Here are lists of resources I think are consistent with systematic, explicit, synthetic phonics principles, but please check them out yourself before purchasing. My aim is to help with your search, but inclusion on these lists does not constitute an endorsement.
I’ve included country of origin in brackets (Aus = Australian, UK = British, US = American, Can = Canada, NZ = New Zealand), and highlighted free resources. Please tell me if I’ve left out something good, or you notice something is out of date: spelfabet@gmail.com.
Resources suitable for preschoolers
Classroom programs for children aged ~5-7
Small group or 1:1 programs for children age ~5-7 needing extra help
Home programs for children aged ~5-7
Catch-up programs for older children and teenagers
Programs and activities suitable for adults
Other useful stuff – workbooks, manipulatives, gizmos, gadgets, posters, charts, bookmarks, games…
And on a related topic, you can find good information about handwriting here and here.
If you want to know how English spelling became so complicated, try the History of English podcast.
18 responses to “Phonics resources”
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The Spelfabet shop has affordable, downloadable spelling teaching resources.
Please HOW can we download the free PDF shown in the two sound game?
Hi Narelle, sorry you can’t work out how to download it, it should be the same way as for everything else in the shop. I’ll email it to you now. Alison
Hi Narelle, it should work the way all the other things in my shop work, you just click on “add to cart” for anything you want, put in your details, and then if something isn’t free, it asks you to pay for it, but if not it just sends you a link which you click on to download the materials. I can email you the two sound game anyway, I’ll do it now, let me know if you want the other font. Alison
Hello Alison:
Thank you for providing such a comprehensive site! I am an ESL teacher in China and have limited access to “free” materials. I see you have emailed a link to another … is it possible you would do the same for me?
I am interested in the 44-page sounds book. It’s a problem entering a valid credit card as mine is Chinese and has limited scope and usability… : (
Anything you can provide would be a great asset to my kids!
Thank you kindly,
Paula
Hi Paula, thanks for the nice feedback and I’ve emailed you the 44 sounds book, and the simpler version for little kids. All the best, Alison
Dear Paula, Sorry to take absolutely ages to reply, I thought I had done so by email but my system has been playing up and perhaps it didn’t go. I am not sure who I emailed a link to, but you can get any of my free materials without needing a credit card, as if the shop sees they are $0 it skips the payment step.
If you can’t get the materials now just email me again and I will think of Plan B. Alison
Thank you very much. Very helpful resources.
Hi, I just wanted to know if you knew of a resource that showed a grapheme (letter), a picture to represent the sound AND the shape your mouth should make when articulating the sound as well as an indication of voice/voiceless and all those other things.
Hi Romina, maybe the Kid Lips resources are what you’re looking for? https://www.tools4reading.com.au/products-services
Hi,
Are the embedded meynomics flashcards a digital purchase? Or physical cards that will be mailed if ordered?
They are digital downloads. I’d never be able to provide them so cheaply if I had to print, store and mail them. Alison
Hello
With the embedded picture mnemonics file I just purchased, it said it included all letters? I was hoping to have the alphabet posters for my classroom using your beautiful mnemonic letters. However, from what I can tell, I only have sounds?
Thank you
Tiana
Hi Alison,
Watched your talk on the SoundsWrite Symposium. Absolutely loved your new moveable alphabet and affixes. What an awful lot of work to cover all that. I also love the idea of the two sided tiles.
When will it be available to purchase?
Keep up the good work,
Regards,
Mim.
Hi Mim, it’s on the website now, but I’ll just email you a copy tomorrow when I’m back in the office, you have legendary status that entitles you to a complimentary copy. Remind me if I forget! Alison
Hi
I am wondering why I can only download 3 copies of my cards; I seem to have lost my other long vowels cards for download.
Hi Marilyn, you get three chances to download each item, in case the cat walks over your keyboard or the power goes off right when you’re doing it. I’ll reset your permissions so you can get the ones you’ve used up your downloads for. Please save them to your computer before printing them, I would not be able to afford to run my website if I let people download everything unlimited times, it would cost a fortune. Alison
Hi Alison,
I’m looking to find a digital database of words categorized by a multitude of phonics rules. All I can find are lists of “CVC words” or “Silent -e words” for example… but what would be even more helpful is a database where each word is labeled by it’s phonics rules.
For example, the word “promptly” would be labeled in the database as 1) Two-Syllables, 2) Ending -ly, 3) word with a suffix, 4) Beginning Blend is “Pr-“.
Do you know of anything like this that exists OR any resources that can help me build this database myself without tagging every word in the dictionary by hand?
Thanks so much for the help you provide here!
– Michael and Katherine
Hi Michael and Katherine, sorry for the slow reply, I don’t know of a database of the type you would like to use, but maybe the Phinder one is helpful? https://www.devinkearns.org/phinder. I can’t think of anything else at the moment, sorry. All the best, Alison