Phonics Sound Chart
The 26 letter sounds, the digraphs and the vowel pairs, free to print

What a phonics sound chart is

A phonics sound chart is a single sheet that puts three things side by side for every sound in English: the letter or letters that spell it, the sound itself, and a word that starts with it. That is the whole idea. It is a lookup table for a child who is reading and gets stuck.

It is worth being clear about what it is not. It is not a test, it is not a memorising exercise, and it is not something a child works through top to bottom. A chart earns its place on the wall by being glanced at, hundreds of times, in the middle of reading something else.

Most charts you can buy or download have the same two problems.

• They are in alphabetical order. A to Z is a sensible order for a dictionary and a poor one for learning to read. The first three sounds a child meets alphabetically are a, b, c, which build almost nothing. Taught in sequence order the first six are s a t p i n, which build sat, pin, tap, nip, pat and about thirty more.
• They were made for a British or American classroom. That is fine for the letters and useless for the notes. A UK chart has no reason to mention that v and w swap constantly in Indian English, and that is precisely the note an Indian parent needs.

The chart below fixes both. It is in teaching order, and the sounds Indian children find hardest are marked.

The chart: sounds in teaching order

Three parts, in the order they are taught. Work down, not across. A child does not need part two until part one is automatic.

Part 1: the single letter sounds

Grouped as most Indian schools and Jolly Phonics teach them. Every group is chosen so a child can read real words within days of starting it.

Part 2: the digraphs

Two letters, one sound. This is the step where a chart stops being optional, because s and h next to each other do not say s-h.

Part 3: the vowel pairs

Two vowels working together. This is the last part of the chart a child needs, usually in Class 1 or 2.

Note the oo row. The same two letters make two different sounds, in moon and in book, and there is no rule that tells you which. Children work it out by trying both and picking the one that is a word, which is a perfectly good strategy and worth saying out loud to them.

The three chart sheets

These are not charts to read. They are charts your child builds, which is the version that gets remembered. Each is one A4 page and prints fine in black and white.

• Chart Sheet 1, the letter sounds. The letters are given in teaching-group order. Your child writes one word beginning with each sound. Pin the finished sheet up: it is now a chart in their own handwriting, with words from their own life.
• Chart Sheet 2, the digraphs. Circle the two letters making one sound in each word, then sort words under the right digraph. This is the sheet to use when your child starts reading ship as s-hip.
• Chart Sheet 3, the vowel pairs. Complete the word with the right vowel pair, and split the two oo sounds into their own columns. The hardest of the three, and the one to leave until Class 1.

One at a time, spread across weeks rather than an afternoon. A chart sheet done properly is a twenty minute job with a lot of talking in it, not a filling-in exercise.

The sounds Indian charts leave out

Most charts sold in India are reprints of British ones. The letters are the same everywhere, so the chart is not wrong. What is missing is any note about which sounds are actually hard here, and those are predictable enough to name.

• v and w. The single most common swap. Wery for very, ven for when. Hindi and several other Indian languages do not have the English v as a separate sound, so the two collapse into one. Mark both rows on any chart you print.
• th, both kinds. Thin becomes tin, this becomes dis. Neither sound exists in Hindi, Tamil or Telugu, so this is not carelessness, it is a sound the mouth has never made. It needs the tongue physically between the teeth, and it is worth showing rather than describing.
• The short a in cat. Often lengthened to caat. There is no close equivalent in most Indian languages, and it is the vowel that appears in more early reading words than any other.
• The short u in cup. Sometimes said as coop. Subtle, very common, and rarely corrected because everyone still understands the word.

None of these stop a child reading. They are pronunciation, not decoding, and a child who says wery has still read the word correctly. They are worth marking on a chart because they are the ones that persist into adulthood if nobody ever points them out, and pointing them out at five is a great deal easier than at fifteen.

How to actually use a chart on the wall

Most charts get pinned up, admired for a week, and then become wallpaper. The difference between a chart that works and one that does not is almost entirely about when it gets looked at.

1. Put it where your child reads, at their eye level. Not above the study table where an adult would hang it. If they have to stand up to see it, they will guess instead.
2. Use it during reading, not instead of reading. The moment it earns its keep is when your child stops mid-word. Point at the chart, let them find the row, and carry on. That is the entire technique.
3. Let them point, do not point for them. Finding the row is the part that builds the memory. If you point, you have looked it up and they have watched you look it up.
4. Cover the words column occasionally. Once a group is solid, fold that column back and see if the sound alone is enough. This turns the chart into a quick check without turning it into a test.
5. Add to it. When your child reads a word they love, write it in the margin next to its sound. A chart with their words on it gets looked at. A pristine one does not.

Answer keys for all three sheets

Mark these with your child rather than alone. On the first sheet especially, the answers are open, so the marking is really a conversation about whether the first sound is right.

Chart Sheet 1: The Letter Sounds

1. Write a word for each sound. Open. Any real word beginning with that sound is correct, and a word from your child’s own life is better than the obvious one. Say each word aloud together and listen only to the first sound. Sample answers: s sun  ·  a ant  ·  t tap  ·  i ink  ·  p pen  ·  n net  ·  c cat  ·  e egg  ·  h hat  ·  r run  ·  m man  ·  d dog  ·  g gap  ·  o orange  ·  u umbrella  ·  l leg  ·  f fan  ·  b bus  ·  j jug  ·  z zip  ·  w win  ·  v van  ·  y yes  ·  x box, at the end rather than the start, which is the one letter where that is normal  ·  qu queen.
2. Which group does each word belong to? a. 1 (tap)  ·  b. 2 (hen)  ·  c. 3 (bus)  ·  d. 1 (sit)  ·  e. 4 (jam)  ·  f. 3 (log)
3. Cross out the letter that is not in this group. a. e (group 1 is s a t i p n)  ·  b. p (group 2 is c k e h r m d)  ·  c. z (group 3 is g o u l f b)

Chart Sheet 2: The Digraphs

1. Circle the two letters that make one sound. a. sh (shop)  ·  b. ch (chin)  ·  c. th (thin)  ·  d. ck (duck)  ·  e. ng (song)  ·  f. ph (phone)
2. Sort the words under the right digraph. sh: fish, wish  ·  ch: much, chip  ·  th: bath, that  ·  ng: ring, long
3. Write the missing digraph. a. ship  ·  b. whale  ·  c. back  ·  d. chair

Chart Sheet 3: The Vowel Pairs

1. Complete the word. a. rain  ·  b. tree  ·  c. boat  ·  d. coin  ·  e. moon  ·  f. shout
2. Sort the oo words by sound. Long oo as in moon: food, cool, soon  ·  Short oo as in book: look, cook, foot. If your child gets one wrong, say both versions aloud and ask which one is a word. That is the same strategy a fluent reader uses, so it is worth naming.
3. Which two spellings make the same sound? a. ai and ay  ·  b. oi and oy  ·  c. ou and ow

Frequently asked questions