Literacy

Phonological awareness is hearing the sound structure of spoken words: that words rhyme, that they break into syllables, and that they are made of single sounds. It is a listening skill, so there are no letters yet, and it is one of the strongest early predictors of learning to read. Most children move through it in roughly this order, from big chunks to single sounds.

1. 1

   Words in a sentence

   Around 3 to 4

   Say a short sentence and clap or hop a counter for each word.

   “The dog ran.” → three claps

   
2. 2

   Rhyme

   Around 4 to 5

   First hear it (“Do cat and hat rhyme?”), then make it (“What rhymes with cat?”). Nonsense rhymes count.

   -an family: man, can, than, plan, ran, van

   -ock family: sock, rock, knock, lock, block, clock

   -all family: ball, all, call, fall, wall, hall

   +
3. 3

   Syllables

   Around 4 to 5

   Clap, tap or jump once per syllable. To blend, say the parts with a pause and let the child put the word together. Each dot is one clap.

   man(1)monkey(2)magazine(3)motorcycle(4)sun(1)seven(2)

   
4. 4

   First sounds and onset-rime

   Around 5

   Which sound does the word start with? Then split a word before its vowel and put it back together.

   “What is the first sound in sun?” → /s/  ·  /m/ + op → mop

   
5. 5

   Blending and segmenting sounds

   Around 5 to 6

   Say each sound with a short gap and the child says the word. Then reverse it: say the word and the child pulls it apart. Segmenting is the harder of the two.

   Blend: /m/ /a/ /n/ → man · /m/ /oo/ /n/ → moon · /s/ /uh/ /n/ → sun · /s/ /ah/ /k/ → sock · /b/ /aw/ /l/ → ball · /b/ /a/ /t/ → bat

   Segment: man → /m/ /a/ /n/ · moon → /m/ /oo/ /n/ · sun → /s/ /uh/ /n/ · sock → /s/ /ah/ /k/ · ball → /b/ /aw/ /l/ · bat → /b/ /a/ /t/

   
6. 6

   Changing sounds

   Around 6 to 7

   Take a sound away or swap one. This is the most advanced step and keeps building into first and second grade.

   “Say mat without /m/.” → at  ·  “Change /k/ in cat to /h/.” → hat

   →

Sight words are the short, very common words a child meets on every page, like the, said and was. Many can be sounded out (and, big, can); others have a tricky part that does not follow the usual sounds. Read the regular parts by sound, point out the tricky part, and practice until the whole word comes at a glance. These are the Dolch lists most schools use, from pre-primer to third grade.

CVC words are consonant, vowel, consonant: cat, pig, sun. They are usually the first words a child reads by sounding out. Say each sound, keep the voice going from one to the next, and the word appears. Start with one short vowel at a time, then mix them, so the child has to look at the middle letter every time.

Short a

19 words, as in cat

• Hear cat
• Hear hat
• Hear bat
• Hear rat
• Hear mat
• Hear cap
• Hear map
• Hear nap
• Hear can
• Hear fan

Show all 19

Play short a

Short e

14 words, as in hen

• Hear bed
• Hear red
• Hear hen
• Hear pen
• Hear ten
• Hear jet
• Hear net
• Hear pet
• Hear vet
• Hear wet

Show all 14

Play short e

Short i

18 words, as in pig

• Hear pig
• Hear wig
• Hear dig
• Hear big
• Hear fig
• Hear pin
• Hear fin
• Hear bin
• Hear lip
• Hear zip

Show all 18

Play short i

Short o

17 words, as in dog

• Hear dog
• Hear log
• Hear hog
• Hear jog
• Hear pot
• Hear dot
• Hear hot
• Hear mop
• Hear top
• Hear hop

Show all 17

Play short o

Short u

21 words, as in bug

• Hear bug
• Hear rug
• Hear mug
• Hear jug
• Hear hug
• Hear tug
• Hear pug
• Hear bun
• Hear sun
• Hear run

Show all 21

Play short u

All the vowels

Every word above, mixed together. The pictures to choose from are words spelled almost the same, often one letter apart, so the child reads all three sounds instead of guessing from the first.

Play all the vowels

After CVC words, reading grows one spelling pattern at a time: two letters that make one sound, blends, the magic e, the bossy r, vowel teams, and on to longer words with prefixes and suffixes, usually through first, second and third grade. Teach one rule, read words that follow it, then read a short sentence full of them. Tap a word to hear it. Every rule is also a reading turn in Patchy’s Playland and Slides & Ladders, where the child reads the word aloud and a grown-up checks it.

Short vowel words

89 words: Short a, Short e, Short i, Short o, Short u

• Hear cat
• Hear hat
• Hear bat
• Hear rat
• Hear mat
• Hear cap
• Hear map
• Hear nap
• Hear can
• Hear fan

Show all 89

Ride the Word Train Read in Playland

Digraphs: sh, ch, th, wh, ck

28 words: sh, ch, th, wh, ck

• Hear ship
• Hear shell
• Hear shed
• Hear fish
• Hear dish
• Hear brush
• Hear chick
• Hear chin
• Hear chop
• Hear chip

Show all 28

Code Breakers room 2 Read in Playland

Beginning blends

21 words: r blends, l blends, s blends

• Hear frog
• Hear crab
• Hear drum
• Hear crib
• Hear grass
• Hear dress
• Hear brick
• Hear truck
• Hear flag
• Hear sled

Show all 21

Code Breakers room 3 Read in Playland

Ending blends

14 words

• Hear tent
• Hear nest
• Hear hand
• Hear lamp
• Hear jump
• Hear desk
• Hear belt
• Hear milk
• Hear gift
• Hear raft

Show all 14

Code Breakers room 3 Read in Playland

Magic e

54 words: Magic e words, With and without the e

• Hear cake
• Hear cape
• Hear gate
• Hear lake
• Hear plane
• Hear snake
• Hear skate
• Hear grape
• Hear vase
• Hear game

Show all 54

Magic e Wand Read in Playland

Y that says “eye”

11 words

• Hear sky
• Hear fly
• Hear shy
• Hear fry
• Hear my
• Hear by
• Hear why
• Hear try
• Hear cry
• Hear dry

Show all 11

Read in Playland

Y that says “ee”

12 words

• Hear bunny
• Hear happy
• Hear baby
• Hear candy
• Hear puppy
• Hear kitty
• Hear pony
• Hear penny
• Hear jelly
• Hear funny

Show all 12

Read in Playland

Soft c and g

14 words: Soft c says “s”, Soft g says “j”

• Hear city
• Hear mice
• Hear face
• Hear rice
• Hear ice
• Hear pencil
• Hear fence
• Hear gem
• Hear cage
• Hear giant

Show all 14

Code Breakers room 6 Read in Playland

R-controlled vowels

24 words: ar, or, er, ir, ur

• Hear car
• Hear star
• Hear jar
• Hear barn
• Hear farm
• Hear shark
• Hear park
• Hear yarn
• Hear arm
• Hear scarf

Show all 24

Code Breakers room 4 Read in Playland

Glued sounds: all, ing, ang, ink, unk

19 words: all, ing and ang, ink, ank, unk

• Hear ball
• Hear wall
• Hear tall
• Hear fall
• Hear call
• Hear small
• Hear king
• Hear ring
• Hear swing
• Hear wing

Show all 19

Read in Playland

Vowel teams

36 words: ai and ay, ee and ea, oa and ow, oo

• Hear rain
• Hear train
• Hear snail
• Hear paint
• Hear chain
• Hear play
• Hear hay
• Hear tray
• Hear tree
• Hear bee

Show all 36

Code Breakers room 5 Read in Playland

Diphthongs: ow, ou, oi, oy, aw

19 words: ow and ou, oi and oy, aw

• Hear cow
• Hear owl
• Hear crown
• Hear clown
• Hear towel
• Hear house
• Hear mouse
• Hear cloud
• Hear coin
• Hear boil

Show all 19

Read in Playland

Trigraphs: tch, dge, igh

18 words: tch, dge, igh

• Hear match
• Hear watch
• Hear catch
• Hear patch
• Hear ditch
• Hear kitchen
• Hear badge
• Hear bridge
• Hear hedge
• Hear fudge

Show all 18

Code Breakers room 7 Read in Playland

Consonant + le

12 words

• Hear apple
• Hear table
• Hear candle
• Hear bottle
• Hear turtle
• Hear puzzle
• Hear bubble
• Hear eagle
• Hear castle
• Hear purple

Show all 12

Code Breakers room 8 Read in Playland

Silent letters: kn, wr, mb

15 words: kn, wr, mb

• Hear knee
• Hear knot
• Hear knight
• Hear knock
• Hear know
• Hear knit
• Hear wrench
• Hear wrist
• Hear write
• Hear wrap

Show all 15

Code Breakers room 7 Read in Playland

Longer words: two syllables

16 words

• Hear picnic
• Hear rabbit
• Hear napkin
• Hear sunset
• Hear basket
• Hear pumpkin
• Hear cactus
• Hear magnet
• Hear dentist
• Hear kitten

Show all 16

Code Breakers room 8 Read in Playland

Prefixes: un, re, pre

16 words: un- means not, re- means again, pre- means before

• Hear unhappy
• Hear unlock
• Hear unzip
• Hear untie
• Hear unpack
• Hear unsafe
• Hear redo
• Hear reread
• Hear refill
• Hear retell

Show all 16

Read in Playland

Suffixes: -s, -ed, -ing, -er, -est

21 words: -s and -es, -ed, -ing, -er and -est

• Hear cats
• Hear dogs
• Hear boxes
• Hear dishes
• Hear wishes
• Hear jumped
• Hear played
• Hear helped
• Hear planted
• Hear melted

Show all 21

Read in Playland

• Keep sounds clean

  Say /m/ as “mmm”, not “muh”. An added “uh” makes blending harder: c-uh, a, t-uh does not sound like cat. Sounds you can stretch (m, s, f, l) are the easiest to blend.

• Short and often

  Five to ten minutes a day does more than one long session. Stop while it is still fun, and come back to a game tomorrow rather than pushing through.

• Listening comes first

  If letters feel hard, step back to rhyme and syllables for a while. Phonological awareness can be practiced in the car or the bath with no print at all.

• When to ask for help

  If a child of five or older still cannot hear rhymes or the first sound in a word, or reading is not building after steady practice, talk to the child’s teacher or a speech-language pathologist. Speech sound and language difficulties and reading difficulties often travel together.