Pennington Publishing Blog

Instructional Phonics Order

Teachers often ask about the order of phonics instruction. Is there an instructional sequence that makes sense more than others? Some favor a speech to print; others favor a print to speech approach to orthographic mapping.

First, let’s take a look at some general criteria which seems to make sense:

1. The most common sounds are introduced prior to the least common sounds.
2. Order of instruction separates letters that are visually similar e.g., p and b, m and n, v and w, u and n.
3. Order of instruction separates sounds that are similar e.g., /k/ and /g/, /u/ and /o/, /t/ and /d/, /e/ and /i/.
4. The most commonly used letters are introduced prior to the least commonly used letters.
5. Short words with fewer phonemes are introduced prior to longer words with more phonemes.
6. Continuous sounds e.g., /a/, /m/, are introduced prior to stop sounds e.g., /t/ because the continuous sounds are easier to blend.

Following is the instructional phonics order that is best supported by research and practice (and the order I use in my own reading intervention program):

Short vowel sounds and consonant sounds:

• a, m, t, s
• i, f, d, r
• o, g[a,o,u], l, h
• u, b, c[a,o,u], _ck
• e (_ea), k[i,e], v, n, kn_
• p, w, j, qu
• y, x, z, _s, r, wr
• Ending double consonants _ll, _ff, _ss, _zz

Ending consonant blends:

• _nd, _st, _xt
• _nt (n’t), _lt
• _mp, _sk, _lp
• _ft, _ld, _ng
• _lk, _nch, _pt
• _nk, _sp
• “th” voiced* th_
• “th” unvoiced** th_, _th
• “sh” unvoiced** sh_
• “sh” + _ed _sh, _shed

*The voiced consonant sound has a slight /uh/ sound. With digraphs (more than one sound) and blends (two or more sounds), the second letter pronunciation is softer than the first.

**The unvoiced consonant is made just with air.

Consonant digraphs:

• wh, ch, _tch

Beginning consonant blends:

• fl_, sl_, bl_, cl_, gl_, pl_
• sm_, sn_, sp_, st_, sk_, sc_
• br_, cr_, dr_, fr_, gr_, pr_
• shr_, thr_, str_, spr_, scr_
• sw_, tr_, tw_, spl_, squ_

Long vowel sounds and silent final e:

• a, _ay, a_e, ai_
• e, _ee, ea, [c]ei
• _ie_, e_e, _y
• i, _igh, i_e, _y, _ie
• o, o_e, _oe, oa_, ow
• u, u_e, _ew, _ue

r – controlled vowels:

• ar
• or
• er
• ir
• ur

Diphthongs:

• _ow, ou_
• oo, _ue, u, u_e, _ew
• oo, _u_
• oi_, _oy
• aw, au, a[l], a[ll], augh[t]

Syllable Juncture:

• g[e,i,y], _ge, _dge
• c[e,i,y]
• Long i _y and Long e _y
• _le
• Schwa a, _ai_
• Schwa e
• Schwa i
• Schwa o, _io_, ou_
• ph, ch_ (/k/), _ci_, _si_, _ti_, gn
• ough

Now, you have the instructional phonics order. Know how to teach these sound-spellings? My reading intervention program uses a multi-faceted approach: animal sound-spelling card games, connected decodable readers, phonics workshops, and blending. The blending procedure I use teaches both decoding (phonics) and encoding (spelling). I call it Sound-by-Sound Spelling Blending. Download my FREE blending lessons with example words and built-in review after my author promo. Next, check out the quick instructional video.

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The Science of Reading Intervention Program

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Word Recognition includes explicit, scripted instruction and practice with the 5 Daily Google Slide Activities every reading intervention student needs: 1. Phonemic Awareness and Morphology 2. Blending, Segmenting, and Spelling 3. Sounds and Spellings (including handwriting) 4. Heart Words Practice 5. Sam and Friends Phonics Books (decodables). Plus, digital and printable sound wall cards and speech articulation songs. Print versions are available for all activities. First Half of the Year Program (55 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Language Comprehension resources are designed for students who have completed the word recognition program or have demonstrated basic mastery of the alphabetic code and can read with some degree of fluency. The program features the 5 Weekly Language Comprehension Activities: 1. Background Knowledge Mentor Texts 2. Academic Language, Greek and Latin Morphology, Figures of Speech, Connotations, Multiple Meaning Words 3. Syntax in Reading 4. Reading Comprehension Strategies 5. Literacy Knowledge (Narrative and Expository). Second Half of the Year Program (30 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program: Assessment-based Instruction provides diagnostically-based “second chance” instructional resources. The program includes 13 comprehensive assessments and matching instructional resources to fill in the yet-to-be-mastered gaps in phonemic awareness, alphabetic awareness, phonics, fluency (with YouTube modeled readings), Heart Words and Phonics Games, spelling patterns, grammar, usage, and mechanics, syllabication and morphology, executive function shills. Second Half of the Year Program (25 minutes-per-day, 18 weeks)

The Science of Reading Intervention Program BUNDLE  includes all 3 program components for the comprehensive, state-of-the-art (and science) grades 4-adult full-year program. Scripted, easy-to-teach, no prep, no need for time-consuming (albeit valuable) LETRS training or O-G certification… Learn as you teach and get results NOW for your students. Print to speech with plenty of speech to print instructional components.

Get the SCRIP Comprehension Strategies FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic ELA and Reading Assessments FREE Resource:

Interested in seeing how the above Instructional Phonics Order is paced in my intervention program? Want the example words to blend for each of the sound-spellings? You’ll love this FREE download:

Get the Instructional Phonics Sequence FREE Resource:

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