Starting the school year with a solid phonics routine can make a big difference in how your literacy block runs, but if you’ve ever felt unsure about how to fit everything in, you’re definitely not alone.

The good news?

An effective phonics routine doesn’t have to be fancy or time-consuming. With a few key routines, you can meet diverse student needs daily without reinventing the wheel. This post will guide you in building a research-backed phonics routine that’s realistic for your busy classroom.

Start with What Your Students Need

So where should you begin? Before setting up routines, review your beginning-of-year assessment data. This provides a clear picture of what students already know and where they need support.

To make this process easier, The Phonics Playbook includes a comprehensive diagnostic phonics assessment that covers:

• letter name and letter sound knowledge
• word reading
• spelling

The assessment spans foundational skills like CVC words all the way to more complex multisyllabic words. It’s designed to help you identify areas of strength and target areas for growth, so you can form purposeful student groups and plan instruction that actually meets their needs.

Alternatively, use the diagnostic assessment included in your school’s phonics program. This data can still provide valuable insight for grouping students effectively and determining where to begin.

Next, consider how much differentiation will be necessary. If your class includes a wide range of skill levels, you might want to create flexible groupings or rotate activities throughout the week to meet everyone’s needs.

What Makes a Phonics Routine Effective

Once you’ve reviewed your assessment data and considered student groupings, choose your core routines. In The Phonics Playbook, I emphasize that effective instruction is:

• Systematic (follows a clear scope and sequence)
• Explicit (skills are taught directly, not just picked up through exposure)
• Out-of-context and in-context (students learn a skill in isolation and then apply it in real reading and writing)
• Focused on both general and specific word knowledge

That said, you don’t need to include every routine daily. A consistent set of routines in your weekly phonics lesson plans builds student confidence and keeps instruction focused.

Core Phonics Routines to Build Into Your Week

Once you’ve chosen a structure for your phonics block, it’s time to decide which routines you’ll use regularly. You don’t need to fit every activity into every day, but having a consistent set of high-impact routines will help students build confidence, stay engaged, and get the targeted practice they need. Here are some of my go-to routines for a strong, balanced phonics block:

• New Skill Introduction
  • Explicitly teach a new phonics skill, pattern, or sound (e.g., /g/, vowel team ee, or V/CV syllable division).
  • Note: You won’t teach a new skill every day, just when introducing a new concept.
• Blending Drill
  • Practice blending sounds for automaticity.
  • Use finger sliding, arm blending, or sound tapping for a multi-sensory approach.
• Word List Reading
  • Have students read short, targeted word lists aligned with your phonics focus for daily fluency.
• Word Sorts
  • Sort words by spelling or sound patterns. Make it tactile and visual with cards or manipulatives.
• Word Building
  • Use magnetic letters, tiles, or dry-erase boards to build real and nonsense words. These hands-on activities support encoding and decoding.

• Multi-Sensory Writing Practice
  • Incorporate writing in sand, shaving cream, or with textured surfaces. This engages multiple senses and strengthens sound-symbol connections.
• Written Dictation
  • Dictate words or sentences for students to write. This reinforces sound-to-symbol application and spelling patterns.
• High-Frequency Word Instruction
  • Explicitly teach irregular/tricky words. Use repetition, games, and visual supports to build recall.
• Phonological Awareness Practice
  • Spend a few minutes daily on oral language work like segmenting, blending, or rhyming. Weave it into warm-ups or transitions.
• Decodable Text Reading
  • Use short passages that match your current phonics focus. This provides meaningful, in-context reading practice and supports fluency.

If you’d like to dive deeper into these routines and see some practical activity examples, check out this blog post: Phonics Routines to Teach at the Beginning of the Year — it’s a great place to start if you’re unsure where to begin.

Organize for Smooth Transitions

Even the best routine falters with clunky transitions. Unprepared materials or unclear next steps lead to lost instructional time and student focus. The key is a system that supports smooth, independent transitions.

After you’ve planned your routines, it’s time to think about how materials and transitions will run. Start by making sure materials are clearly labeled and easy to reach. You might assign a table helper to grab center bins each day, or store tools in color-coded drawers near your whole-group area. Using consistent locations and visual labels helps even your youngest students build independence.

Think about how you’ll signal transitions, too. Timers, chimes, or short routines (like a countdown or call-and-response) can cue students to move quickly and calmly.

And don’t overlook the power of those transition minutes; use them! You can sneak in a quick phonemic awareness activity like:

• finger spelling a few high-frequency words
• tapping out sounds with fingers or manipulatives
• reviewing letter sounds with a chant or short song

These mini-activities keep students engaged while you reset, and they reinforce foundational skills without adding extra time to your schedule. Smooth transitions not only help your day flow better, they keep the learning going, too.

Be Ready to Make Adjustments

Of course, even the best plan might need a few tweaks. No phonics routine is perfect on day one (or even day ten!). As you implement your plan, it’s important to observe and reflect. Ask yourself:

• Are your students staying engaged?
• Are you meeting the needs of your students? 
• Are the routines flowing smoothly?
• Are you consistently finishing on time?

If something isn’t working, tweak it. Flexibility is key. Try alternating longer routines weekly, or reduce words in blending drills or dictation to fit available time.

Also, reassess whether groupings still meet student needs. As students grow, you may need to adjust your small groups to better match their progress.

And don’t forget, some routines may need more modeling. If students seem unsure or off-task, it could be a sign to slow down and reteach expectations.

Finally, remember that every class is different. What worked last year may not work this year, and that’s normal. Making small adjustments based on observation ensures your routine remains effective and supports all learners.

You’ve Got This!

Creating an effective phonics routine takes planning, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Keep it simple, stay flexible, and ground it in research on how kids learn to read.

Want more support?
📘 Grab your copy of The Phonics Playbook. It’s packed with real-world examples, research-backed strategies, and practical tools to help you build a routine that works for you and your students.

Happy Teaching!