Phonics: what it is and how to teach it

Phonics is teaching how written letters and letter groups stand for the sounds in spoken words, so a student can sound out a new word and spell it. Systematic phonics teaches those links in a planned order, from simple to complex, and gives students plenty of practice reading and writing words that use only what they have learned.

English has about 44 sounds and many more ways to spell them, which is why order matters. Most sequences start with a handful of consonants and one short vowel, so students can read words like "sat" and "map" within the first weeks. They then move through short vowels, digraphs such as sh and ch, blends, silent e, vowel teams and r-controlled vowels.

The articles in this section cover what phonics is, how to build a scope and sequence, how to introduce a new pattern, and how to teach the patterns students find hardest. They explain how long a phonics lesson should be and how often to bring an old pattern back.

For word lists, go to the phonics pages. Each one splits the words by the sound the spelling makes, not just by the letters, so ch in "chin" and ch in "chef" are never mixed up.