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List of Phonics Sounds

January 24, 2021 By: B Markercomment

There are 44 phonemes in English. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound. “Shop” for example contains 3 phonemes: sh-o-p. If you are new to the subject of phonics, you can pretty much substitute the word “sound” for “phoneme” and still get the gist of this blog. In the following content, I will provide a list of phonics sounds.

For a FREE printable list of phonics sounds, click on the pdf:

List of Phonics Sounds

Kids can benefit from learning phonemes systematically, meaning one at a time. In systematic phonics instruction, kids learn these 44 phonemes explicitly and the teacher writes the phonics sound on a sound card to be reviewed daily. For example, a teacher might say “oa” says /oa/ as in boat. Next, the kids will practice the /oa/ digraph in phonics lessons (while they review old phonics sounds as well). In future lessons, the child will see the “oa” letters and say the /oa/ sound. Systematic phonics instruction is an evidence-based method that ensures all kids learn to read, even kids with dyslexia and other language disorders.

Different curricula introduce these 44 phonemes in different orders. However, many children learn the phonemes in roughly the following order: letter sounds, short vowels, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, silent e, long vowels, r-controlled, inflectional endings, other vowel digraphs.

Reading Elephant offers systematic printable phonics books in our shop. Our series can help kids practice the most common English phonemes.

Letter Sounds (Consonants)

Teaching Letter Sounds

Typically, kids learn letter sounds first. Introduce 2-4 new letters at a time. Be sure to introduce them explicitly. For example, say “bee says /b/ as in bat.” Going forward, only say the sound when referring to “b.” In short, never say “bee” after you introduce the sound. This will help the child say the /b/ sound, as the sound unlocks the words bat, bug, bag… etc. The letter name “bee” unlocks nothing (ex. bat does not say beeat). Thus, be sure to emphasize the sound not the name.

Although letters can make various sounds, only introduce the following sounds for now. Don’t pile on content and tell the child “Well h says /h/ as in hat, but sometimes it says /f/ as in Phil, and sometimes its silent as in /igh/ and then there’s /sh/… etc.” This piling on of content causes reading failure. Teach one sound at a time. Let the child master that sound. Then, teach him one more. Continue in this systematic, patient manner. Over k-2, if done right, the child will have the time to master all 44 phonemes.

b as in bat

c as in cat

d as in dog

f as in frog

g as in goat

h as in hat

j as in jaguar

k as in kangaroo

l as in lion

m as in monkey

n as in nest

p as in panda

q as in queen

r as in rhinoceros

s as in snow

t as in turtle

v as in violin

w as in wing

x as in fox

y as in yak

z as in zebra

Short Vowels

Reading Elephant printable Sets 1-5 help kids practice short vowel sounds.

This is an excerpt from short vowel Reading Elephant printable phonics books.

a_ as in apple (ex. hat, sat)

e_ as in elephant (ex. hen, pet)

i_ as in igloo (ex. sit, pig)

o_ as in octopus (ex. dog, pop)

u_ as in up (ex. cup, bug)

Consonant Digraphs

Reading Elephant printable Set 6 allows kids to practice consonant digraphs.

sh digraph book
For a free sh book sample, enter our shop.

sh as in ship

th as in math

th as in then

ch as in chop

_tch as in match

_ck as in back

_ng as in long

_ing as in king

_ang as in sang

wh_ as in when

_ink as in pink

_ank as in tank

qu as in quick

Consonant Blends

Reading Elephant printable set 7 allows kids to practice consonant blends.

consonant blends books
Reading Elephant printable consonant blends books allow kids to gradually acclimate to longer words with more phonemes.

Consonant blends are 2 or more letter sounds in a row. Do not teach students to memorize blends. Teach them to decode blends sound-by-sound. Some samples include: fl as in flop, br as in brim and cl as in click. There are two exceptions. Teach kids to memorize tr as in truck and dr as in drop, as these two have a sound change. Otherwise, consonant blends, though on this list of phonics sounds, do not require memorization, only sound-by-sound decoding.

Silent e

Reading Elephant printable phonics books set 8 focuses on the e at the end pattern.

silent e reading passages
Our printable silent e books help students practice e at the end words.

a_e as in make

e_e as in Pete

i_e as in kite

o_e as in hope

u_e as in use

u_e as in duke

Long Vowels

Reading Elephant printable books Sets 9-13 help kids practice long vowel sounds.

ai phonics stories
This is an excerpt in one of our ai/ay long vowel stories.

ee as in tree

ea as in seal

ai as in rain

_ay as in bay

oa as in boat

ow as in glow

igh as in light

_____y as in funny

_y as in my

oo/ew

Reading Elephant printable Set 14 helps kids practice oo/ew.

For a free oo/ew sample story enter our shop.

oo as in moon

oo as in look

ew as in new

R-Controlled

Reading Elephant printable Set 15 helps kids practice r-controlled sounds.

Our printable r-controlled books are available in our shop.

ar as in dark

er as in clerk

ir as in bird

ur as in turn

or as in fork

Inflectional Endings

Reading Elephant printable phonics books sets 16-18 (not currently available, in progress)

ing as in tipping (first vowel is short)

ing as in timing (first vowel is long)

ing with vowel patterns

ed as in missed (takes on t sound)

ed as in saved (takes on d sound)

ed as in rested (takes on id sound)

es as in saves

es as in matches

est as in fastest

Other vowel digraphs

ow as in town

ou as in pouch

au as in launch

aw as in lawn

oi as in soil

_oy as in joy

When c and g are followed by e, i or y…

Lastly, on our list of phonics sounds is the c and g exception. Usually c makes the hard /c/ sound as in cat. However, when c is followed by e, i or y, it changes to the /s/ sound. Usually g makes the hard /g/ sound as in goat. But when g is followed by e, i, or y, it changes to the /j/ sound.

c (e, i, y) as in face, city and cycle (the c changes to the s sound)

g (e, i, y) as in gem, gist and gym (the g changes to the j sound)

Reading Elephant printable phonics books can help kids practice the most common phonics sounds.

Phonics books (also known as decodable books) can help kids practice the above list of phonics sounds. These are books that help kids gradually learn phonics sounds. While reading these stories, kids can decode words sound-by-sound. Phonics stories can help kids build a strong decoding foundation.

The phonics sounds in this post are among the most common and most important units for kids to learn. Check out our shop to help your student master these sounds.

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