Building Automaticity with Letter Combination Sounds

I gave my students a phonics assessment in the beginning of the school year. You know what I found? My students had some major gaps in their knowledge of the sound(s) that a combination of letters makes. For example, many of them couldn't tell me that ph sounds like /f/. I realized that I needed to address this issue ASAP, in order to improve my students' decoding skills. 

One way I've decided to tackle this problem is with flashcards. These flashcards that you can download for free below include various letter combinations (blends, digraphs, vowel pairs, ets). I use them in a small group or when working one-on-one with a child. It only takes a couple minutes and really builds that automaticity they need for successful decoding. It also makes a great time filler when you finish a lesson a few minutes early!

When we get to a card where the children hesitate to answer or answer incorrectly, I stop and quickly teach the sound(s) and give one or two examples. This has been really helpful for my kiddos! 

Click here to download the cards.