Phonics Sounds
Audio Examples of Phonics Sounds
Below you will find a comprehensive collection of phonics sounds to support your teaching journey.
You may use this guide to understand pronunciation of the patterns in the exercises and to help you score the Word Warm-ups Live Phonics Assessment.
- Category
Sound/Phoneme
Letter/Grapheme
sample word
Filter by category:
/ə/
a, ai, e, o, ou
what
/ă/
a
apple
/ā/
a_e, ai, ay, ey
cake
/air/
eir, er, ere
pair, share
/ar/
are, ar
jar
/aw/
al
haul, hawk, ball
/b/
b
bat
/k/
c, ck
cut
/s/
ce, ci, cy
cent, circus, cycle
/ch/
ch, tch
chick
/d/
d
dip
/ĕ/
e, a
elephant
/ē/
ea, ee, e, e_e, y
team
/ear/
ere
hear (eer)
/er/
er, ere, ir, or, ur
herd, bird, turn
/f/
f, ff
fun
/g/
g
get
/j/
ge, gi, gy
gem, giant, gym
/n/
gn
gnome
/h/
h, wh
hat
/ĭ/
i
igloo
/ī/
i_e, ie, igh, i, y, ye
kite
/j/
j
jog
/k/
k
kit
/n/
kn
knife
/l/
l, ll
lip
/m/
m
mug
/n/
n
nap
/ŋ/
_ng
ring
/ŏ/
o
octopus
/oo/
oo, ou, u
book, bush
/oo/
o, oo
boot, new
/ō/
o_e, oa, o, ow
rope
/oi/
oi, oy
soil, toy
/or/
or
fork
/ou/
ow, ow
how, out
/p/
p
pick
/qu/
qu
quest*
/r/
r
rid
/s/
s, ss
sit, mess
/z/
s
his
/sh/
sh
ship
/t/
t
tuck
/th/
th
thin
/th/
th
the
/ŭ/
u
up
/oo/
u_e, ue
lute, glue
/yoo/
u_e, ue
use, cue
/ure/
ure
lure (oor)
/v/
v
van
/w/ or /oo/**
w
will
/hw/
whi
whip
/r/
wr
wrist
/ks/
x***, cks
mix, rocks
/y/ or /ē/**
y
yes
/z/
z, zz
zip, buzz
*The letter q says /k/. However, most of the time q is followed by the vowel u. When this occurs, the sound is pronounced /kw/.
**Note that teaching the sound of the consonant w as /oo/ and the sound of the consonant y as /ē/ can help students avoid adding a schwa sound to the end of the consonant sound.
***The letter x says /x/ or /ks/. X often comes in the middle or at the end of the word. When this occurs, the sound is pronounced /ks/.
Read Naturally GATE+: Group Phonics Instruction
Read Naturally GATE+ is your complete phonics toolkit for the whole classroom! Students master phonemic awareness, phonics, and high-frequency words while developing fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Scripted lessons aligned with the Science of Reading make teaching these essential skills easy and effective for any educator.
Word Warm-ups Live: Direct Phonics Instruction
Based on the Science of Reading, Word Warm-ups Live delivers structured, sequential phonics instruction in an engaging, game-like format. Audio-supported phonics and word analysis lessons allow for individualization and enable students to work independently on the phonics skills they need to develop.
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Quick Phonics Screener
This diagnostic assessment identifies students’ strengths and instructional needs in phonics—decoding and encoding—and now includes a time-saving spelling assessment.
Learn More About QPS
Free Phonics Games
These engaging activities are perfect for building literacy skills and include easy-to-follow instructions. Your students will love learning while they play!
The printable cards can be used across multiple games, making them a versatile tool for any classroom. Ideal for K-2, but easily adaptable for older students needing phonics practice, too.
Get started with these free resources today!
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