Digital Phonics Games- Teaching Phonics in Fun Ways

Teaching phonics skills to beginning readers can be so rewarding. Nonetheless, it can often be challenging to find ways to get students interested in learning phonics or to get them to want to practice their phonics skills. So how do you make phonics practice fun? With phonics games! The Roll it, Read it, Keep it! games offer plenty of practice in such a fun way!

I love when students enjoy the learning process, so I’m always looking for ways to make activities fun for kids. And the only thing you’ll need for these games is a die! Plus, best of all, these games are Google Drive™ ready, making them perfect for distance learning! You can either print and play, or you can send this to your students virtually.

What phonics skills are covered?

The following phonics skills are included in the games:

Set 1: CVC short a Words
Set 2: CVC short e Words
Set 3: CVC short i Words
Set 4: CVC short o Words
Set 5: CVC short u Words
Set 6: CVC Mixed Review
Set 7-10: CVC Sentences
Set 11: CVCe Long A Words
Set 12: CVCe Long I Words
Set 13: CVCe Long O Words
Set 14: CVCe Long U Words
Set 15: CVCe Mixed Review
Set 16-20: CVCe Sentences
Set 21-22: L-Blend Words
Set 23-24: R-Blend Words
Set 25-26: S-Blend Words
Set 27: Blends Mixed Review
Set 28-30: Blends Sentences
Set 31-33: Digraph Words
Set 34-35: Digraph Words Mixed Review
Set 36-40: Digraph Sentences

What platforms can I use these digital games on?

Google Slides/Google Classrooms- These games are Google Slides Ready! Once you click the hyperlink they will automatically load into your Google Drive.
Microsoft Teams- Just download to Google Slides. Click FILE, DOWNLOAD and choose the PowerPoint option. All moveable cards will automatically transfer to PowerPoint!
Schoology and Canvas– Both platforms allow you to embed a Google Slides doc. Since these games are Google Slide Ready, you will be able to use them in both Schoology and Canvas!

How to Play:

To set up the board, place 4 cards face-down onto each empty space. Roll a die. Flip over a card from the space that matches your roll. Read the card. If you read the card correctly, you get to keep the card.

Students can play independently by rolling a die and reading the word, or they can play with a partner by taking turns rolling and reading.

Let’s see them in action:

CVC Words

Each short vowel CVC (consonant vowel consonant) has it’s own set. Here is the short a CVC phonics game:

Below is the short e CVC game:

Here is the short i CVC words:

Here is the short o CVC words:

Below is the Short u CVC Words:

Here is the mixed review of CVC words:

Simple Sentences with CVC Words

These sentences offer a simple way to build CVC fluency and confidence in reading full sentences. They give students the opportunity to practice reading CVC words along with simple sight words.

Long Vowels: CVCe Words

Once a beginning reader has mastered CVC words, he or she can move on to other phonics skills, such as long vowel CVCe (consonant vowel consonant, silent e) words. Below is the Long a CVCe game:

Here is the long i CVCe words:

Below is the long o CVCe words:

Here is the long u CVCe words:

And finally, this is the mixed review of CVCe words:

Simple Sentences with CVCe Words

As with the CVC phonics games, the CVCe games include practice of using the phonics skills learned within a simple sentence.

Blends- CCVC Words

Teaching blends is a great next step to take to continue the journey of practicing and mastering phonics skills. Letter blends are two or more consonants whose sounds blend together. Their individual sounds can be heard, but as they are read, the sounds blend.

These next sets teach beginning blends, including l-blends, r-blends, and s-blends.

L-blends

R-blends

S-blends

Blends Mixed Review

Simple Sentences with Blend Words

For these simple sentence games, beginning blends are practiced along with a wider variety of basic sight words.

Digraphs

Now it is time to move on to more complex word structures. A digraph is a single sound (phoneme) that can be represented with two letters. A consonant digraph joins two consonants together to make one sound.