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Provide fluency drills at centers to give students practice naming letters and letter sounds (Kindergarten Level). More advanced learners should practice reading syllables

and single words.

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Fluency is something that we work towards in kindergarten. We want our students to not only master the skill but increase the rate of speed, fluency, as well. In my kindergarten classroom, we focus on short vowels, consonants, letter ID, and cvc words. I created my very own beat the clock games around these skills. This Beat The Clock game can be used to help increase fluency in all of the skills listed above, and more. Students will love this game like challenge!

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Have you noticed these days that kids love a good 'challenge'? They'll do anything with excitement if you add the word 'challenge' to it! So when I can, I like to make learning games into challenges for my students. This Beat The Clock game is exactly that.

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Having students play word reading games in pairs or small groups allows for them to practice their fluency. Playing word reading games gives students opportunities to build their reading brains by decoding words until they've orthographically mapped them.

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Today I'm excited to share my newest project: 15 easy-prep games to help your child or students master CVC words!
(This post contains affiliate links.)
If you've been following along with me, you know I've done a variety of activities with my preschooler as I teach him to sound out words.

Learning to sound out words

It's been very slow progress - which is to be expected, of course, since he was just four when we started. I made sure he had the readiness skills for reading in place before tackling "sounding it out." And then we touched on it here and there.

As in... fewer than twenty minutes total in a week. When he showed some resistance, we didn't do any sounding it out for months.

After our little hiatus, I pulled out my word family houses, short vowel phonics readers, and some new activities: my Roll a Short Vowel games and This Reading Mama's CVC Rhyming Blackout. It was a combination of these last two activities that helped him crack the code.

Now he reads 3-letter words without that painful sounding it out that you hear from new readers.

You know how it goes:

"rrr...aaa....t. Ram."

Or "p...eeeee...t. Pit."

Today he reads almost all CVC words automatically! This means I was about a week too late with this game. 🙂 But review is a good thing, and he has younger siblings who will be ready for it in a few years.

Games for teaching CVC words

How to play

1. Print the game you'd like to play. You can choose a game that features short short a, e, o, i, or u words. Or you can print a game that features a combination of short vowels. So many possibilities in this pack of 15 games!

2. Get a playing piece for each player. Our colorful transparent counting chips were perfect.

3. Take turns rolling the die. Move ahead and read the word you land on. There's no penalty for reading a word incorrectly - but the other player should help if there's a mistake.

4. If you land on a leap pad, you have to go back three spaces.

5. The first to the pond wins!

And the instructions are printed on each game board in case you forget. 🙂

P.S. In response to a reader request, the last game in the file is blank so you can add your own words.

CVC WORD PASSAGES

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Today I'm excited to share my newest project: 15 easy-prep games to help your child or students master CVC words! (This post contains affiliate links.)

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Give students daily time to read! Phonics lessons are great, but students must practice what they’re

learning by reading connected text.

Student should have a bag of decodable texts that s/he can read every day.day. For

students who are ready for leveled books, those should be available as

well.

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You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes, as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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What Are Decodable Books and Why Are They Important?

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Decodable books play an important role in phonics instruction and building confidence in young readers. Learn more about decodable books, how they differ from predictable texts, and how to select high-quality texts that align with the scope and sequence of your phonics program.

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Do whole group or small group choral reading. You and your students will

read the text simultaneously; it will give them practice developing

automaticity and expression.

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Language Arts

This planning checklist for a choral reading lesson uses the poem "One Sister for Sale" by Shel Silverstein. See example ›

This PDF includes dozens of poems for shared, choral, paired, and echo reading. See example ›

The website below offers teachers several poetry options conducive to the Choral Reading strategy along with some interesting tips on reading and language development. See example ›

The example of choral reading found on this site uses the children's book James and the Giant Peach. See example ›

Science

This lesson plan includes examples of choral reading activities that correspond to introductory science concepts. See example ›

Social Studies

This website includes a script for the choral reading of the children's book Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain. See example ›

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Choral reading is reading aloud in unison with a whole class or group of students. Choral reading helps build students' fluency, self-confidence, and motivation. Because students are reading aloud together, students who may ordinarily feel self-conscious or nervous about reading aloud have built-in support.

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Do whole class or small group echo reading, in which you model how to

read a text, and students “echo” you, matching your phrasing as much as

possible as they reread the text.

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Welcome back to our Back to Basics series! In this series we explore some of the foundational methods, practices and terminology for teaching reading. This series is for those new to the field of literacy, beginning tutors or those who would just like a refresher. This week we are discussing the fluency strategy of echo reading.
Echo reading is a simple activity that involves a tutor reading a text aloud line by line, or sentence by sentence, modeling appropriate fluency to a learner. After reading each line, the learner echoes back the reading of the line with the same rate and rhythm. There are three main steps to echo reading:

1. Both the tutor and the learner have a copy of the text. The tutor reads a line of text or a sentence. How much to read at one time will depend on the ability level of your learner.

2. While the tutor reads out loud with expression and at a good pace, the learner follows along in the text.

3. After the tutor reads a line or sentence, the learner reads it out loud. They try to imitate the way the tutor reads the text.

It may also be helpful for some learners if the tutor points to each line of text as it is read. Encourage the learner to do the same.

Below is an example of a tutor and learner practicing echo reading.

Echo reading can help build the fluency and confidence of emerging readers. It also gives them practice reading with proper expression. Additionally, it can help the learner understand a good reading pace and how to read punctuation marks. If a learner reads either too slow or too fast, it can affect their comprehension of the text.

"...hearing a skilled reader perform the words on the page, listening to them use punctuation and syntax to create meaning, getting the sense of the prosody of unfamiliar language, can be wonderful." - David Didau

Echo reading is a straightforward activity that complements other fluency strategies. Check out the resources below to learn more about echo reading and how to use it with your learners.

Resources

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Back to Basics: Echo Reading - Decoda Literacy Solutions

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Welcome back to our Back to Basics series! This week we are discussing the fluency strategy of echo reading.

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When orthographic mapping happens successfully, words in print become instantly recognizable sight words—no conscious effort needed. This is what lets proficient readers read efficiently for learning and enjoyment.

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Orthographic mapping is now considered "the most current theory of how children form sight word representations" (Torgesen 2004b, p.36)

What is orthographic mapping and how can I use it to help my students read more fluently? Are you looking for a way to systematically teach your students how to read? I would like to share 5 effective strategies for orthography. This blueprint is all about helping developing readers understand how letters are linked to sounds. The phonics worksheets use specific skill orders to ensure lessons will build on each other and work together. These Orthographic Mapping Worksheets are Science of Reading aligned, and explicitly teach the foundational skills of graphemes and phonemes.

What is Orthographic Mapping

Orthographic mapping or word mapping is the process of looking at a word, reading the word, breaking down the words into sounds, writing the letter combinations of each phoneme, and writing the entire word. Word Mapping will allow students to build their word recognition skills to permanently connect speech phonemes to the graphemes.

Why Word Mapping?

The Science of Reading tells us that Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping is the most effective way to help students build their word recognition and become stronger readers. When students develop orthographic knowledge, they learn how to identify letter patterns that are similar between words. By understanding this process your students will be able to differentiate graphemes and phonemes and the various root words, prefixes, suffixes, and syllables.

Mapping in Reading

Orthographic mapping is a series of actions that all automatic readers use to become fluent readers. Through orthographic mapping, there are 3 ways we process each word when we read.

1. Sounds (phonemes): Students use the oral language to connect (map) the sounds to letters/words they already know.

2. Orthography (spelling): Students will be able to write words with the correct phonemes/graphemes.

3. Meaning: Once students permanently store the connected sounds to letters/words and their meaning, they will be able to instantly recognize the new word.

5 Effective Strategies to use for Orthographic Mapping

Steps I use for Grapheme-Phoneme Mapping

Phonics Word Lists + Orthographic Mapping - In Action

Phonics Word Lists + Orthographic Mapping - In Action

I use these phonics word lists in my reading groups daily to decode (sounds/letters) and encode (write) sections of my phonics-based guided reading lesson plan. From the phonics word lists, I will pick 5 words that students will need to map. I usually pick 3 real words and 2 nonsense words. The first word I start with is a real word and I model the word mapping routine. Students will repeat what I am doing. The next 2 words are a real word and a nonsense word. We will map the words together. The last 2 words are a real word and a nonsense word. I have students orthographically map each word independently. Here is the step in action.

Step 1: Identify the Words- We will identify the words by reading. I choral, echo, and partner read the phonics word lists. We will decode and blend the words. Decoding words is the ability to break a written word down by its letter-sound relationship to rapidly and correctly pronounce words. Blending is the ability to put those sounds together to read the word.

In my lesson plan, I have the words picked out and in which order we will map them.

Step 2: Tap the Sounds- With my right hand, I have the student start tapping out the sounds with me. I start with my thumb and say the sound. For example, if the word is ship I will hold out my thumb and say /sh/, then my pointer finger and say /i/, and then my middle finger and say /p/. Then we will talk about how many sounds are in the word.

Step 3: Map the Word- We get out our and start filling in the sound dot to match how many sounds we hear. For example, we will say /sh/ and fill in the first sound dot, then we will say /i/ and fill in the second sound dot, and then we will say the last sound /p/ and fill in the last dot. We talk about how the sound dots matched the number of sounds we tapped out.

Step 4: Graph the Word- We continue with our Orthographic Mapping Template and start connecting the phoneme to the graphemes. For example, we will say /sh/ and write the sh in the first sound box, then we will say /i/ and write the i in the second sound box, and then we will say the last sound /p/ and write the p in the last sound box.

Step 5: Read the Word- We will then write the whole word out on the Orthographic Mapping Template and blend and read the word.

Phonics-based word lists are a list of real & nonsense dynamic words that are targeted to the specific phonics skill being taught. For example, my Phonics Word Lists: Beginning and Ending Consonant Digraphs (real and nonsense ) has real & nonsense beginning and ending consonant digraph words sorted by their phoneme. The word lists are systematic and sequential. They start with the phonics skill your students need to work on and will continue to review previously taught phonemes throughout each list. This means that the consonant digraphs will not have silent e, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, etc. The word lists, however, will review previously taught sounds (i.e. short vowels and double consonants). Check out my blog on for more information on how to use these phonics word lists!

Digital Phonics Word Lists + Orthographic Mapping - In Action

I use these digital phonics word lists and orthographic mapping slides to introduce a new phoneme, review previously taught phonics skills, and for interactive games. Visit my article on

After reading the interactive word list, the slides will go through the encoding section of the lesson plans. Your students will orthographically map each word individually. One word will appear on each slide. There is an example of word mapping and steps below!

I have my students use Use the followingOrthographic Mapping Template as we go through these slides. You can find this below. This orthographic mapping template is just the resource you need when mapping your words. I have my students write the phonemes & graphemes as I go through the digital word mapping slides. Students can Identify, Tap, Map, Graph, Read and Write at their desks!

Orthographic Mapping + Word List Phonics Worksheets - In Action

I use these Orthographic Mapping + Word List Phonics Worksheets in a variety of ways. I use these orthographic worksheets as a review to reinforce basic phonics skills.

1. After the phonemic awareness component, I start the review section of my phonics-based guided reading lessons. We will read the word lists and map 2 words together. This takes students 2-3 minutes.

2. I have also used these worksheets as an exit slip at the end of my lesson. I use them as a quick and informal assessment. It allows me to quickly assess students' understanding of the phonics skill that was taught.

3. The last way I use these Orthographic Mapping + Word List Phonics Worksheets is for students to work on the phonics worksheets during independent work time. When students use these worksheets in their independent rotation I would still have them follow the 5 strategies for using orthographic mapping. Here are those steps.

Step 1: Identify the Word- students need to read the phonics word lists.

Step 2: Tap the Sounds- they will then read the words on the worksheet and tap out the sounds they hear in that word.

Step 3: Map the Word- depending on your group, the students will either fill in the sound dots as they say the sounds or move into graphing the word.

Step 4: Graph the Word- they will say each sound and write the grapheme in the sound boxes. There is a column for beginning sounds, vowels, and ending sounds. Then the students can see that each word has a vowel sound and process which consonants come before and/or after the vowel.

Step 5: Read the Word- the last step of each word is to write the whole word and read it.

All of these ways enable my students to practice orthographic mapping in reading groups or independently.

This video shows one of my students independently working on this worksheet.

I absolutely enjoyed sharing my ideas for how I am using these orthographic mapping worksheets during my phonics-based guided reading lessons! I'd love for you to send me an email, or DM me on Facebook and Instagram with what you need more help on. I'm here to help you with any phonics and reading lesson planning questions you may have! I hope that after reading this article, you will find these 5 Effective Strategies to use Orthographic Mapping for Reading Success helpful and that you will make phonics orthographic mapping a staple in your reading classroom. You can find these Phonics Worksheets - Word Lists + Orthographic Mapping activities at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store or click on the link below!

Which Phonics Skills are included in the Word Mapping Bundle?

The Word Mapping Bundle includes the following phonics skills:

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Littlelephanteacher@gmail.com

I appreciate YOU!!

Orthographic mapping is now considered "the most current theory of how children form sight word representations" (Torgesen 2004b, p.36)

What is orthographic mapping and how can I use it to help my students read more fluently? Are you looking for a way to systematically teach your students how to read? I would like to share 5 effective strategies for orthography. This blueprint is all about helping developing readers understand how letters are linked to sounds. The phonics worksheets use specific skill orders to ensure lessons will build on each other and work together. These Orthographic Mapping Worksheets are Science of Reading aligned, and explicitly teach the foundational skills of graphemes and phonemes.

What is Orthographic Mapping

Orthographic mapping or word mapping is the process of looking at a word, reading the word, breaking down the words into sounds, writing the letter combinations of each phoneme, and writing the entire word. Word Mapping will allow students to build their word recognition skills to permanently connect speech phonemes to the graphemes.

Why Word Mapping?

The Science of Reading tells us that Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping is the most effective way to help students build their word recognition and become stronger readers. When students develop orthographic knowledge, they learn how to identify letter patterns that are similar between words. By understanding this process your students will be able to differentiate graphemes and phonemes and the various root words, prefixes, suffixes, and syllables.

Mapping in Reading

Orthographic mapping is a series of actions that all automatic readers use to become fluent readers. Through orthographic mapping, there are 3 ways we process each word when we read.

1. Sounds (phonemes): Students use the oral language to connect (map) the sounds to letters/words they already know.

2. Orthography (spelling): Students will be able to write words with the correct phonemes/graphemes.

3. Meaning: Once students permanently store the connected sounds to letters/words and their meaning, they will be able to instantly recognize the new word.

5 Effective Strategies to use for Orthographic Mapping

Steps I use for Grapheme-Phoneme Mapping

Phonics Word Lists + Orthographic Mapping - In Action

Phonics Word Lists + Orthographic Mapping - In Action

I use these phonics word lists in my reading groups daily to decode (sounds/letters) and encode (write) sections of my phonics-based guided reading lesson plan. From the phonics word lists, I will pick 5 words that students will need to map. I usually pick 3 real words and 2 nonsense words. The first word I start with is a real word and I model the word mapping routine. Students will repeat what I am doing. The next 2 words are a real word and a nonsense word. We will map the words together. The last 2 words are a real word and a nonsense word. I have students orthographically map each word independently. Here is the step in action.

Step 1: Identify the Words- We will identify the words by reading. I choral, echo, and partner read the phonics word lists. We will decode and blend the words. Decoding words is the ability to break a written word down by its letter-sound relationship to rapidly and correctly pronounce words. Blending is the ability to put those sounds together to read the word.

In my lesson plan, I have the words picked out and in which order we will map them.

Step 2: Tap the Sounds- With my right hand, I have the student start tapping out the sounds with me. I start with my thumb and say the sound. For example, if the word is ship I will hold out my thumb and say /sh/, then my pointer finger and say /i/, and then my middle finger and say /p/. Then we will talk about how many sounds are in the word.

Step 3: Map the Word- We get out our and start filling in the sound dot to match how many sounds we hear. For example, we will say /sh/ and fill in the first sound dot, then we will say /i/ and fill in the second sound dot, and then we will say the last sound /p/ and fill in the last dot. We talk about how the sound dots matched the number of sounds we tapped out.

Step 4: Graph the Word- We continue with our Orthographic Mapping Template and start connecting the phoneme to the graphemes. For example, we will say /sh/ and write the sh in the first sound box, then we will say /i/ and write the i in the second sound box, and then we will say the last sound /p/ and write the p in the last sound box.

Step 5: Read the Word- We will then write the whole word out on the Orthographic Mapping Template and blend and read the word.

Phonics-based word lists are a list of real & nonsense dynamic words that are targeted to the specific phonics skill being taught. For example, my Phonics Word Lists: Beginning and Ending Consonant Digraphs (real and nonsense ) has real & nonsense beginning and ending consonant digraph words sorted by their phoneme. The word lists are systematic and sequential. They start with the phonics skill your students need to work on and will continue to review previously taught phonemes throughout each list. This means that the consonant digraphs will not have silent e, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, etc. The word lists, however, will review previously taught sounds (i.e. short vowels and double consonants). Check out my blog on for more information on how to use these phonics word lists!

Digital Phonics Word Lists + Orthographic Mapping - In Action

I use these digital phonics word lists and orthographic mapping slides to introduce a new phoneme, review previously taught phonics skills, and for interactive games. Visit my article on

After reading the interactive word list, the slides will go through the encoding section of the lesson plans. Your students will orthographically map each word individually. One word will appear on each slide. There is an example of word mapping and steps below!

I have my students use Use the followingOrthographic Mapping Template as we go through these slides. You can find this below. This orthographic mapping template is just the resource you need when mapping your words. I have my students write the phonemes & graphemes as I go through the digital word mapping slides. Students can Identify, Tap, Map, Graph, Read and Write at their desks!

Orthographic Mapping + Word List Phonics Worksheets - In Action

I use these Orthographic Mapping + Word List Phonics Worksheets in a variety of ways. I use these orthographic worksheets as a review to reinforce basic phonics skills.

1. After the phonemic awareness component, I start the review section of my phonics-based guided reading lessons. We will read the word lists and map 2 words together. This takes students 2-3 minutes.

2. I have also used these worksheets as an exit slip at the end of my lesson. I use them as a quick and informal assessment. It allows me to quickly assess students' understanding of the phonics skill that was taught.

3. The last way I use these Orthographic Mapping + Word List Phonics Worksheets is for students to work on the phonics worksheets during independent work time. When students use these worksheets in their independent rotation I would still have them follow the 5 strategies for using orthographic mapping. Here are those steps.

Step 1: Identify the Word- students need to read the phonics word lists.

Step 2: Tap the Sounds- they will then read the words on the worksheet and tap out the sounds they hear in that word.

Step 3: Map the Word- depending on your group, the students will either fill in the sound dots as they say the sounds or move into graphing the word.

Step 4: Graph the Word- they will say each sound and write the grapheme in the sound boxes. There is a column for beginning sounds, vowels, and ending sounds. Then the students can see that each word has a vowel sound and process which consonants come before and/or after the vowel.

Step 5: Read the Word- the last step of each word is to write the whole word and read it.

All of these ways enable my students to practice orthographic mapping in reading groups or independently.

This video shows one of my students independently working on this worksheet.

I absolutely enjoyed sharing my ideas for how I am using these orthographic mapping worksheets during my phonics-based guided reading lessons! I'd love for you to send me an email, or DM me on Facebook and Instagram with what you need more help on. I'm here to help you with any phonics and reading lesson planning questions you may have! I hope that after reading this article, you will find these 5 Effective Strategies to use Orthographic Mapping for Reading Success helpful and that you will make phonics orthographic mapping a staple in your reading classroom. You can find these Phonics Worksheets - Word Lists + Orthographic Mapping activities at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store or click on the link below!

Which Phonics Skills are included in the Word Mapping Bundle?

The Word Mapping Bundle includes the following phonics skills:

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Littlelephanteacher@gmail.com

I appreciate YOU!!

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5 Effective Strategies to use Orthographic Mapping for Reading Success

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What is orthographic mapping and how can I use it to help my students read more fluently? I would like to share 5 effective strategies for orthography. This blueprint is all about helping developing readers understand how letters are linked to sounds. These Orthographic Mapping Worksheets are Scienc