Phonics Flashcards: Letter Sounds and Digraphs
33 cards · free to study, print and copy
Phonics Flashcards: Letter Sounds and Digraphs
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About this deck
Each card shows a letter or letter pair on the front. The back gives the sound it most often makes in simple words, written between slashes, and an example word to anchor it.
The deck covers all 26 letters (short vowel sounds first, since those come up most in beginning reading) and seven common consonant digraphs. It is meant for children in pre-K through first grade and for anyone teaching beginning reading at home.
Use it after children know most letter names. Print the cards and lay out two or three at a time to build simple words like c-a-t.
Study tips
- Say sounds short and clipped: /b/, not "buh". Adding an extra vowel makes blending harder later.
- Practice stretchy sounds (/m/, /s/, /f/) before bouncy ones (/b/, /t/, /k/); they are easier to blend.
- Once a child knows a few consonants and the short a, lay cards side by side and blend them into words.
- Review the vowel cards most often; they cause the most mix-ups.
All 33 cards
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| a | /a/ as in apple (short a) |
| b | /b/ as in bat |
| c | /k/ as in cat (hard c) |
| d | /d/ as in dog |
| e | /e/ as in egg (short e) |
| f | /f/ as in fan |
| g | /g/ as in goat (hard g) |
| h | /h/ as in hat |
| i | /i/ as in itch (short i) |
| j | /j/ as in jet |
| k | /k/ as in kid |
| l | /l/ as in leg |
| m | /m/ as in map |
| n | /n/ as in net |
| o | /o/ as in octopus (short o) |
| p | /p/ as in pen |
| qu | /kw/ as in queen (q is almost always followed by u) |
| r | /r/ as in red |
| s | /s/ as in sun |
| t | /t/ as in top |
| u | /u/ as in up (short u) |
| v | /v/ as in van |
| w | /w/ as in web |
| x | /ks/ as in box |
| y | /y/ as in yes |
| z | /z/ as in zip |
| sh | /sh/ as in ship |
| ch | /ch/ as in chin |
| th | /th/ as in thin or this |
| wh | /w/ as in when |
| ck | /k/ as in duck (end of a word) |
| ng | /ng/ as in ring |
| ph | /f/ as in phone |
Frequently asked questions
›What do the slashes mean?
Slashes mark a sound rather than a letter name. /k/ is the sound at the start of "cat" and "kite".
›Why only one sound per vowel?
Beginning readers usually learn short vowel sounds first because they appear in most early words. Long vowels and vowel teams come later.
›What is a digraph?
Two letters that make one sound, such as sh in "ship" or ch in "chin".
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