Showing posts with label CVCe Words. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

I’m Excited to Share Something New

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Wow, it’s been a while since there’s been a post here,” you’re right — it has.

Life, teaching, and everything in between have a way of shifting priorities, and this little space sat quietly in the background longer than I ever planned. I never stopped thinking about instruction or creating resources, but I did step away from writing here for a while.

Until now.

Because every once in a while, you create something that feels too important not to share.

Why I Felt Compelled to Write Again

As I worked on this new resource, I kept thinking about how useful it would be during phonics instruction — the kind of practice that supports decoding, reinforces skills, and keeps students engaged without sacrificing instructional integrity.

That thought stayed with me throughout the entire process.

This wasn’t about making something “cute” or quick. It was about creating meaningful phonics practice that truly supports how students learn to read.

A Different Kind of Color-by-Code Resource

Let’s be honest — color-by-code activities can be fun, but they don’t always support strong instruction.

Too often, they:

encourage guessing
allow students to color without reading
focus more on the picture than the learning

I wanted this resource to be different.

Every worksheet was intentionally designed so instruction comes first.

Students must:

read each sentence
identify and write the target phonics word
and then apply their learning through color-by-code

This structure ensures that students are decoding and thinking, not just coloring.

This resource is designed to grow with students, from early phonics skills to more complex word patterns, all within a consistent, student-friendly format.

Thoughtfully Aligned to the Science of Reading

Each sentence in this resource was carefully written to include:

the target phonics skill
age-appropriate sight words
and only phonics patterns that have already been taught

Students are never asked to decode unfamiliar patterns. Instead, previously taught skills are revisited intentionally, allowing for spiral review and stronger retention.

This approach aligns with the Science of Reading and structured literacy principles, supporting explicit, systematic phonics instruction.

Here is a list of all the phonics skills included:

Who This Resource is For

This resource was created with first-grade students in mind, but it is also highly effective for:

Advanced Kindergarten students who are ready for more challenging phonics practice

Any student who needs review, intervention, or reinforcement of foundational phonics skills

Two Options, Same Instructional Philosophy

Because classrooms and needs vary, this resource is available in two formats, both following the same phonics progression.

Color-by-Code Phonics Practice Pack

This option includes 51 worksheets and provides meaningful practice for each phonics skill with fewer pages per pattern. It’s a great fit for teachers looking for high-quality phonics practice in a streamlined format.

👉 (Link to the Practice Pack)

Color-by-Code Yearlong Phonics Resource

This option includes 102 phonics worksheets, more practice per skill, and 4 bonus rhyming review pages. It’s designed for extended instruction and consistent spiral review across the year.

👉 (Link to the Yearlong Phonics Resource)

Tested with Real Students

These worksheets weren’t created in isolation. They were used with students, adjusted based on what worked, and refined with classroom realities in mind.

They’re:

kid-tested
teacher-approved
low-prep
and designed with non-seasonal images so they can be used any time of year

Why Choose This Resource

ü Covers a full year of phonics instruction

ü Systematic progression of skills

ü Includes multiple worksheets per skill

ü Uses explicit, decodable sentences, allowing students to focus on decoding rather than guessing from pictures

ü Avoids phonics patterns that have not been taught yet

ü Provides built-in spiral review

ü Consistent and predictable routine builds independence

ü Supports Science of Reading / Structured Literacy practices

ü Keeps students engaged without sacrificing instructional quality

Why This Felt Worth Sharing

Coming back to blogging after a long break wasn’t something I planned — but this resource made it feel worthwhile.

When instruction is intentional, thoughtfully designed, and engaging for students, it deserves to be shared.

If you’ve been looking for phonics practice that supports real decoding, reinforces skills, and keeps students motivated, I’m proud of what this resource offers.

Thanks for being here — If you’re reading this, I’d love for you to say hello. It’s been a long time since I last posted here, and it would be wonderful to know this space is still reaching teachers.

Friday, December 30, 2016

Early Literacy Practice Pages

Do you have students who need help with some early literacy skills? Or students who have mastered most of the skills, but have some difficulty following directions, so they often answer questions wrong, even though they understand the concept?

I do! I do!

I needed a way for them to practice general readiness, phonemic awareness, phonics, and structural analysis skills, so they would feel more confident when taking tests and learn to analyze directions so they didn't get questions wrong because they weren't paying attention to the key words in the questions.

So, I came up with these early literacy practice pages.

I've been using them in small groups and they are really helping students to think about what the questions are asking and to look at each answer choice carefully. Many of them contain answer choices that are similar and look correct.

Here are all the skills included...

Most of the skills contain 2 different activity sheets, and there are some that contain more. Blends has 3 different sheets, mixed review has 4, and word families has 5 different sheets.

Here is an example of one of the sheets. See how some of the wrong answers look like they could be right, if you don't pay close attention to the question?

This one is all about rhyming. I came up with quite a few different ways to test the children's understanding of rhyming.

When I complete a sheet with an individual or small group, we go very slowly. I help the children read the questions and identify the pictures with them. These sheets were not created for children to complete independently. So many teachable moments would be missed!

Once an answer has been chosen, we discuss why it is the right (or wrong) answer. It is very interesting, and very telling, to hear the children explain why they chose an answer. It is during this conversation that children usually figure out if they chose the wrong answer. I tell them that they fell for my trickery and to be super careful not to let that happen. They love the challenge!

Answer keys are included for teachers to refer to. I highly suggest using it because it will tell you what each picture depicts, just in case you can't figure it out on your own.

If you are looking for a great way to help students who have difficulty with a few or many early literacy skills, or students who don't read or listen to directions very well, then you may want to check these out. You can find them by clicking here or on the image below.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Fun and Engaging Phonics Printables

I'm all about hands-on learning, but, worksheets are also very important. They are great for morning work, station work, independent work, whole group work, small group work, assessments, interventions, homework, and they are great to leave for substitute teachers.

I'm also all about having activities ready to go, all year long. I don't want to hunt for anything! So, when I set out to create activities, I try to make them so they can be used all year, in case anyone else is just like me.
Proactive and always prepared!

Our youngest learners practice CVC words, CVCe words, and CCVC words all year long, so I made a total of 286 activity sheets. Enough to last a long, long time! And they are fun to complete, so students will stay engaged and on task.

Here is a peek at the CVC Word Activity Sheets.

There are three different versions. In the first version, all four words are from the same word family. To complete the sheet, students color in the words, fill in the missing letters, highlight the words spelled properly, and write the words in the configuration boxes. Lots of opportunities to read and write CVC words!

In the second version, all four words contain the same short vowel.

In the third version, all four words contain different short vowels.

Here are the CVCe Word Activity Sheets. In the third column, students color in the letters that spell the word. Again there are three different versions. In the first version, all four words are from the same word family.

In the second version, all four words contain the same long vowel.

In the third version, all four words contain different long vowels.

And, here are the CCVC Word Activity Sheets. In the second column, students write the words using one color for the blend or digraph and a different color for the end of the word.There are two different versions. In the first version, all four words use the same blend or digraph.

In the second version, all four words contain a mix of blends and digraphs.

If you are interested in adding these activity sheets to your collection of teaching goodies, you can purchase them all separately, or, in a money saving bundle! Click each image below to see them in my store. They are all on sale through Tuesday, April 19!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Fun Games!

Now that we are wrapping up the school year (16 days left!), my students are enjoying some really fun games. They haven't realized yet, though, that these fun games are helping them review and practice some important skills that they learned this year. Shhh! Don't tell them!

Here are two games they have been playing. The first one is a digraph game.

*Please note that I updated the game after the pictures were taken.

There are 6 colorful game boards, a spinner, and 130 self-checking digraph word/picture cards. You can put them all out or as many as you need for the number of players playing the game.

Students take turns spinning the spinner and finding the digraph cards. The object of the game is to be the first player to cover the board. But, there are some interesting twists and turns along the way.

If you land on "give a card" you have to give someone else a card from your board.

If you land on "take a card" you can take a card that you need from someone else's board. There is also a "free space" square, where you can put a card with any digraph.

The game is self-checking. Just print the answers on the back of the digraph pictures.

Here is the lucky winner!

This is the CVCe edition.

*Please note that the updated version includes a cute image

on each card that matches the word.

It contains 6 colorful game boards, a spinner, and 141 self-checking CVCe picture/word cards. Each player spins the spinner and finds a CVCe word on the table that matches the pattern on the spinner. For example, if the player spins _a_e, they can choose the word late. The answers are on the back. The game can be differentiated to accommodate all levels. For an easier game, the cards can be word side up. For a more difficult game, you would keep the side up that has the missing vowel.

Then, they would flip the card over to check their answer.

This game contains the same twists as the digraph game.

Give a card!

Take a card! Yes, the sweetie in pink is trying to talk her out of taking one of her cards! But, she took it anyway! LOL!

And, here is the happy winner!

So, there you have it! Two fun games that help reinforce valuable skills. The games are fun AND meaningful. Here's a direct quote from one of my students: "Seriously, Ms. Rosenberg, you must make more of these games! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The games also come with recording sheets.

If you would like to see the games in my store, just click on each image below.