The order to teach phonics patterns, with a sheet for each

1 Why the order matters

Phonics is taught in an order so that each new pattern builds on ones children already know. A child who can read cap is ready for cape, because the only new idea is the silent e. A child who can read sip and hop is ready for ship and shop, because the only new idea is that two letters can make one sound. Each step adds one thing.

The order also decides what children can read. If every word in a practice sentence uses only patterns taught so far, children can read the whole sentence by sounding it out. That is what makes text decodable, and it only works if you know exactly which patterns have been taught. A written order is how you know.

There is no single correct order. Programs disagree on whether digraphs come before or after silent e, which short vowel comes first, and when to bring in vowel teams. What matters most is that the order is planned, that it moves from simpler to harder, and that every child gets enough practice on each step before the next.

2 The twelve patterns, in order

This is the order Peabody's decodable sentences and phonics sheets follow. Each link opens that pattern's free worksheet page, with a sample sheet and the whole pack one tap away.

1. Short a (CVC): cat, map, bag.
2. Short e (CVC): bed, pen, ten.
3. Short i (CVC): sit, pig, fin.
4. Short o (CVC): hot, dog, mop.
5. Short u (CVC): sun, bus, cup.
6. Magic e (CVCe): cake, bike, home.
7. Digraphs sh, ch, th: ship, chip, thin.
8. Consonant blends: frog, jump, stop.
9. Long a (ai, ay): rain, day, train.
10. Long e (ee, ea): tree, eat, sleep.
11. Long o (oa, ow): boat, snow, road.
12. R-controlled vowels (ar, or): car, fork, star.

Read the list as three stages. Steps 1 to 5 are the short vowels, where every letter makes one sound. Steps 6 to 8 add the first letters that work in pairs or change each other. Steps 9 to 12 are the vowel patterns where two letters make one vowel sound, and the vowels changed by r. Each stage is a little longer to secure than the one before.

The phonics worksheets page lists the same twelve with a one-line description of each spelling. A child on step 6 can read every word from steps 1 to 6, plus a few tricky words such as the, is and my that are taught by sight along the way.

3 Steps 1 to 5: the short vowels

Everything starts with consonant-vowel-consonant words. Each letter makes one sound, the vowel is short, and a child who knows the letter sounds can blend any of them. The CVC words guide covers this stage step by step.

Teach one short vowel at a time. Short a usually comes first in programs that teach it early, because the sound is easy to hear and stretch and it makes many common words. Once a second vowel is taught, sorting words by vowel is the best check that children are reading the vowel rather than guessing.

• What to listen for: children who mix up short e and short i. These two are close in sound and often need extra sorting and mouth-shape practice.
• What children can read by the end: short sentences like The pup is in the tub. with a few tricky words.
• Where most kindergartens are: many kindergarten classes spend much of the year here, along with letter sounds and the first tricky words.

Two- and three-letter words like at, an, and and ant travel with these patterns. They read sound by sound in the same way.

4 Steps 6 to 8: silent e, digraphs and blends

Magic e (CVCe)

A silent e at the end of a word changes the vowel from short to long: cap becomes cape, kit becomes kite, hop becomes hope. This is the first time children meet a letter that makes no sound of its own but changes another letter. Pairs of words, one with e and one without, are the clearest way to teach it.

Digraphs sh, ch, th

Two letters, one sound. Ship has three sounds, not four. Children need to learn to see sh, ch and th as a unit. A sound-tapping routine helps: sh-i-p gets three taps, and the two letters of sh share one tap.

Consonant blends

Two or three consonants together, each keeping its own sound: fr in frog, mp in jump, st in stop. Blends look like digraphs but behave differently, because every letter is still heard. Words like frog have four sounds. Children who drop a sound (reading fog for frog) need to slow down and tap each one.

Many programs teach digraphs and blends before silent e, since both still use short vowels. Peabody's order puts silent e first. Either works; just keep the sentences children read in step with what has been taught.

5 Steps 9 to 12: vowel teams and r-controlled vowels

Vowel teams are two letters that work together to make one vowel sound, usually a long one. They come after silent e, because children already know that a vowel can say its name.

• Long a, ai and ay: ai usually in the middle of a word (rain, tail), ay at the end (day, play).
• Long e, ee and ea: both in the middle (tree, feet, eat, team). Children cannot hear which spelling a word uses, so they have to learn the words.
• Long o, oa and ow: oa usually in the middle (boat, road), ow at the end (snow, grow).

Sorting by spelling is useful here: one column for ai, one for ay. Children notice the position rule themselves when they see the words side by side.

R-controlled vowels come last in this set. When a vowel is followed by r, the r changes its sound: car is not cat with an r, and fork is not fog with an r. The sheets cover ar and or. The other r-controlled spellings, er, ir and ur, all make the same sound and usually follow.

Most of this stage falls in 1st and 2nd grade. Expect a spread: some children will be on vowel teams while others are still securing blends.

Some vowel sounds are not covered by these twelve sets: oi and oy, ou and ow as in cow, the two sounds of oo, au and aw, and long i and long u spelled with teams. After those, phonics turns to longer words: syllable types, common prefixes and suffixes, and how to split a long word into parts. The how to teach phonics guide sketches that later sequence.

6 How fast to move, and how to check

There is no fixed number of days per pattern. Move on when most of the group can read the pattern's words accurately, both in lists and in sentences, without long pauses. Children who need more time can keep working on the pattern in a small group while the class moves ahead.

1. A quick list check. Ten words from the pattern, read aloud to you. Note which ones cause trouble.
2. A sentence check. One or two decodable sentences. Reading words in a list is easier than in a sentence.
3. A spelling check. Say five words and have children write them. Spelling shows whether the pattern is really secure.
4. A sort. Mix the new pattern with the one before it. Sorting shows whether children notice the difference.

Keep the checks short and frequent. A quick read of ten words at the end of a week tells you more than a long test at the end of a month, because you can still act on it the following Monday.

Write the twelve patterns on one page and mark each child's progress on it. That page tells you who to group together, which sheets to print for whom, and which decodable sentences each child can read.

7 A sheet set for each pattern

The free phonics worksheet maker prints the same seven kinds of sheet for every one of the twelve patterns. Every word on a sheet is from that pattern or one taught before it, the same rule the decodable sentences follow.

• Circle the word for the picture and Write the word under the picture, using only words that one picture clearly names.
• Fill in the missing letters, where the gap is the pattern's own letters: on the digraphs sheet, ship prints with the sh left out.
• Sort the words, this pattern against the one taught just before it.
• Build the word with cut-out letter tiles.
• Word ladder, changing one letter at a time.
• Read the sentence, a decodable sentence to read and draw.

Every sheet prints with an answer key and in versions A and B. The whole pack prints all seven for a pattern in one go. Nothing is typed or sent. For the whole daily lesson these sheets fit into, see how to teach phonics step by step, and for the matching sentences, decodable sentences by pattern.