Read and Decode Cards

Have you ever taught a phonics skill really well only to realize that your students aren’t actually applying the newly taught skill to read and decode independently? Yep, me too, which is why I developed a new way to practice! Read and Decode Cards!

How do you know your students are applying phonics skills?

• Running records – While they are reading, mark words they are missing on a piece of notebook paper. Are the words sight words? Are they words they should be able to sound out to solve? Have you already taught that phonics skill?
• Guided Reading Observation – Pull books that follow phonics patterns you have already taught and see how students perform with the text.
• Reading passages with no visuals – This is the best way to tell if your students are decoding and applying phonics skills. They can’t depend on the pictures or visuals to help them solve unknown words.

How do the cards work?

There are two different sets for each phonics skill. One set has the word in a simple sentence with no visual cues. The student needs to apply what they have been taught to read the sentence. The other set has a visual cue and word shape boxes for the student to write and produce the word. Students read the sentence and then either write the word with a dry erase marker or on a separate piece of paper.

What about reteaching?

When you notice that students are struggling with a sentence or word, just flip. The cards were designed to print front and back. The word is on the back with the dots and a visual cue to reteach or introduce new vocabulary for ELL or SPED students who lack the prior knowledge of the unknown word.

How should the cards be organized?

There are 24 phonics skills in all that will be included as the set is developed. Each phonics skill has two sets of cards. I use o-rings to keep each set separated. The sets have anywhere from 16-60 word cards depending on the patterns.

Practice, Practice, Practice

After I have taught a phonics skill and we have practiced with a reader, then we use the Read and Decode Cards. I like using the rings with individual students, but have also used them in small groups. Take a look at a student who is working through a set.

Growing and growing some more!

This is a growing bundle! There will be more packs added each week and the price will slowly increase until the pack is completed. The time to purchase is now and then you can redownload to get all the updates. Just keep an eye on your email for updates. If you wish to purchase, the time to do so is NOW while the price is low and slowly increasing overtime. Click here if you wish to purchase!