Phonics & Word Reading

23 Skills in English. 18 are ready to try — three verified questions each, no account needed.

Ready to try

Ages 4–7
Blending Sounds to Read Words
Apply phonic knowledge to blend sounds in unfamiliar words containing taught grapheme-phoneme correspondences; respond speedily to graphemes for all 40+ phonemes
49 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 4–7
Consonant Digraphs
Read and spell words containing consonant digraphs and less common consonant spellings (ch, sh, th, ck, tch, ng, ph, wh, k for /k/)
10 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 4–6
Knowing all letters
Recognise and name all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet; name the letters in order and use letter names to distinguish between alternative spellings
19 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 4–7
Onsets & Rimes
Blend and segment onsets and rimes in single-syllable words; isolate and pronounce individual phonemes (initial, medial, final) in CVC words; add or substitute phonemes to make new words
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 4–6
Rhyming words
Recognise and produce rhyming words; join in with predictable phrases and rhymes in stories and poems; learn to appreciate and recite poems by heart
5 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 4–6
Single Letter Sounds
Know the primary sound for each consonant and the short and long sounds for the five major vowels; respond speedily to single-letter graphemes
12 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 4–6
Understanding print
Demonstrate understanding that print carries meaning, follows left-to-right top-to-bottom directionality, and is organised page by page in books
32 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 4–7
Vowel Digraphs
Read and spell words containing common vowel digraphs (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, oe, oo, oi, oy) including where a digraph can represent more than one sound
13 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–8
Compound Words
Recognise and spell compound words by identifying the two component words that combine to form a single word
10 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–6
Diphthongs and complex vowels
Read and spell words containing diphthongs and complex vowel patterns (ow, ou, ew, ue, ie, aw, au) and words ending in -y as a vowel sound
10 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–6
R-Controlled Vowel Sounds
Read and spell words containing r-controlled vowels (ar, er, ir, ur, or, ore) and vowel-r patterns where 'r' modifies the vowel sound
12 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–7
Reading Inflectional Endings
Read words containing taught GPCs with common inflectional endings (-s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er, -est) and the prefix un-; read multi-syllable words with taught patterns
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–7
Split Digraphs and Magic E
Read and spell words containing split digraphs (a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e) where a final 'e' makes the preceding vowel long
12 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–6
Trigraphs
Read and spell words containing trigraphs — three-letter graphemes representing a single sound (igh, air, ear, are)
14 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 6–8
Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds
Recognise alternative grapheme-phoneme correspondences for known phonemes (e.g., /dʒ/ as ge/dge/g, /s/ as c, /n/ as kn/gn, /r/ as wr, /ʒ/ as s), reading words with less common spellings for familiar sounds
20 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 6–9
Syllables (age 6+)
Decode words of two or more syllables by breaking them into syllable chunks, applying knowledge that every syllable must contain a vowel sound, and blending the parts together
11 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 7–9
Decoding unfamiliar words
Read Y3-4 exception words with unusual spelling-sound correspondences, applying growing knowledge of morphology and etymology to decode unfamiliar exception words
14 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 7–9
Prefixes and suffixes
Read words containing common prefixes and suffixes from the Y3-4 programme, applying knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (morphology and etymology) to read aloud and understand new words
9 verified questions on this shelf

Being planted

These Skills are on the map, but their questions are still being written and checked.

Ages 5–6
Reading Contractions
Coming soon
Ages 5–7
Reading fluently
Coming soon
Ages 5–8
Reading High-Frequency Words by Sight
Coming soon
Ages 5–6
Syllables
Coming soon
Ages 6–10
Reading with Expression and Accuracy
Coming soon

Skill names and descriptions include the Marble Skill Taxonomy © Generative Spark, Inc. (withmarble.com), licensed under ODbL 1.0 (database) and CC BY-SA 4.0 (content). Practice questions are GlowGrades's own, each checked by independent verifiers that must agree before a child ever sees it.