My phonics routine: listen, move, split, play.

Before class: prepare the words and the transitions

For this sequence, have a worksheet, vocabulary prompts placed around the room, a teacher-controlled screen and your chosen word set ready. A projector lets the whole class share the timer and game. If you plan to use music, check the sound before students arrive.

My lesson slides use worksheet columns labelled Dictation, Word and Image. Vocabulary examples include shadow, school, sweet, snail, smell, slow, steal, spin, splash and spring. Choose words that fit the patterns your class is working on; you do not need to use my exact list.

01 / LISTEN

Start with dictation

Dictation is the opening activity in my routine. It gives the lesson a listening-and-writing start before students get up to move around the room.

To adapt it, select a short set of words linked to your teaching goal. Say a word clearly, leave time for students to write, and decide in advance how you will repeat it. You can then use the checking stage to draw attention to the spelling patterns students found difficult.

A useful follow-up question is, “Which part were you sure about, and which part did you have to guess?” This is a suggested discussion prompt, not a requirement of the activity. It gives students something more specific to notice than whether the whole word was right or wrong.

02 / MOVE

Collect vocabulary around the room

Next, students collect vocabulary from around the room. I use Classroom Timer with lo-fi music during this activity. This is the part of the lesson where the class moves away from the opening dictation task.

For your own version, place the word or picture prompts where students can reach them safely. Model one item first: show where the word belongs on the worksheet and what students should put in the image column. A quick sketch, a match to a picture or another response can work, depending on the worksheet you prepared.

Make the movement rule explicit before starting: walk, leave space around each prompt and return to your place at the agreed signal. Set a realistic countdown for the number of items. If the class needs more time, adjust it; the clock is a classroom cue, not a reading test.

03 / SPLIT

Use Syllable Split for the word practice

After the vocabulary collection, students do segmenting practice with words I generate using Syllable Split. My lesson materials include a practice list followed by an answer version with the divisions marked, so there is a clear attempt-then-check stage.

Here, “segmenting” means dividing words into syllables. That is different from separating every individual sound in a word. Make that distinction clear when you model the task: students need to know which kind of division they are looking for.

Choose the syllable range, difficulty and number of words for your class. Give students a chance to mark the divisions before revealing the answers. You can project the set, use the worksheet output or work through a smaller selection together. Preview generated words before the lesson so you are comfortable explaining them.

If you want to return to the same practice later, export the word set and import it for the next class. Reusing a set also lets you change the activity format without having to prepare new words every time.

04 / PLAY

Finish with a standing Phonics Bomb round

This is how I run the final activity with Phonics Bomb:

1. All students stand up.
2. I go around the room, taking students in turn.
3. Each student has to identify the blend.
4. If the bomb goes off on that student's turn, that student sits down.
5. I continue until only two students remain standing. Those two are the winners.

The sit-down rule in my version is tied to the bomb going off. It is not a claim that the student who sits down has the weakest phonics. Keep that distinction explicit: the game outcome and a student's reading ability are different things.

For your own class, model the response before starting and decide how you will help a student who gets stuck. You might model the blend, have the student repeat it, then continue. That is an optional support routine you can agree on before the game.

Ways to adapt the routine

These are alternatives for teachers who want to use the sequence with different learners:

• Students who need more support: reduce the vocabulary set, model one complete worksheet response and practise the target blends together before individual turns.
• A large class or a small room: put duplicate prompts in different places or rotate small groups, so everyone is not crowding around one card.
• Students who cannot comfortably stand or move: bring prompts to tables and use cards or hand signals to mark who is still in the game. Standing is part of my version, not a condition for joining in.
• Students who sit down early: give them a quiet follow-along task, such as writing the blend before the current player answers. This keeps practice available after elimination.
• A class that dislikes elimination or sudden sounds: run a cooperative round, make the explosion a turn change instead, and adjust the audio where the app allows it.

Keep the lesson goal bigger than the game

My routine moves from dictation to vocabulary collection, syllable practice and a closing blend game. You can keep that order while changing the word list, countdown or competition rules to suit your students.

When planning your version, decide what students should be able to read, hear or write by the end. The apps support those activities; they do not replace your model, feedback or judgment about what the class needs next.