Classroom visual resources
a selection of classroom visual resources to support your word study
Phonics Fundamentals
- FREE – Tuning In Alphabet Chart for Beginners
- Grapheme Card Sets
- The Getting Started Graphemes Chart Set
- The Comprehensive Graphemes Reference Chart Set
Institutional Licenses are available for all of our classroom visual resources at heavily discounted rates.
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Phonics Fundamentals
FREE – Tuning In Alphabet Chart for Beginners
This free downloadable alphabet chart, with its delightful graphics, goes beyond the traditional one letter – one sound images typically shown for our youngest learners. A few key letters have been chosen to introduce the concept that letters frequently represent more than one sound. Have you ever seen an alphabet chart that shows <y> to be anything other than a yak or a yoyo? Most of the time <y> functions as a vowel grapheme so we should show this, even though it’s never initial in a base. Rather than cognitively overloading children, it opens the door for discussions about the function of letters.
These alphabet charts can be printed with or without uppercase letters. Lowercase letters are the really important ones for those beginning their literacy journey as they are used so much more frequently than uppercase. Learning and practising the movement pathways to write lowercase letters is a win-win situation as it speeds up letter recognition at the same time children learn to write their letters.
Grapheme Card Sets
These card sets are available formatted for both A4 and US Letter size. As they will often be used as wall displays we have attempted to make the formatting as specific as possible.
The cards are organised into groups of unigraphs, digraphs, and trigraphs. The intent is that you immediately include some digraphs along with your studies of unigraphs; <th>, <sh>, <ee>, and <ay> can be introduced very early on.
To highlight multiple pronunciation options, some graphemes have more than one card. We have to strike a balance between giving students accurate information while not cognitively overloading them. Thus, as you investigate a new phoneme for a grapheme you might replace your current grapheme card with a new one showing a newly studied pronunciation. Not every pronunciation for a grapheme has been included, as some are rarely used, or encountered only in more complex words. On some occasions you may feel the target grapheme is pronounced the same way in two of the words offered – rest assured for some accents it will differ. Conversely you may think of a pronunciation not included. Some examples of graphemes being unpronounced in a words have been included. For example, we don’t pronounce the <l> in salmon or the <h> in hour. Students should be introduced to the concept that letters can be unpronounced in words but will still have a function, often a tale to tell from history.
The Getting Started Graphemes Chart Set
These charts are organised into three sets:
Set 1: Grapheme Strips
These strips have been designed for children with few or no foundational literacy skills. A whole alphabet chart can be overwhelming initially and yet taking one letter at a time moves too slowly. As quickly as possible we need students to have a bank of letters and associated sounds which they can manipulate to build words. A strip of letters linked in some way is ideal for short, repetitive practice. They can be used to map letters to 1 – 2 commonly linked phonemes. For convenience, the strips have also been included as multiples of the same on one page.
Set 2: My First Grapheme Charts
This chart set consists of 4 separate pages
- the alphabet
- digraphs and one trigraph – some commonly encountered consonant and vowel digraphs/trigraphs
- vowels – vowel unigraphs, a few digraphs and one trigraph with 1 -2 phonemes for each, Marker <e> introduced
- consonants – consonant unigraphs and a few digraphs.
Set 3: My Second Grapheme Charts
This chart set consists of 4 separate pages
- the alphabet – with up to 4 phonemes for a grapheme and some examples of unpronounced letters
- digraphs and trigraphs – a larger bank of commonly encountered consonant and vowel digraphs
- vowels – vowel unigraphs and a larger bank of digraphs, a trigraph, and 1-3 phonemes for each. Marker <e> showing 3 different functions
- consonants – digraphs and trigraphs contrasted with some consonant clusters
The main challenge we have when supporting students beginning their literacy journey is balancing the need for accurate information about our English orthography against cognitive overload. It is important to establish, right from the onset, that letters can make more than one sound, and that letters frequently work as digraphs. If we stay in the zone of one letter – one sound for too long it can be a stumbling block for students. It is important from the onset to introduce a few letters with more than one sound, along with a few digraphs. If we are working with one letter – one sound we tell our students, “This letter can make this sound and maybe others we might discover later on. It makes the sound we are learning in the words we are reading and spelling.” Similarly we can say, “Letters often team up – two of them making one sound. We are learning about a few of these and later on we might discover more.”
The Comprehensive Graphemes Reference Chart Set
These charts are organised into two sets:
Teacher Reference
The first two pages (no graphics) are intended for teacher reference, or could perhaps be used with secondary students or adults. Printing these to have as a ready reference could be quite useful for you.
Student Reference
The next two pages outlining vowel and consonant graphemes could be printed back to back on thick card and used as a reference for older students. There are simplified versions of these for younger or less skilled word inquirers (Tuning In Alphabet Chart for Beginners; My First Grapheme Charts; My Second Grapheme Charts).
Following this the pages include the graphemes grouped for a specific focus:
- vowel unigraphs and Marker <e>
- vowel digraphs and trigraphs
- consonant unigraphs
- consonant digraphs and trigraphs
- doubled consonants within bases
- consonant clusters