Phonics Guide- How do You Start Teaching Phonics?

Most teachers and parents know they need to teach their kids to read. But where should they start? The English language is complex and tricky to learn. Some letters can make multiple sounds. Many letters combine with others to make new sounds. Simply put, there is a lot to teach. This guide should help you get started with the phonics basics that can jump start your students’ reading. This guide refers to these skills as well as the order of skills as level 1-6. You can refer to this leveled phonics guide to help you understand which phonics skills to teach first and which to save for later. You may find other guides online that have slightly different lists. That is ok. Feel free to use the resources on this website anyway you like. The decodable texts on this site are well organized and ready for personalized use. If you decide to use this leveled phonics guide, you will be able to easily follow along with the resources on this site. Each level is described below.

Level 1:

· Consonants- f, l, m, n, s, v, b, c, d, g, h, j, k, p, q, r, t, w, x, y, z.

· Short vowels- a, e, i, o, u.

· VC and VCC words- it, at, as, in, ill, on, egg, odd, of, off, up, us, add, etc.

· High Frequency words 1a- and, a, the, blue, for, what, go, so, I, me, my, one, said, says, see, to, you, we, like, do, eat, he, her, no.

· CVC words- consonant, vowel, consonant words.

· Digraphs- sh, th/tch, ch, wh, qu, ck.

· Ed and ing endings- packed, ducked, ducking, packing, etc.

· High frequency words 1b- all, are, black, brown, came, good, have, into, new, now, our, out, please, ride, saw, soon, there, they, under, white, who, by.

Level 2:

· Beginning consonant blends- br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, sc, sk, sm, sn, sp, st, sw, tw, scr, shr, spl, spr, str, thr.

· FLOSS rule- ff, ll, ss, zz.

· Glued sounds- ng, nk.

· Ending consonant blends- st, sk, ld, nd, nk, nt, ng, mp, ft, ct, pt, lt,lk, lf, lp, lm, mp.

· Double o- words that include a double o pattern (soon, book, etc.).

· Y endings

· High frequency words 2- after, again, any, could, every, fly, give, know, live, may, once, open, over, some, take, walk, were, because.

Level 3:

· Open syllable long vowels- she, he, be, by, fly, go, hi, no, etc.

· Silent e- cave, mine, cove, cute, etc.

· Other long vowel patterns-ild,- ind, -old, -ost.

· Vowel teams- long a vowel teams: ai, ay, ea, eigh, ey. long e vowel teams: ee, ea, ey, ei, ie. long i vowel teams: ie, igh. long o vowel teams: oa, oe. long U vowel teams: ue, eu.

· High frequency words 3- always, around, because, both, buy, does, or, read, their, wash, work, would, your, about.

Level 4:

· Controlled r- ar, are, ir, ur, er, or.

· Silent letters- kn, gh, gn, wr, mb, tle, cle.

· Soft c and hard c- ce, ci, cy.

· Soft g and hard g- ge, dge, gy, gi.

· Oy and oi- toy, boy, soil.

· High frequency words 4- better, done, draw, grow, hold, kind, laugh, own, today, warm, gig.

Level 5:

· Controlled w- aw, ow/ou, ew,

· “Air” sounds- fair, care, share, etc.

· “Ear” sounds- hear, fear.

· Ph- phone, photo, phobia.

· Gh/ght- ghost, ghast.

· Uy- guy, buyer.

· Contraction- aren't, can't, they'd.

Level 6:

· Multisyllabic words

· Prefixes and suffixes