Puzzle it out

Notes for Teachers

Covers the following lower-order phonic areas: short vowel sounds (consonant-vowel-consonant), words
ending in -ck, -ff, -ll, -ss, and consonant clusters. Compatible with National Literacy Strategy Year 1
guidelines.

Motivating games, puzzles and activities ideal for the consolidation of phonics skills already introduced by
the teacher.

Contains five different types of activity to practise each phonics area. Answers provided for Word Link
section.

Can be used to support most approaches to phonics teaching, including onset and rime.

Some activities suitable for collaborative work in pairs or groups.

Excellent for the independent session in the literacy hour. Ideal for homework.

Clear, straightforward format and minimum instructions. Appeals to a wide age range. Particularly
suitable for older pupils with literacy problems.

Flexible resource that fits into the phonics work in most schools. Can be used alongside the Easylearn
graded phonics books 2, 4 and 5.

Relates to National Curriculum English Attainment Target 2 (Reading) and Attainment Target 3 (Writing)
at levels 1 and 2 and Scottish English Language 5-14 Writing at level A.

Other Easylearn materials to help with phonics

Puzzle it Out 2 follows on from this book. It contains eight different activities arranged in a similar format,
focussing on higher-order phonics skills.

Easylearn’s 9 graded phonics books contain excellent sheets to help consolidate the majority of phonics
work from Reception Year to Year 2, as outlined in the National Literacy Strategy. The books are ideal
for older pupils with literacy problems.

Phonic Ladders provides a fun way to reinforce phonic skills, ideal for extra practice. It covers
consonant-vowel-consonant words, consonant clusters including double final consonants, and consonant
digraphs and long and short vowel phonemes.

Time to Rime & Phonic Rime Time are ideal for a fresh start with phonics. Both books adopt the onset
and rime approach. They cover the majority of phonics work for Years 1 & 2 in the NLS and in the order
it suggests.

Phonics Posters give a visual focus to phonics teaching. The set comprises 9 attractive, colourful posters
which are highly appealing to children. They cover the main phonic skill areas.

Rime Cards are full-colour, boxed games each focussing on an important area of phonics. Each set
includes a photocopiable sheet for follow-up work. They provide valuable practice using the onset and
rime approach and are ideal for group work.

Easylearn "Puzzle it out"

 Games and Puzzles
Word Links introduce the convention of crosswords.

Rhyme Time consists of two rhyming activities, encouraging the understanding of the patterns needed in reading and spelling.

Word Searches require the close inspection of words and reinforce visual skills. All words are written in a horizontal line, from
left to right, emphasising the reading direction.

Get in Shape helps with the recognition of the relative sizes of letters. The ‘writing line’ has been indicated to aid positioning.

Race Around can be used in a variety of ways:-

As a precision teaching tool:-

Each day the pupil reads as many words as he/she can in one minute. Always start at the same point. Date the word he/she
ends on. This can be good for building confidence.

As a game:-

In each game, the teacher decides on the location of the starting and landing points. You may also wish to enlarge the game
to A3 size.

Game 1 - As a competitive game (2 - 4 players)

Each pupil has different coloured counters. A die is thrown and the player moves his/her token appropriately. If he/she can
read the word he/she lands on, one of his/her counters is placed on the word (once covered, a word is jumped over in subsequent
turns.) The next player takes their turn. The winner is the one with the most counters on the words at the end.

Game 2 - As a non-competitive game.

As above except no tally is kept of individuals’ scores but there can be a co-operative goal, e.g. ‘How many words can we read
in 2 minutes?’

Game 3 (2 - 4 players)

A variation of the above is that the pupil has to read all the words from his/her starting point to his/her landing point. His/her
counter is placed on the last word correctly read.

Game 4 (2 - 4 players)

Players move as in Game 1 but have to think of a word that rhymes with the one they land on. (Difficult words can be removed
from play by being covered with a neutral counter before play or during play.)

Game 5 (2 - 4 players)

Players move as in Game 1 but the landing point is concealed from the other players. They have to give a clue to, or definition
of, the word they land on for the others to guess.

Game 6 (1 - 2 players & caller)

A caller names a word. The pupil has to find it. This can be competitive with two players having a board each and racing to
cover the word first.

Game 7 - As a non-competitive game.

EITHER: The teacher selects an appropriate word. The pupil reads it, then colours its matching picture.
OR: The pupil colours an appropriate picture then reads the matching word. He/she may also wish to colour the word.

Game 8 - As a competitive game.

As above, except pupils use a die and counters and read the word he/she has landed on.

NB For Games 7 and 8, there are some words which do not have a corresponding picture.
Easylearn "Puzzle it out"
 Contents

page

Short vowels (consonant-vowel-consonant) 1 - 32

-a- 1-4

-o- 5- 8

-i- 9 - 12

-u- 13 - 16

-e- 17 - 20

mixed short vowels 21 - 32

Words ending in -ck, -ff, -ll, -ss (double final consonants) 33 - 36

Final consonant clusters 37 - 44

Initial consonant clusters 45 - 52

Initial and final consonant digraphs sh, ch and th 53 - 64

Answers to Word Link puzzles 65 - 68

Easylearn "Puzzle it out"

Easylearn "Puzzle it out"

Race Around -u-

bun cut rug cup dug hut fun tub tug

hum nut

consonant-vowel-consonant Easylearn Phonics level 2

rub gum

sum sun

hug mud

tut bus

pup mug

jug rut but mum cub pun jut bug run

Page 16
Easylearn "Puzzle it out"

Rhyme Time -cc

Draw a line to join the words Put the words in the boxes.
that rhyme. Write more words that rhyme.

band wink camp hold

consonant blends Easylearn Phonics level 5

lamp sold
sand link

ramp land

damp
sink
gold told

hand pink
Page 42

Teacher's note: Teachers may wish to colour the 4 pencils before giving the worksheet to the pupil.
 consonant digraphs Easylearn Phonics level 6
sh
Word Link

11
1

10

12
3

9
2

6
12

11
6

4
10

3
5

8
Across

Down
9

7
2
Easylearn "Puzzle it out" Page 53