Spelling with phonics patterns worksheets
Aligned with Common Core L.1.2d
Printable phonics spelling worksheets for first grade: sound boxes, missing vowels, word family houses, and magic e words, all with pictures.
The worksheets
- See it all
Spelling Patterns Chart
Sound boxes for cat, ship and frog, the five short vowel sounds with pictures, magic e pairs like cap and cape, and the -at word family.
Sound Boxes
Ten pictures of short words with one box for each sound.
Missing Vowel
Twelve pictures of short words with the vowel missing. A vowel bank sits at the top.
Word Family Houses
Four word family houses. Some of the letters make real words and some do not.
Magic e
Add a silent e to change short words into long vowel words, then match words to pictures.
Print the whole packet
One copy of every sheet above, in order. Tap + for more copies (up to 10).
For the parent or teacher
What it is
In first grade, spelling grows out of phonics. Kids learn to hear each sound in a word and write a letter for it, starting with short words like cat and sun. Then they learn patterns, like word families (cat, hat, mat) and the magic e that changes kit into kite.
What comes next
Nouns, verbs and adjectives, so kids can talk about the words they spell.
How to teach it
- Stretch words out slowly, like a rubber band. "c... a... t."
- Tap one finger for each sound, then write one letter for each tap.
- Focus on the middle vowel. It's the sound kids miss most often.
- Build words with magnetic letters, then change one letter to make a new word.
- For magic e, say both words. "kit, kite." The e is silent but makes the vowel say its name.
Common mistakes
- Leaving out the vowel, like writing ct for cat.
- Mixing up short e and short i, like writing pin for pen.
- Writing letters in the wrong order, especially the last two sounds.
- Adding an e to every word once they learn magic e.