Phase 3 Phonics Activities
When I first started at my most recent posting nearly 6 years ago now I really struggled with teaching spelling using the Letters and Sounds program. I had been teaching upper primary using Words Their Way which is very detailed and I felt a bit lost when it came to Letters and Sounds.
Over the years I searched and searched for help with how to teach Letters and Sounds. Even just finding a 10 word spelling list for each sound was impossible! Over the years I have created a spelling program, based on the Letters and Sounds approach that works really well in my classroom, my students enjoy it and most importantly their spelling ability improves so quickly!
I want to share that with you so you don’t have to spend hours upon hours and years and years perfecting your phonics programme.
I have created these Phase 3 phonics activities to match each sound so that you have 5 days worth of Phase 3 phonics games and worksheets ready to go. You can use them for small group instruction, literacy centers, phonics games, homework or whole class activities. I like to use mine for whole class activities, each spelling group has their own worksheet for the sound that they are learning and we do these all year so they know exactly what to do. While students are working on these, I then work with a small group on another teacher led activity (which I will share with you in another post very soon!), and if I’m lucky enough to have an EA at the time they also work with a small group.
The Phase 3 phonics activities in this bundle include;
Look, Cover, Write Check Activity – children cover their list word then write it from memory in pencil, marker and highlighter checking each time that they spelled the word correctly.
Roll and Write Game – students roll a dice, and choose a spelling list word to trace from the corresponding number.
Word Shapes Activity – students write their list words in the correct shapes box.
Rainbow Writing Activity – students write their spelling words in whichever colour they spin.
Wordsearch – students find their list words hidden in the wordsearch.
I like to use these Phase 3 phonics activities strategically over the week. On Monday students do Look, Cover, Write, Check. Then on Tuesday they write sentences using their list words in their spelling book. On Wednesdays we complete the Word Shapes activity, Thursdays Roll and Write. I use Rainbow Writing and Wordsearch as an activity for any early finishers at any time during the week. Sometimes I like to change things up especially as the year goes on and we might swap out word shapes and roll and writes with rainbow writing and wordsearches, just to make things a bit more interesting. On top of these activities we also use miniwhite boards for partner testing and keyboards to practise our spelling words as well.
If you like this idea to support teaching Letters and Sounds or any other spelling program your school uses, you can find my Phase 3 phonics activities in my shop, along with my other Phase 2- 6 bundles. I also have individual sounds for sale too, but it’s so much cheaper to buy as a bundle and then you can cater for every child in your class!
Let me know what spelling activities your kiddos love in the comments below
