Reading Without Walls

Printable toolkit · Decoding practice

Decodable Flashcards

Color-coded word families for the teen to read, sort, and build. Each family shares one ending sound — so once a teen reads "cat," they can read "bat," "mat," and "sat." Print on card stock, cut along the lines, and use them for the sorting and blending activities in Sessions 3 and 4.

Back to the full plan

How to use these cards

1

Read the family. Lay one family out. Say the ending sound together, then read each word. The color is the clue — same color, same pattern.

2

Sort the pile. Mix two or three families. The teen sorts them back into color groups by reading the ending. This is Session 4's sorting activity.

3

Build & blend. Use the cards as tiles: touch each letter, say each sound, then slide them together into the whole word. This is Session 3's blending activity.

4

Keep it playful. A few cards a day beats a long drill. Always end on a word the teen reads correctly. Confidence is the point.

-at family

short a
cat/c/ /a/ /t/
bat/b/ /a/ /t/
mat/m/ /a/ /t/
sat/s/ /a/ /t/
hat/h/ /a/ /t/
rat/r/ /a/ /t/

-it family

short i
sit/s/ /i/ /t/
hit/h/ /i/ /t/
bit/b/ /i/ /t/
fit/f/ /i/ /t/
pit/p/ /i/ /t/
kit/k/ /i/ /t/

-ap family

short a
map/m/ /a/ /p/
tap/t/ /a/ /p/
cap/c/ /a/ /p/
nap/n/ /a/ /p/
gap/g/ /a/ /p/
lap/l/ /a/ /p/

-an family

short a
can/c/ /a/ /n/
man/m/ /a/ /n/
pan/p/ /a/ /n/
fan/f/ /a/ /n/
ran/r/ /a/ /n/
van/v/ /a/ /n/

-og family

short o
dog/d/ /o/ /g/
log/l/ /o/ /g/
fog/f/ /o/ /g/
hog/h/ /o/ /g/
jog/j/ /o/ /g/
cog/c/ /o/ /g/

-un family

short u
sun/s/ /u/ /n/
run/r/ /u/ /n/
fun/f/ /u/ /n/
bun/b/ /u/ /n/
gun/g/ /u/ /n/
nun/n/ /u/ /n/

Tip for non-readers: say the word aloud first, then have the teen "read" it by matching the sounds to the letters. The spoken word is the bridge. For a teen with dyslexia, keep the cards large and well-spaced, and use a finger to track left-to-right.