From sounds to words
- Beginning sounds. Hear the first sound of a word and match it to its letter.
- Ending sounds. Listen to the end of the word, which is harder to hear.
- Short vowels. The middle sound: c _ t, p _ g, s _ n.
- Build the word. Write all three sounds, one in each box.
- Rhymes. Hear that cat and hat end the same way.
- Word families. Change the first sound: cat, hat, bat.
- Digraphs and blends. Two letters, one sound (sh, ch) or two quick sounds (fr, st).
Pictures first
Phonics practice works when children say the word out loud. A picture gives them the word without needing to read it, so they can focus on the sounds. Each picture is chosen to have one obvious name, and the letters use simple shapes children learn first, like the single-story a.
Keep going
Pair these with spelling worksheets for the words that can’t be sounded out, with phonics check practice in Year 1, and withpicture puzzles for spelling whole words with pictures.
In the Australian Curriculum
- FoundationHearing rhymes and sounds in words, and orally blending and segmenting sounds in one-syllable words.
- FoundationWriting CVC words by matching sounds to letters, and blending sounds to read them (AC9EFLY12).
- Year 1Blending short vowels, common long vowels, consonants and digraphs to read one-syllable words.
- Year 2Using phonic and morphemic knowledge to read unfamiliar words.
Phonics in Australian classrooms is usually taught in a set order of sounds, often with decodable readers alongside. Match the activities here to the sounds your program has already taught, so every word on the page is one children can decode.
The Foundation standard expects children to know the most common sound for each letter of the alphabet, so beginning sounds, short vowels and CVC words are Foundation work. Digraphs and blends carry on into Year 1, ahead of the Year 1 Phonics Check that several states use.
Summarised in our own words from the Australian Curriculum: English, Version 9.0 (ACARA).
