Phonics Partner Games to Practice Word and Sentence Reading

Do you need some fun ways for your students to practice reading phonics patterns during your literacy centers? These Partner Phonics Games are a great way to engage your kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students and develop fluency while reading words with different phonics patterns.

The Phonics Partner Games include word-reading and sentence-reading activities and move from simple phonics patterns, like CVC words, to complex phonics patterns, like multisyllabic words.

Why Play Phonics Games with a Partner?

Playing phonics games is important for early elementary students because it helps them develop their decoding skills and improve their ability to read and comprehend words. Phonics games also provide a fun way for students to learn and practice various letter combinations, as well as identify patterns within words.

Additionally, phonics games can strengthen students’ spelling abilities by allowing them to apply their knowledge of phonics patterns to spell words correctly. Overall, incorporating phonics games into literacy instruction can have a positive impact on student’s reading development.

When to Use These Phonics Games

These phonics games are great to use after students have had exposure to the patterns from explicit phonics instruction. They are a great way to develop fluency and work on reading accuracy.

Here are a few ways teachers use the games:

• literacy centers
• intervention groups
• 1:1 tutoring sessions
• home-school connections
• partner practice
• recess games

What Games are Included?

Included in the Partner Phonics Games are 8 phonics games with slight variations in some of the games. Games include:

1. Spin, Read, Color #1 – Students read words.
2. Spin, Read, Color #2 – Students read words with extended gameplay.
3. Roll, Read, Color #1 – Both students read the same sentences.
4. Roll, Read, Color #2 – Students read separate sentences.
5. Four-in-a-Row – Students read words to make four-in-a-row.
6. Dots & Boxes – Students read words to claim squares.
7. Cover Up – Read 1-3 words at a time, depending on the number spun.
8. Color Maze – Read words to create a pathway across the grid.

Placing the games in sheet protectors and using whiteboard markers cuts down on photocopies and allows quick and easy repeated gameplay.

See below for information about some of the Phonics Partner Games

Phonics Partner Games for VCE Words

There are four sets of VCE Words included in this resource. Each long vowel has its own set, except O and U, which are combined. There is also a mixed set where students practice using all VCE words.

• Set #1: VCE-A
• Set #2: VCE – I
• Set #3: VCE – O & VCE – U
• Set #4: Mixed VCE Words

Click here to see the list of words and more information about the VCE Games.

Long Vowel Teams Phonics Partner Games

There are five sets of Long Vowel Teams included in this resource. Each sound-spelling has it’s own isolated set. There is also a mixed set where students practice using all vowel teams.

• Set #1: EE / EA
• Set #2: AI / AY
• Set #3: OA / OE
• Set #4: IE / IGH
• Set #5: Mixed Words

Click here to see the list of words and more information about the Long Vowel Team Games.

Sight Word Phonics Partner Games

There are five sets of words used with the partner high-frequency word games. The words move from simple to complex within these five groups of words.

The words range in grade levels from Kindergarten through third grade. While there are kindergarten words on the list, the games themselves are designed for first grade and above.

Click here to see the list of words and more information about the Sight Word Games.

Two-Syllable Phonics Partner Games

There are three sets of words used with the partner phonics games. The words move from simple to complex along these three groups of words:

• Set #1: compound words (short vowel only), closed two-syllables (vc/v & vc/cv)
• Set #2: open two-syllables (v/cv), compound words with VCE, two-syllable with VCE / EE
• Set #3: multisyllabic with r-controlled vowels

Most of the words are two-syllable words. There are a few multi-syllabic words at higher levels.

Click here to see the list of words and more information about the Two-Syllable Games.

Where can you get the Phonics Partner Games?

The Phonics Partner Games are available on my website and on Teachers Pay Teachers.