Digraphs and CCVC Word Manipulation Strips – Free Phonics Practice for Changing Sounds
Guided Phonics + Beyond
Free digraphs and CCVC word manipulation strips. Students change one sound at a time to build new decodable words and strengthen phonics fluency.
These Digraphs and CCVC Word Manipulation Strips give students powerful decoding practice by focusing on sound changes. Each strip starts with a base word, and students manipulate just one sound at a time to create new words. This activity highlights phoneme-grapheme mapping and shows how small changes in sounds create new words, all in a science of reading-aligned way.
Example sequence: fell → fill → hill → pill → chill
Students decode, read aloud, and notice how one phoneme change shifts the entire word
Builds awareness of phonics patterns in digraphs and CCVC structures
Great for fluency drills, word chaining, or small-group intervention
Encourages blending and decoding accuracy with repeated practice
These strips make phonics instruction explicit and engaging, while giving students visual evidence of how sound manipulation impacts words.
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Tara West
Teacher-Author
Tara West is a dedicated educator and the founder of Little Minds at Work, an educational platform designed to provide teachers with creative and engaging resources for early childhood education. With a focus on developing innovative lesson plans, classroom strategies, and activities, Tara brings her passion for teaching to life, empowering teachers to foster meaningful learning experiences for their students.
