The Science of Reading and Phonics: Proven Techniques and 7 Fun Classroom Activities
As educators, we know that helping students crack the code of written language will open up a whole new world for them. Teaching phonics can feel like both an art and a science—and it’s one of the most crucial skills students need to become confident readers.
According to the Science of Reading, phonics is a cornerstone of early reading instruction that provides students with the tools they need to decode words and develop fluency. This article will guide you through the essentials, drawing on proven strategies for teaching phonics to help your students master the relationship between sounds and letters.
Whether you are new to teaching phonics or looking to boost your current approach, you’ll find practical insights and tips for how to apply evidence-based practices to ensure that all students become successful readers.
The Science of Reading and Phonics
The Science of Reading has transformed our understanding of how children learn to read. This multidisciplinary body of research spans several decades and encompasses psychology, cognitive science, linguistics, and pedagogy.
At the heart of the Science of Reading are five key pillars of literacy:
- Phonics
- Phonemic awareness
- Vocabulary
- Comprehension
- Fluency
This body of research underscores the importance of systematic, cumulative instruction in each area of literacy.
Best Practices for Phonics Instruction
The goal of phonics instruction is to enable readers to decode words by sounding them out and to understand the relationships between written and spoken language.
The following phonics teaching techniques are evidence-based methods that help to build and strengthen foundational literacy skills:
Use Visuals
Visuals such as letter cards, pictures, or diagrams help reinforce sound-symbol correspondence. For example, pairing a letter or digraph with an image (like “b” with a picture of a ball) strengthens the association between the letter shape and its corresponding sound.
Additionally, visuals help to contextualize phonics patterns within words, showing students how sounds are represented in written language. This is especially beneficial for English Language Learners (ELs) and students with diverse learning needs. Visuals can help to bridge language gaps and foster stronger comprehension.
Provide Multiple Opportunities to Practice Phonics Skills
For struggling readers and ELs, repeated practice can serve as a crucial scaffolding tool that boosts their phonemic awareness and decoding abilities. Additionally, frequent opportunities to practice phonics help students transfer their skills to independent reading and writing, ultimately improving comprehension and overall literacy.
Integrate Phonics With Other Literacy Skills
By embedding phonics into other literacy skills, students can see its relevance across all areas of reading and writing. During shared reading, you may highlight words that demonstrate phonics patterns.
When teaching phonics to older students, use activities like word sorts, spelling practice, or interactive writing exercises to give them opportunities to practice phonics in the context of their own writing.
Use a Multi-Sensory Approach
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to teaching—differentiation is key to reaching all learners.
In a multisensory phonics lesson, students might see the letter “m” (visual), hear the sound it makes (auditory), trace the letter in the air or on sandpaper (tactile), and use body movements to form the letter shape (kinesthetic).
This type of brain-based instruction builds stronger neural connections and improves retention.
Phonics Teaching Strategies
The National Center for Improving Literacy (NCIL) suggests the following strategies for teaching phonics:
- Begin with high-frequency letters
- Work with a few letters at a time
- Stagger letters that are visually similar or auditorily similar (i.e. “b” and “d” or “m” and “n”)
- Scaffold learning
Though there’s no prescribed order to teach phonics, the NCIL offers guidance for students who struggle using the progression below. Use words in one level at a time and check for student mastery before moving to the next level in the sequence to provide scaffolding for students who need additional support.
- Words that follow the consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pattern and contain all continuous sounds (e.g., man, run, rim, win)
- Words that follow the CVC pattern with a stop sound at the end of the word (e.g., sap, mat, fit, lot)
- Words that follow the CVC pattern with a stop sound at the beginning of the word (e.g., top, pan, big, ten)
- Words that follow the consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant (CCVC) pattern with a blend at the beginning that includes a stop sound (e.g., step, skit, spot, spun)
7 Fun Phonics Activities
Teaching phonics doesn’t have to be all drills—adding fun to phonics lessons can significantly increase student motivation. Whether through games or movement-based exercises, these activities make phonics enjoyable and accessible for all learners:
1. Go Fish
This classic game is a classroom favorite for a reason—its versatility makes it easy to adapt to nearly any skill or learning target. To focus on phonics, students can ask for capital or lowercase letters or specific letter sounds. Make your own game cards with these free customizable alphabet flashcards on Canva.
2. Slap the Sound
For this game, you’ll need magnetic letters and a fly swatter. Students will swat letters to respond to your prompts. This could be adapted to many different skills, depending on the prompt you provide:
- Give students a word and have them swat each letter as they sound it out.
- Say a word and have students swat the letter that is at the beginning of the word.
- Using CVC words, have students swat the vowel sound that they hear in the middle of the word
3. Spin and Blend
This activity is perfect for the DIY-inclined teachers—all you need is a dowel rod and two different-colored pool noodles. Cut the noodles into one-inch slices and write several letters around each slice. Slide the noodles onto the rod and have students practice forming words by spinning them.
4. Disappearing “Ink”
This low-prep activity is a great way to take learning outside. Give each student a cup of water and a paintbrush. Have students practice writing letters (or words) on the pavement as many times as they can to prevent it from disappearing.
5. Letter Sound Dominoes
In this free activity from The Florida Center for Reading Research and Florida Department of Education, students can practice matching initial phonemes in words. Simply print and laminate for an easy independent center.
6. Phonics Hopscotch
For this activity, you can either make a hopscotch grid with tape in your classroom or create one outside with chalk. Place word cards (or write words with chalk) in each of the squares and have students read each word as they jump.
7. Alphabet Simon Says
Another classic game, Simon Says can be easily modified to practice letter recognition. Provide students with alphabet cards and phonics-related prompts, like “Simon says hold up the letter A” or “Simon says hold up the letter that makes the /h/ sound.”
Online Phonics Practice
Incorporating technology into the classroom is an easy way to boost student engagement. Educational apps and websites designed for phonics instruction offer interactive, adaptive learning experiences. These can provide immediate feedback, track student progress, and offer personalized instruction to meet individual needs.
We’ve compiled a list of a few of our favorite online phonics resources:
We Are Teachers Sight Words Slides
These 18 free, interactive Google slides provide students with opportunities to practice key literacy skills, from spelling to sight words.
Word-Building Pyramids
Digital games can be useful tools for teaching phonics to older students. Designed for second grade, this online game lets students practice their knowledge of -ai, -ay, and -ow vowel teams by building pyramids.
Starfall
Teachers love this ad-free hub of reading resources for teaching key phonics skills, like letter recognition.
PBS Kids Games
PBS Kids Games features phonics games for early readers, such as Princess Presto’s Spectacular Spelling Play, Letter Dance Party, and Alpha Pig’s Paint by Letter.
Phonics Programs from Continental
When it comes to foundational literacy, Continental offers an array of programs designed to ensure students master the essential building blocks of reading.
Whether supporting emergent readers or reinforcing skills for struggling students, Continental’s phonics programs emphasize instruction with a focus on evidence-based practices. Our resources align with structured literacy approaches, providing educators with the tools to foster student success in reading from the early stages onward.
Phonics Adventures
Phonics Adventures kits feature a variety of supportive resources, including step-by-step workbook lessons, decodable readers, phonics assessments, vocabulary picture cards, and more. Build phonics skills through a systematic and direct approach to instruction. For grades K–2.
Phonics Progress Indicators
Phonics Progress Indicators allow you to assess student knowledge of specific phonics skills. Parallel booklets can be used as pre- and post-assessments for a quick snapshot of student progression. For grades PreK–3.
Phonemic Awareness Progress Indicators
Phonemic Awareness Progress Indicators is a teacher resource book that assesses student performance for phonemic awareness skills, such as blending and segmenting phonemes, rhyming, and more. For grades PreK–3.
The Science of Reading provides clear evidence that phonics instruction is an important component of effective literacy education. By embracing these phonics teaching techniques, educators can help students build a solid foundation for literacy, close the achievement gap, and foster a lifelong love of reading.
Build phonics skills using a direct and explicit approach to phonics instruction. These student-friendly kits offer supplemental instruction for your science of reading curriculum.
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