a word, tap each sound: dog = /d/ /o/ /g/, three taps.
- CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant): cat, pen, sit, hop, mud. Change one sound to make a new word: cat → cot → cut.
- Rhymes share the ending: cat, hat, mat. Hearing rhymes and first sounds comes before letters.
Say the sound, not the name
b says /b/, not “bee.” Keep sounds short and clean: /t/ not “tuh.” Vowels can be held; most consonants cannot.
| Digraph | Sound | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| sh | /sh/ | ship, fish |
| ch | /ch/ | chip, much (also /k/ school, /sh/ chef) |
| th | /th/ unvoiced, /th/ voiced | thin, bath · this, that |
| wh | /w/ | when, whip |
| ck | /k/ | duck |
| ng | /ng/ | ring, song |
| nk | /ngk/ | pink, bank |
| ph | /f/ | phone (Greek) |
| Kind | Examples |
|---|---|
| s-blends | st sp sn sm sk sl sw: stop, spin, snap, small, skip, slip, swim |
| l-blends | bl cl fl gl pl: blue, clap, flag, glad, plum |
| r-blends | br cr dr fr gr tr pr: brag, crab, drum, frog, grin, trip, press |
| ending blends | -st -nd -mp -nt -lk -ft -sk: nest, hand, lamp, tent, milk, lift, desk |
| three letters | str spr scr spl squ thr: strap, spring, scrub, split, squid, three |
2Long Vowels: Silent e, Vowel Teams & Open Syllablesgrade 1 · units 2, 4, 5
| Pattern | Short → long | More |
|---|---|---|
| a_e | cap → cape, hat → hate | make, game, late |
| i_e | kit → kite, bit → bite | ride, time, five |
| o_e | hop → hope, not → note | home, rope, bone |
| u_e | cub → cube, tub → tube | mule, use, cute |
| e_e | pet → Pete | these, eve |
Open syllables and y
A syllable that ends in a vowel is open and the vowel is long: go, me, hi, no, ba-by, o-pen, mu-sic. y at the end says /ī/ in a one-syllable word (my, fly, why) and /ē/ at the end of a longer word (happy, baby, funny).
| Long sound | Teams | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| long a | ai, ay, eigh, ei, ey | rain, play, eight, vein, they |
| long e | ee, ea, ie, ey, y | feet, eat, field, key, happy |
| long i | igh, ie, y, i_e | night, pie, my, time |
| long o | oa, ow, oe, o_e | boat, snow, toe, home |
| long u | ue, ew, u_e | blue, few, cute |
When two vowels go walking
“When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking”: boat says o, rain says a. True for most teams (not oo, ou, oi, au).
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| -ild, -ind | wild, child, mild · kind, find, mind |
| -old, -olt, -ost | cold, gold, told · bolt · most, post (but cost, lost) |
| open syllable | he, she, we, go, so, no |
| Word | Split |
|---|---|
| rainbow | rain · bow |
| teacher | teach · er |
| playground | play · ground |
| sunlight | sun · light |
Contractions
Two words squeezed with an apostrophe where letters left: is not → isn’t, can not → can’t, I am → I’m, it is → it’s, we will → we’ll, do not → don’t, they are → they’re, I have → I’ve.
3Bossy R, Sliding Vowels & Other Patternsgrade 1 · units 6–8
| Pattern | Sound | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ar | /ar/ | car, farm, star |
| or, ore | /or/ | corn, fork, more, store |
| er | /er/ | her, fern, water |
| ir | /er/ | bird, girl, first |
| ur | /er/ | turn, fur, church |
| war, wor | /wor/, /wer/ | warm, war · word, work, world |
| air, are, ear | /air/ | hair, care, bear |
| ear, eer | /eer/ | hear, near, deer, cheer |
| Pattern | Sound | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| oo | /oo/ long or /oo/ short | moon, food, zoo · book, look, good |
| ou, ow | /ow/ | cloud, out, house · cow, now, town (ow also says /ō/: snow) |
| oi, oy | /oy/ | coin, boil · boy, toy (oy at the end) |
| ew, ue | /oo/ or /ū/ | new, grew, chew · blue, glue, true |
| aw, au | /aw/ | saw, draw · haul, August |
| all, alk | /awl/, /awk/ | ball, call, tall · walk, talk, chalk |
ou in, ow out
ou and oi live in the middle (cloud, coin); ow goes at the end or before n and l (cow, town, owl); oy goes at the end (boy).
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| soft c = /s/ before e, i, y | city, cent, cycle, ice, face |
| soft g = /j/ before e, i, y | gem, giant, gym, page |
| -tch after a short vowel | catch, witch, match (but much, such, rich, which) |
| -dge after a short vowel | badge, edge, bridge, judge |
| silent letters | kn: knee, know · wr: write, wrist · mb: lamb, climb · gh: light |
| -s / -es | cats, dogs (/z/) · boxes, dishes, benches (after s, x, sh, ch) |
| -ed says /ed/, /d/ or /t/ | wanted · played · jumped |
| -ing | jump → jumping; hop → hopping; hope → hoping |
| compound words | sun + set = sunset; cup + cake = cupcake |
4The Six Kinds of Syllablesgrade 2 · units 2–3 · the key to long words
| Type | Clue | Vowel sound | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closed | ends in a consonant | short | cat, nap-kin, rab-bit |
| Open | ends in a vowel | long | go, ba-by, o-pen |
| Silent-e (VCe) | vowel, consonant, e | long | cake, in-vite |
| Vowel team | two vowels together | team’s sound | rain, boat, feet, out |
| R-controlled | vowel + r | bossy r | car, bird, cor-ner |
| Consonant-le | consonant + le at the end | /ul/ | ta-ble, lit-tle, can-dle |
CLOVER
Closed, con-Le, Open, Vowel team, silent E, R-controlled: the six kinds in one word.
Dividing big words
- VC/CV: two consonants between vowels: split between them: rab/bit, nap/kin, bas/ket. First syllable closed, short vowel.
- V/CV: one consonant: try splitting before it (open, long): ti/ger, o/pen, ro/bot. If that sounds wrong, try VC/V (closed, short): cab/in, riv/er, lem/on.
- VCCCV: keep the blend or digraph together: pump/kin, hun/dred, ath/lete.
- Consonant-le: count back three: ta/ble, pur/ple, lit/tle, mid/dle.
- Three syllables: find the vowels first, then divide: fan/tas/tic, won/der/ful, ba/na/na.
- Every syllable has one vowel sound. Count the vowel sounds to count the syllables.
Divide and read Worked
| Pattern | Says | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| schwa (ə) | a lazy “uh” in an unstressed syllable | a-bout, pen-cil, sof-a, wag-on |
| -tion | /shun/ | nation, station, action |
| -sion | /zhun/ or /shun/ | vision, television · mission |
| -ture | /cher/ | nature, picture, future |
| -le | /ul/ | little, apple |
| -ous | /us/ | famous, nervous |
| -ure | /yer/ | pure, cure |
Special plurals and ough
child → children, man → men, foot → feet, mouse → mice, sheep → sheep, leaf → leaves, baby → babies. ough says many things: though (/ō/), through (/oo/), rough (/uf/), cough (/of/), bought (/aw/), bough (/ow/).
5Prefixes, Suffixes & Spelling Changesgrade 2 · unit 5
| Prefix | Means | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| un- | not, opposite | unhappy, untie, unlock |
| re- | again, back | redo, rewrite, return |
| dis- | not, opposite | dislike, disagree, disappear |
| pre- | before | preview, preheat, preschool |
| mis- | wrongly | misspell, misread |
| non- | not | nonstop, nonsense |
| Suffix | Means | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -ful | full of | helpful, careful, joyful |
| -less | without | hopeless, careless, fearless |
| -ness | state of being | kindness, darkness, happiness |
| -ly | in that way (adverb) | quickly, softly, happily |
| -ment | result of | payment, movement, agreement |
| -er, -est | more, most | taller, tallest; bigger, biggest |
| -er, -or | one who | teacher, farmer, actor |
| -y | full of | rainy, sunny, sleepy |
Three spelling rules for endings
- Doubling (1-1-1): one syllable, one vowel, one final consonant → double it before a vowel suffix: hop → hopping, big → bigger, run → runner. Not before a consonant suffix: sad → sadly.
- Drop the e: silent e drops before a vowel suffix: hope → hoping, bake → baker, nice → nicest. Keep it before a consonant suffix: hope → hopeful.
- Change y to i: consonant + y → i before a suffix: happy → happier, cry → cried, baby → babies. Keep the y before -ing: crying. Vowel + y keeps the y: play → played.
Apply the rules Worked
| Spelling | Sound | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ph | /f/ | phone, graph, elephant |
| ch (Greek) | /k/ | school, chorus, Christmas, echo |
| ch (French) | /sh/ | chef, machine, Chicago |
| y in the middle | /ĭ/ | gym, myth, system |
| gh | /f/ or silent | laugh, enough · light, night |
| eigh, ei, ey | /ā/ | eight, weigh · vein · they, obey |
| ie / ei | /ē/ | field, chief, piece · receive, ceiling (after c) |
Homophones
Sound alike, spelled apart: to / too / two · their / there / they’re · its / it’s · hear / here · right / write · know / no · sea / see · one / won · wear / where · blue / blew · son / sun. The meaning picks the spelling.
i before e
i before e, except after c, or when sounding like a as in neighbor and weigh. (Weird words break it: weird, seize, their.)
6Reading Like a ReaderK–2 · fluency, sight words, stories
| Group | Words |
|---|---|
| K | the, a, I, is, to, of, and, you, was, said, are, have, they, one, two, do, does, what, who, come, some |
| 1 | there, where, were, here, their, could, would, should, again, any, many, very, your, because, friend, people, water, only |
| 2 | though, through, enough, laugh, eye, busy, sure, early, heart, answer, often, pretty, beautiful, special, every, once |
Heart words
Most of a sight word follows the rules; mark the one part you learn “by heart”: said, was, friend. Flash them daily; write them in sentences.
Fluency
- Accuracy first (every word right), then rate (about 60 words a minute by the end of grade 1, 90 by grade 2), then expression: voice up at a question mark, pause at a comma, stop at a period, feeling at an exclamation mark.
- Reread: three readings of the same page; time the third.
- Phrase it: read in groups of words, not word by word: “The little dog / ran down / the road.”
- Poems and psalms make the best fluency practice: rhythm, rhyme, repetition.
Narration and summarizing
After reading, tell it back in your own words: who, what happened first, next, last, and why it matters. Then shorten it to three sentences: a summary.
Reading a chapter story
- Read the title and the first page; guess what will happen.
- Read a chapter a day; stop and tell it back.
- Keep a list of new words with a picture or a sentence for each.
- Notice the characters, the setting, the problem and how it is solved.
- At the end, say what the story taught and read your favorite part aloud.
Sound it, chunk it, check it
Stuck on a word? Sound it left to right; chunk it into syllables; check that it makes sense in the sentence. Then read the sentence again smoothly.
“Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:28)
The goal of phonics is a child who can open the Bible and any good book and read for himself.